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Ever since the first game dropped in 1996, Resident Evil has been introducing gamers to an unbroken string of badasses. From franchise stalwarts like Leon S. Kennedy to one-off icons like Carlos Oliviera, the folks dealing with the Umbrella Corporation's sinister machinations have taking out as many B.O.W.s as they have been raking in the bucks. So you'd expect that, when making the next Resident Evil movie, the director would put a similar zombie-slayer at its center.

But if there's one word to describe movies from Weapons director Zach Cregger, it would be 'unexpected.'

Cregger recently sat down with Empire Magazine to discuss his upcoming reboot of the game-turned-film franchise, more specifically, the unlikely hero who will drive the narrative. In case you don't know, that protagonist is Weapons' actor Austin Abrams, who plays medical courier Bryan. And while the world Bryan finds himself thrown into will need heroes to save it... he won't be one of them.

"The concept here is that we’re following an idiot," Cregger explained, "Not that he’s stupid, but he’s not your typical game character, with no combat skills whatsoever and completely inept at survival. Bryan is very much an everyman who happens to be burdened with this kind of sacred mission that’s going to take him into the heart of everything. It’s kind of like Frodo going into Mordor."

A pretty great metaphor, Zach, although we're not thrilled about the implication that our beloved Frodo Baggins is "inept at survival." Like, no offense, but have you ever had to cave-troll-proof yourself?

Zach Cregger's Resident Evil comes to theaters September 18. For more traditional bioweapon blasting, Resident Evil Requiem is available to play right now.

In the immortal words of Danny Elfman, "Life's no fun without a good scare." Join Popverse's freaky forays into frightful filmology with:

• The best horror movies of all time, according to horror aficionado Greg Silber
• The most underrated horror movies from the past couple years
• All the new and upcoming horror movies for 2025 and beyond

And much gore. Er, more. Much more.