The new Resident Evil movie may be set "parallel" to Resident Evil 2, but Zach Cregger confirms the Nemesis won't feature

Zach Cregger may have revealed that his new Resident Evil movie takes place "on the periphery" of Resident Evil 2, but don't expect a familiar big bad to show up.

"My favorite [creature in the movie] is kind of the big baddie that sort of evolves and changes and follows [Austin Abrams' Bryan] over the course of the movie," Cregger says in an interview attended by GamesRadar+. "And I don't want to say too much about it, but it's not a Nemesis. So I know people are going to read this and be like, 'He's putting a Nemesis in there.' No, there's no Nemesis."

The film, which tells an original story centering new character Bryan, is set in the same timeline as the second game in the video game franchise. "You know, where Raccoon City is having its big night, but [we're telling] just another story that could be happening in parallel to that," he explains.

That story entails medical courier Bryan biting off more than he can chew when a fateful job takes him into the heart of zombie-infested Raccoon City.

Of course, the Nemesis appears in Resident Evil 3 rather than 2 but, as that game takes place concurrently with the second installment, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch of the imagination to wonder if the Tyrant might feature in this movie too.

The Nemesis, used as a trench coat-wearing weapon by the Umbrella Corporation, is highly intelligent and stalks the player through the game, and has become somewhat of a fan-favorite villain over the years.

Resident Evil arrives in theaters on September 18. While we wait, get up to speed with our guide to all the other upcoming video game movies on the way in 2026 and beyond.