With the Resident Evil 3 remake out of the way, speculation is building about Resident Evil 8. This is rumored to feature Resident Evil 7 star Ethan Winter, and is said to be set in an isolated mountain village, acting as a “major departure” for the series. On top of that, we’ve also had word that a remake of Resident Evil 4 is on the cards and scheduled for 2022.
With those two games in development, the existing Resident Evil voice cast is guaranteed work for the next few years. In fact, a recent episode of the Residence of Evil podcast brought together the main casts of both remakes for a lighthearted roundtable discussion about what it’s like to step into Capcom’s gore-soaked world. And during this, Stephanie Panisello, who plays Claire Redfield in the Resident Evil 2 remake, said that she’s been working with one of the actors from Resident Evil 3 on an unnamed future project.
There’s every chance this is totally unrelated to Resident Evil, as video game voice actors certainly get around a bit. But if they are working on a new Resident Evil title, what could it be? Well, in its current form, Resident Evil 4 only features Leon Kennedy and Ada Wong from Resident Evil 2, so unless they’re reworking the plot to fit Claire Redfield in, that seems unlikely. Could this be a subtle hint that Resident Evil 8 might see the return of Claire and Jill Valentine, then?
It’s perhaps a long shot, but chronologically, both of those characters have been absent from the series for some time, with the pair last appearing in the Revelations games together. The Resident Evil 7 plotline didn’t feature many of the classics, with only Chris Redfield turning up for a DLC. But with the remakes boosting the original characters’ profiles, maybe they’re going to come back for Resident Evil 8? Time will tell, but color us intrigued.