Resident Evil fans confused after discovering canonical reason Death Island's women don't age

Resident Evil Death Island
(Image credit: Capcom)

Resident Evil's forthcoming anime movie has a new trailer, leading to many questions about why its female characters aren't ageing.

Earlier today, April 11, saw the release of a new trailer for Resident Evil: Death Island, the latest animated movie in Capcom's series, which is due to hit Netflix on July 7. The trailer finally shows characters from all across the iconic horror series teaming up, including Leon Kennedy, Chris and Claire Redfield, Rebecca Chambers, and Jill Valentine.

It's those latter three characters that have drawn some intense reactions online. The movie takes place in 2015, 17 years after Jill's first appearance in Resident Evil, Rebecca's debut in Resident Evil Zero, and Claire's entrance in Resident Evil 2. All of this has led Resident Evil fans to wonder: why aren't any of the three women ageing?

The answer, almost unbelievably, is that all three have at one point been infected with a virus that slows down their ageing. Yes, that is real, as the Twitter user below chronicles to their disbelief, because Jill was infected with the T-Virus, Rebecca was subjected to the A-Virus, and Claire suffered the T-Phobos at various points in the games.

This has been effectively dubbed the "Young and Hot Forever" virus by Resident Evil fans on Twitter. This virus might come in three distinct and different forms, but apparently, it's ace if you want to look incredibly youthful for nearly two decades, despite countless firefights and zombie encounters. Perhaps this is what Wesker was after all along.

This is all the weirder because Resident Evil's men have shown noticeable signs of ageing over the years. Chris is a gruff and bitter man by the time of Resident Evil Village, for example, while Leon went from boy scout to grizzled supercop between Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4 remake - maybe they got infected with the wrong viruses?

Still, fans are hopeful Resident Evil: Death Island will deliver on the promise of a team-up between Leon and Jill, who have somehow never met in the historic franchise until now. Considering Resident Evil's movie and TV adaptations are sometimes better forgotten, this latest entry is being met with plenty of scepticism.

Oh, and in case you missed it, Resident Evil 4 remake quietly featured a weapon from Vendetta, a previous movie adaptation in the ongoing series. 

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.