Another year is coming to an end, and theResident Evil 9rumors are still flowing. There has been some uncertainty about whether the next game in the franchise would be another mainline numbered entry, as despiteResident Evil 4’s remake following up the eighth main gameResident Evil Village, rumors of multiple other remakes were already hot on their heels. However, if the current wave of alleged information is to be believed,Resident Evil 9could be announced at December’s 2024 Game Awards, and the increasingly large pile of leaks is becoming hard to dismiss.
Supposedly,Resident Evil 9represents the third in an RE Engine trilogy of sorts, alongsideDragon’s Dogma 2andMonster Hunter Wilds. Capcom does appear to be expanding the proprietary engine’s capabilities to include open worlds via these projects, and with one out and the other approaching,Resident Evil 9might be just around the corner. If so, it will be a huge step forward for the franchise, as it has never introduced an unbroken open world before. But the more things change, the more things stay the same, andRE9’s alleged decision to keep one character old-fashioned could end up looking strange.
Resident Evil 9 Could Mark Jill Valentine’s Return To The Games
The recent leaks forResident Evil 9are supposedly pulled from a couple of playtests that happened in 2024, with one focusing on series veteran Jill Valentine, and the other onRE2’s Leon S. Kennedy. Chris Redfield and Barry Burton are also described as being on comms for the duo, makingResident Evil 9sound like thelargest playable canon gathering ofREprotagonistssinceResident Evil 6. It will be nice to see these friendly faces again, especially sinceRE9is supposedly the farthest game in the continuity yet, though that comes with its own share of issues.
Jill’s Old Look Doesn’t Line Up With Resident Evil’s Timeline
While a lot ofResident Evil’s protagonists begin the series in their 20s, the series’ attempts to roughly keep pace with real life means they are in their 40s and 50s now. Jill Valentine in particular is speculated to be around 50 if theRE9leaks are right about the game’splace inResident Evil’s chronology, but that makes her appearance stand out. Whereas other characters like Leon are described as looking appropriately middle-aged, Jill is said to look just as young as she was in all of her prior appearances. Considering her estimated age, and how starkly she compares to Leon, Capcom has some explaining to do.
An Explanation For Jill In Resident Evil 9 Is Necessary
Street Fighter 6’s middle-aged Chun-Li is a recent example of this exact phenomenon in another Capcom game, albeit more fitting forStreet Fighter’s less grounded setting — and arguably less pronounced than Jill, if the leaks are accurate. Jill’s major appearances includeResident Evil 1,3,5, andRevelations, not to mention thecanon 2023Resident EvilmovieDeath Island, and her clothing and hair color are the biggest changes between them.Death Islandis set a couple of years beforeResident Evil Biohazard, and even then Jill’s youth was at odds with Leon’s increasingly grizzled features.
Recent Resident Evil Lore Can Help RE9 Explain Jill’s Condition
Fortunately, there is an explanation for Jill’s apparently frozen age. According toDeath Island, the T-Virus infection and vaccine Jill gained duringResident Evil 3, combined with further infections and natural antibodies during her pre-RE5period in Albert Wesker’s captivity, has slowed her aging. Wesker’s mind control device was responsible forJill’s other superhuman feats in herRE5boss fight, but at least Jill got something good out of the ordeal.Resident Evil 9needs to clarify this obscure lore detail if it stars Jill again, but at least it means the series should have one familiar face around for a long time.
