Netflix's new Resident Evil trailer goes all-in on action, zombies, and a giant spider

Netflix has released a new trailer for its upcoming Resident Evil series, giving fans and followers a slightly closer look at the game-inspired tale of science and zombies that's coming to small screens in July.

I'm not a Resident Evil "guy" but I do know a thing or two about zombies, and coming at it from that angle I can't say I'm super impressed with this trailer. Not that there's anything wrong with it, really, but it says nothing more about the show than the teaser (as opposed to the full trailer, which this is) released in May, and to my eye it all comes across as extremely generic.

Science: Out of hand!
Trouble: Keep it hidden!
Zombies: It's always zombies!
The Future: Well, this sucks

That's fine as far as it goes, but does it go far enough? Name recognition is obviously going to be a big factor for Resident Evil fans, but as Imogen said last month, it may not be what they're expecting—although there is definitely more of a focus on action in this video. Is that a good thing? The giant-ass spider is cool (unless you have a thing about giant-ass spiders, I suppose) but speaking just for myself, what's really going to get me interested is more of Lance Reddick as doting father/creepy mad scientist Albert Wesker. That may just be me, though.

(Now, if you want a master class in mixing characters, action, and ironically mismatched music in a zombie movie trailer, you're not going to do better than Army of the Dead—also on Netflix. Obviously there are significant budgetary differences here, but still. This is how it's done.)

Resident Evil debuts on Netflix on July 14.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.