A Few Good Men, This Is Spinal Tap, and The Princess Bride director Rob Reiner has been found dead in his Brentwood, Los Angeles home, alongside his wife, Michele. Reiner was 78. CNN has reported that the LAPD has explained it is investigating an apparent homicide.

A spokesperson for the Reiner family has confirmed the deaths and has asked for privacy on behalf of the family in the wake of the tragedy.

Rob Reiner’s long career in entertainment began gaining steam when he was cast as Michael Stivic on the 1970s US sitcom All in the Family, the son-in-law of lead character Archie Bunker. However, while Reiner won two Emmy Awards for his work on the show and would continue to find himself in front of the camera in various roles over the years, it was behind the camera that he established his reputation as an extremely versatile and capable director.

Reiner’s directorial debut was the music mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap in 1984. Reiner followed this much-loved cult comedy with the 1986 coming-of-age drama Stand By Me, the 1987 fantasy adventure The Princess Bride, the seminal romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally… in 1989, an adaptation of the Stephen King thriller Misery in 1990, and the Academy Award-nominated military courtroom drama A Few Good Men in 1992. Reiner’s most recent film was this year’s Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, making his final film the long-awaited sequel to his first.

Born in The Bronx, New York in 1947, Reiner was the son of legendary actor, comedian, director, and writer Carl Reiner (whose own seven-decade career began back during the golden age of television alongside fellow comedy icon Mel Brooks).

Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the entire first season of IT: Welcome to Derry!

Fans of Stephen King’s novels will know that these tales of small-town terror and tortured souls aren’t simply standalone stories. They’re all part of a larger storytelling multiverse, and crossovers can and do frequently happen. That’s certainly true for IT: Welcome to Derry – not only is this series a prequel to the It movies, it also includes nods to other King characters and storylines.

With the first season having ended its run on HBO Max, we figured now is a great time to break down the key Stephen King easter eggs in Welcome to Derry and explore how the series takes advantage of the King multiverse. And if the finale is any indication, we’re just getting started.

What Is Bill Skarsgård’s Villain Pennywise?

With Welcome to Derry taking place 27 years before the events of 2017’s It, it should come as no surprise that there aren’t many returning actors for this prequel. Coming into the series, the only confirmed veteran of the series was Bill Skarsgård, who is once again playing the demonic, shapeshifting villain, It (whose favorite form is Pennywise the Dancing Clown). Though we do ultimately get a few unexpected cameos in Episode 8, including Sophia Lillis’ Bev Marsh and Finn Wolfhard’s Richie Tozier on a missing child flyer.

We don’t actually see Skarsgård's Pennywise until Episode 5, but the character’s nefarious influence is certainly felt throughout the season. If there’s any takeaway from the series, it’s that Derry was a cursed place long before the Losers Club clashed with Pennywise for the first time.

With Pennywise being such an important part of the series, it’s worth taking a step back to explore what exactly this character is and how he fits into King’s monster multiverse. The It novel establishes that It is an alien entity created in the void outside the universe. It eventually crashed on Earth via an asteroid millions of years ago, at which point it took up residence in the area that would become Derry, Maine. We see this origin story play out during Episode 4's flashback sequence.

Ever since people began to settle in Derry, It has shown a pattern of emerging for a year or two to seek victims and feast on their fear; it is essentially a psychic vampire. After gorging itself, It then goes into hibernation for 27 years before reawakening and starting the cycle all over again. It tends to target children because their fears are more primal and easier to exploit.

It/Pennywise is easily one of the most terrifying creatures in King’s massive library, but it’s not necessarily unique. King’s Dark Tower novels establish that the multiverse was once bathed in a mystical energy source called the Prim. When the Prim receded like an ocean tide, it left behind a great many supernatural creatures embedded in the worlds of creation; Pennywise is just one of many of those monsters. One of the Dark Tower books even introduces a cousin of sorts – a similar psychic vampire who feeds on laughter rather than fear.

The Hanlon Family

Welcome to Derry may not feature many returning characters, but it does feature one family that should be very familiar to fans of the films. The first episode introduces Jovan Adepo’s Leroy Hanlon; Leroy is the grandfather of Mike Hanlon, who was played in the films as a child by Chosen Jacobs and as an adult by Isaiah Mustafa.

Welcome to Derry shows us how the Hanlon family first came to settle in Derry in 1962. Leroy is a decorated and well-respected Air Force major who is recruited by General Shaw (James Remar) to work on a top-secret program. Little by little, Leroy becomes exposed to the darkness lurking beneath the idyllic facade of Derry and the racism still rampant in the ranks of the military. In Episode 2, Leroy learns that Shaw is working to harness a weapon that can instill absolute fear in America's enemies. Apparently, Shaw wants to weaponize It, though the full extent of his plan doesn’t become clear until Episode 7.

Episode 2 introduces Taylour Paige as Leroy’s wife, Charlotte, and Blake Cameron James as his son, Will, neither of whom seems particularly enamored with their new home. But, however bad things get this season - and they do get pretty bad - the big takeaway is that nothing is going to drive this family out of Derry.

Marge or Margaret?

Matilda Lawler’s Marge Truman has a nasty run-in with It in the Season 1 finale, where we get some surprising insight into this terrible creature. It experiences time Doctor Manhattan-style, where past, present, and future all bleed together. It recognizes Marge as her adult self. She’s destined to become Maggie Tozier, mother to Richie Tozier, one of the central characters in both It movies. In the process, it’s implied that Maggie names her son in honor of Arian S. Cartaya’s Rich, who so heroically sacrificed himself to save her from the fire.

The Shining’s Dick Hallorann

Welcome to Derry is going to draw on more than just the It movies and novel; that much has been apparent ever since a trailer included a shot of a Shawshank Prison bus. But in what is easily the most significant King easter egg so far, the series’ cast includes a major character from The Shining: Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk).

Fans of The Shining and its sequel, Doctor Sleep, will remember that Dick is the head chef at the Overlook Hotel in Colorado. Because he has the psychic aptitude known as “the shine,” Dick is more sensitive than most to the many ghosts haunting the Overlook’s halls. Dick becomes rightfully concerned when he senses that young Danny Torrance, the son of winter caretaker Jack Torrance, shines especially brightly, and is therefore a ripe target for those ghosts. Eventually, Dick is forced to brave the harsh Colorado winter in order to rescue Danny and his mother from the hotel’s wrath.

Welcome to Derry takes place nearly two decades before The Shining; at this stage, Dick is serving on the same Derry Air Force base as Leroy Hanlon. We only catch a brief glimpse of Dick in Episode 1, but he seems intently interested in Leroy, as if he can sense something is supernaturally amiss with the major.

Episode 2 provides more context for Dick's presence in Derry and his interest in Leroy. Dick is using his psychic abilities to help the Air Force dig up and harness the slumbering It. Dick seems to sense that Leroy is special in his own way. A bullet to his brain has robbed Leroy of the ability to feel fear, which makes him uniquely capable of standing up to It. And over the course of the season, Leroy slowly comes to terms with the fact that Dick truly does have supernatural abilities.

Unsurprisingly, Dick plays a central role in battling It in this series. Just as at the Overlook, Dick’s powers will make him more aware than most adults of the danger lurking underneath the town. It even targets Dick specifically, hoping to draw extra sustenance from his psychic abilities, much like the vampires in Doctor Sleep.

That's basically what happens in Episode 5, when It singles out Dick in the sewers and preys on his fear of his late grandfather. As established in Doctor Sleep, Dick had a loving relationship with his grandmother, who shared his shine ability, but he lived in constant terror of his "Black Grandpa," a monstrously cruel and vindictive man. Dick developed a technique of shutting away his fears inside metaphysical lockboxes in his mind. Here, Dick is forced by the spectre of Black Grandpa to open his lockbox, freeing all the ghosts that had been trapped away and causing Dick to once again see dead people.

By the end of the season, Dick overcomes his fears and the burden of his powers to help put It back in a cage. The series ends with Dick walking away from the military and embarking on a career as a chef. As he puts it, “How much trouble can a hotel be?” Yeah, about that…

Click here to learn more about Episode 5 connects to Doctor Sleep.

The Shining's Calumet Baking Powder

Episode 2 incldues another fun The Shining Easter egg, as we see a stack of Calumet Baking Powder cans in the grocery store, all displaying that iconic logo of an Indian chief. These cans were also seen in Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of The Shining, part of the Overlook Hotel's extensive larder.

The exact significance of the cans and the Indian logo has been the source of much debate over the years, with some arguing (like in the documentary Room 237) that Kubrick was trying to include subtle commentary about American imperialism and the genocide of Native Americans. The Indian chief image may also speak to the ancient history of the supernatural terrors in this world. Again, It has been in Derry for a very long time.

Juniper Hill Asylum

Episode 2 also introduces another iconic King landmark in Juniper Hill Asylum. We learn that Lily (Clara Stack) was previously committed there after the death of her father, and she's forced to return at the end of the episode after suffering through another of It's terrifying hallucinations.

Juniper Hill appears in the original IT novel as well as numerous other King works, from Insomnia to Needful Things to The Dark Half. It's a place every bit as twisted as you'd expect from a psychiatric institution in Stephen King's multiverse.

Shawshank State Prison

Along with Juniper Hill, the series also introduced another very recognizable facility in the form of Shawshank State Prison. The wrongfully imprisoned Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider) is doomed to be imprisoned there, even as Charlotte fights to clear his name. Though ultimately, he manages to avoid being imprisoned there.

Shawshank was most famously featured in King's 1982 novella "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption," which was later adapted into the 1994 movie The Shawshank Redemption. Both versions of the story follow the plight of Andy Dufresne, a man imprisoned for decades at the hellish prison after being convicted of murdering his wife. Shashank was also heavily featured in Castle Rock, another series notable for bringing together pieces of the King multiverse.

Project Arrowhead

Episode 4 features a quick shot of a building called the Arrowhead Motel. This may be a reference to the Arrowhead Project, a top-secret government program referenced in King books like The Mist. There, the Arrowhead Project is aimed at creating an interdimensional window allowing the military to peer into other realities. Obviously, General Shaw and his men have a very different goal in mind in Welcome to Derry, but the general theme of the military tampering with otherworldly forces remains in play.

The Real Mrs. Kersh

In Episode 5 we learn a lot more about Madeline Stowe's character, Ingrid Kersh, including that she's the secret lover of Stephen Rider's Hank Grogan. The simple fact that her last name is Kersh is definitely intriguing. That's the name of the old woman who lives in Bev's childhood home in IT: Chapter Two. That woman turns out to be nothing more than another manifestation of It. But it would seem that, at one point, she was a real person, and she did her best to help the children affected by It's evil.

At least, that's what we thought until Episode 6. Now we know that Ingrid has some real demons of her own. We learn that It's Pennywise form was inspired by her own father's clown persona, and now Ingrid is actively feeding It innocent children as a means of achieving some sort of twisted family reunion.

By the end of the season, Ingrid is herself locked away in Juniper Hill, doomed to spend the rest of her life painting and pining for her “papa.” But in the final scene, we discover that Bev had an earlier run-in with the real Mrs. Kersh as a child.

Salem's Lot

Episode 6 contains a pair of slim but intriguing references to King's iconic vampire novel Salem's Lot. The first is that Mrs. Kersh's and her father Bob apparently vacationed in Cumberland County, the area where the doomed town of Jerusalem's Lot is located. The other comes when the lynch mob references "the Boone brothers," two characters at the center of the 1978 short story "Jerusalem's Lot."

The Importance of the Turtle

Welcome to Derry’s first episode includes another important, albeit more subtle, easter egg in the form of a charm on Lily’s bracelet – a turtle, a creature with deep significance in King lore. We see another turtle reference in Episode 4, when the Indian tribe buries one of the pieces of the meteorite inside a turtle shell. Episode 8 drops another reference still, as Rose concocts a potion for Dick made from maturin root. Maturin is also the name of the Turtle god in King’s novels. And who can forget the bumbling turtle mascot from Derry High School?

Getting back to It’s cosmic origins, this demon was created at the same time as a benevolent turtle entity; the Turtle is It’s polar opposite and a sign of strength to the members of the Losers Club. The Turtle is also one of the 12 animals featured in the Dark Tower books who guard “The Beams,” invisible energy forces that lead directly to the titular tower at the center of existence.

We’d expect to see multiple turtle references in this series, all meant to serve as reminders that there are other forces at work in Derry beyond It/Pennywise…and not all of them are so sinister.

The 12 Pillars

Episode 4 reveals a lot about the history of It in Derry and how this demonic entity was clashing with the local Native American tribe long before white settlers came to the area. We even learn that the tribe has a legend about the heroic warrior who imprisoned It centuries ago. According to the story, the tribe buried 13 pieces of the meteorite that originally carried It to Earth. 12 of these pieces form a ring around It's woodland territory, while the 13th is located at the center of the ring. As long as that circle remains unbroken, It's evil is contained to the Derry area.

This circular structure is almost definitely meant to be a reference to King's Dark Tower novels. In Mid-World, the place where heroic gunslinger Roland Deschain carries out his long quest to find the titular tower, there are 12 portals forming a great ring around the planet. The beams mentioned above start at these portals and move inward, converging on the Dark Tower in the center. Each of the 12 portals is protected by a Guardian of the Beam, like Maturin the Turtle and Shardik the Bear. It's prison is clearly mimicking the structure of the Dark Tower itself.

We probably won't see any more overt references to the Dark Tower books than this, as Warner Bros. doesn't hold the rights to those stories. Instead, The Haunting of Hill House's Mike Flanagan is currently developing a Dark Tower TV series for Amazon. Still, it's a fun nod for hardcore King fans.

The Second Hand Rose

Episode 2 establishes a key throwback to 2019's IT: Chapter Two with the scene at the Second Hand Rose thrift shop. In the movie, that shop is run by Stephen King's character (that same character cameos as a younger man here), and it's where Bill Denbrough buys his beloved Schwinn bicycle. Back in 1962, it's where Leroy purchases a telescope for his son Will.

Like the turtle, the rose is an image with special significance in King's work, and it also ties back to the Dark Tower books and their central protagonist, Roland Deschain. The rose is a symbol of goodness and purity, though we definitely get a slightly creepy vibe from the shop in this series. If anything, we can't help but be reminded of Needful Things and its infamous shop of horrors.

On the other hand, the shop's current owner, Kimberly Norris Guerrero's Rose, is a major focus of the series, and she seems to be one of the few genuinely good people in Derry. She and her friends have been keeping Derry safe from It’s wrath for centuries. Or, as safe as they can manage, anyway. And now that responsibility is shared by the Hanlons.

Setting Up Welcome to Derry: Chapter 2

Welcome to Derry’s final episode ends with the reveal that this isn’t meant to be a standalone, single-season project, but the start of a larger prequel series. This is Welcome to Derry: Chapter 1, and we get some clues as to what’s coming in the planned second season.

Most notable here is the aforementioned reveal that It is basically unstuck in time and has awareness of the future and his inevitable death at the hands of the Losers Club. We learn that this is why It targeted Marge. It wants to kill the parents before their children can grow to become a threat.

Is It actually capable of changing the past and altering the future, a la Terminator? That remains to be seen. But it’s implied that It will try again in another, even earlier cycle, meaning another group of emotionally fragile youngsters will have to rise up. At the same time, the series may continue to focus on the aftermath of the 1962 cycle, as we see what challenges Rose and the Hanlons face in keeping It dormant under Derry and preventing others from trying to harness the slumbering god’s power.

It’s very likely that Welcome to Derry Chapter Two will showcase some of the other tragedies from Derry’s troubled history. That includes the Kitchener Ironworks explosion in the 1908 cycle and the Bradley Gang massacre in the 1935 cycle, both of which are depicted in the show’s animated opening credits. This town has seen a lot of death and misery over the decades, and It has often been at the center of it all.

For more on IT: Welcome to Derry, check out our review of the series premiere and see director Andy Muschietti break down the shocking ending to Episode 1.

Note: This article was originally published on 10/27/2025 and updated on 12/14/2025 with the latest information about IT: Welcome to Derry.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.

It: Welcome to Derry has spent its entire first season attempting to soup up the supplemental material in Stephen King’s novel to a degree where it’s able to stand on its own while retaining the essential King-ness at its heart. With “Winter Fire” bringing the season to a close, Welcome to Derry sees the show achieving that goal, with a finale that keeps big emotions at the center of big spectacle… although that spectacle does become increasingly ridiculous as it spirals. Then again, endings do tend to get a little complicated in the world of Stephen King.

“Winter Fire” opens with the stakes skyrocketing immediately. A dense layer of fog (but not “Mist;” they pointedly do not say “mist” at any point) plunges Derry into chaos, giving much of the episode the feel of a disaster movie. At first blush, this seems to be part of the military “cleanup” hinted at by General Shaw a couple episodes ago. The confused reactions on the part of the soldiers who first detect the phenomenon, however, muddy the waters on that score and suggest it may be the backfiring results of destroying one of the pillars in last week’s episode. Though the rationale for blanketing Derry in moody, atmospheric fog isn’t well justified, the environment does serve as a creepy, engaging setting for the ensuing race against Pennywise. I remain shaken by the god-awful CG in the cemetery scene from Episode 3, so it was a relief that at least the visual effects in the finale seemed a lot more thoughtfully designed and deployed, even if the presence of the fog is not well explained. Guess that’s just the price of admission for cool shots like a procession of catatonic kids floating over the ice, or Pennywise’s monster-bird form making a terrifying beeline for our heroes through that fog.

I have a dangerous habit of replaying favourites instead of starting something new, so a deals list like this is usually what finally pushes me over the line. I have played the overwhelming majority of these, argued about the rest, and regretted paying full price for at least two of them in the past.

Contents

• Retro
• Nintendo
• Xbox
• PlayStation
• PC
• PC Gear
• LEGO

This Day in Gaming 🎂

In retro news, I am lighting a 38-candle cake for Punch-Out!!, an absolute knockout of a NES classic. I was there in 1987, controller clenched, staring up at those towering sprites through Little Mac's gloves, trying to read tells and rhythms like it was a real fight tape. Punch-Out did not feel like a sports sim at all. It was a puzzlefest that happened to go upside your thinkin’ machine if you got it wrong.

What made this magic was how readable and human it felt. Every opponent was a personality, not just a stat sheet, from Glass Joe's tragic fragility to Bald Bull's screen-shaking charge. The star punch system rewarded patience and pattern recognition, and it’s still the most satisfying uppercut in gaming this side of Mortal Kombat’s D+HP. Lastly, beating Iron Mike Tyson in the endgame made you a schoolyard legend. Can confirm.

Disney’s animated blockbuster Zootopia 2 has overtaken the live-action Lilo & Stitch movie to become the highest-grossing Hollywood release of 2025 and just the third film to make over $1 billion at the global box office.

After three weekends, Zootopia 2 has now made $1.13 billion worldwide, with the majority of that money made internationally (specifically, in China). The domestic haul is now up to $259 million, and the international total is at an incredible $877.7 million. Lilo & Stitch ended its theatrical run earlier this year with $1.03 billion worldwide. But Zootopia 2 still has some way to go before it catches up with the biggest movie of 2025, Ne Zha 2, which made an eye-watering $1.9 billion theatrically. Disney has now had five billion-dollar releases since 2013: Frozen; Frozen 2; Moana 2; Zootopia; and Zootopia 2.

IGN's Zootopia 2 review returned an 8/10. We said: "Zootopia 2 sends ZPD’s first ever bunny-fox detective duo back onto the case of some of the weightiest issues we face as a society, and they brought all the animal puns with them."

Meanwhile, undeterred by a mauling from critics, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 has made $174 million after two weekends in theaters. While the sequel seems unlikely to match its predecessor’s $292 million global box office haul back in 2023, it’s a clear hit for Blumhouse, which, according to Variety, spent just $36 million on the horror film. IGN’s Five Nights at Freddy's 2 review returned a 3/10. We said: “Five Nights at Freddy's 2 gives sequels, video game adaptations, and gateway horror movies a bad name.”

Wicked: For Good is now on $468 million globally (it looks like ending its theatrical run a decent way behind 2024’s Wicked, which hit an impressive $758 million globally), Now You See Me, Now You Don't is on $214 million, and The Running Man is up to $68 million (more here on The Running Man’s box office stumble). And finally, James L. Brooks’ Ella McKay made just $2.1 million domestically during its opening weekend.

As the year nears its end, one final blockbuster is set to hit theaters: James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash. It’s another crucial release for Disney, which is reportedly releasing four different Avengers: Doomsday trailers to push fans into seeing it multiple times at theaters.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

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Disney reportedly has a plan to encourage repeat viewings of Avatar: Fire and Ash in theaters — and it involves four different Avengers: Doomsday trailers.

Amid intense speculation that Avengers: Doomsday will finally get its debut trailer this month a full year before its December 18, 2026 release date, The Hollywood Reporter said Disney plans to roll out four different Avengers: Doomsday trailers over the course of four weeks, with each enjoying a run in theaters for seven days before being replaced by the next. And it’s all — allegedly — designed to get bums on seats for Avatar: Fire and Ash.

Avatar: Fire and Ash has a December 19 release date, so if THR is right about this, we’ll have our first Avengers: Doomsday trailer in just a few days. Marvel declined to comment.

Rumors had swirled around online about the Avengers: Doomsday trailer being tied to Avatar: Fire and Ash in some way, but this would certainly be a unique rollout. Now, fans are speculating about how this might work. Some are suggesting each trailer will revolve around a different superhero team (The Avengers, The New Avengers / Thunderbolts, The Fantastic Four, The X-Men). But it could be a lot less interesting than that and the trailer may simply be ever so slightly changed week-on-week, with a few extra shots here and there.

Avatar: Fire and Ash is of course a crucial release for Disney. The special effects-heavy Avatar films cost a huge amount of money to produce, but they have historically made billions of dollars at the box office. Avatar: Fire and Ash is expected to follow suit — and the pressure is on it to deliver for Disney so director James Cameron can realize his vision and release Avatar 4 and 5 over the next six years.

But Cameron has sounded words of caution recently. Speaking on The Town with Matthew Belloni podcast, Cameron admitted he was feeling nervous about Avatar: Fire and Ash’s box office performance, and was mindful of the “forces” working against theatrical releases in 2025.

There’s the potential for “sequelitis,” Cameron noted. "People tend to dismiss sequels unless it’s the third Lord of the Rings film and you want to see what happens to everybody, which in my mind this is — this is the culmination of a story arc, but that may not be how the public sees it.” And there’s the “one-two punch” of streaming and Covid, which means fewer people are going to the movies — 75% of the number in 2019, Cameron suggested.

When pressed on how much Avatar: Fire and Ash cost to make, Cameron wouldn’t be drawn into divulging a figure, only suggesting it was a lot of money, and so the movie will have to make a lot of money to turn a profit. “It is one metric f**k ton of money, which means we have to make two metric f**k tons of money to make a profit,” he said. “I have no doubt in my mind that this movie will make money. The question is, does it make enough money to justify doing it again?”

Well, one way to help with that is to show four different Avengers: Doomsday trailers ahead of screenings of Avatar: Fire and Ash for a month!

On the issue of Avatar's box office, Cameron admitted he was “absolutely” ready to walk away from Avatar if Fire and Ash flops. “I’ve been in Avatar land for 20 years,” he said. “Actually 30 years because I wrote it in ‘95, but I wasn’t working continuously on it for those first 10 years. Yeah, absolutely, sure. If this is where it ends, cool.”

As for Avatar: Doomsday, last week a listing for a trailer popped up on the Korean Ratings Board with a runtime of 1 minute and 25 seconds. It sounds like it won't be long until we finally get a sense of what to expect from the film.

Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Actor Peter Greene has died aged 60.

His manager, Gregg Edwards, confirmed to NBC News that Greene was found dead inside his Lower East Side apartment in New York City on Friday, December 12. The cause of death is unknown at this time.

The Daily News reported that Greene was found in his apartment after neighbors reported hearing Christmas music playing inside for several days. According to the Daily News, police indicated his death did not appear to be suspicious, with an autopsy scheduled.

Greene was best known for playing villains, perhaps most famously sadistic security guard Zed in Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 movie Pulp Fiction, and antagonist Dorian Tyrell in Jim Carrey’s 1994 comedy, The Mask.

But he played villains in many other movies, such as Bryan Singer’s 1995 crime thriller The Usual Suspects, Judgment Night, Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, Training Day, and The Bounty Hunter. More recently, Greene played Uncle Charlie in John Wick prequel spinoff TV show The Continental.

Edwards told NBC News: “Nobody played a bad guy better than Peter. But he also had, you know, a gentle side that most people never saw, and a heart as big as gold.”

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In the wake of Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic’s big announcement at The Game Awards, you might have seen social media posts saying the game won't be out until 2030. Director Casey Hudson has now stepped in to address those posts, insisting the game will be out before then.

Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic is in development at Edmonton, Alberta-based developer Arcanaut Studios, which Hudson and his partners only founded in July. It stole the show at The Game Awards with a flashy, tantalising CG trailer that contained no gameplay. But fans are particularly excited because Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic is billed as the spiritual successor to the much-loved Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which Hudson directed while at BioWare.

So where did all the “not till 2030” posts come from? It seems a social media comment from Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, in which he called a 2030 release window an “optimistic guess” based on the fact the studio was founded this year, ended up being framed elsewhere online as “Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic may not release until at least 2030.”

Now, Hudson himself has stepped in. “Don’t worry about the ‘not till 2030’ rumors,” Hudson tweeted. “Game will be out before then. I’m not getting any younger!”

Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic is in “early development,” so it still feels a fair while away. But based on Hudson’s comment, it will launch at some point in 2029 at the latest, which is four years away. In that time, Hudson will need to build out his new studio (almost certainly a factor in announcing the game so early), which will be a huge effort all on its own, as well as build what is expected to be a high quality AAA game with huge fan expectations.

Details are thin on the ground, but we do have some top-line information as well as enthusiasm from LucasFilm Games, which is collaborating with Arcanaut Studios on the project. Obviously Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic is set in the Old Republic era, given its name. It’s a “narrative-driven single-player action RPG” where you “step into the role of a Force user on a journey through a galaxy on the edge of rebirth.” We’re told players can expect an experience “where every decision deepens their journey toward light or darkness.” It sounds a lot like KOTOR, and while it may end up feeling a lot like KOTOR, Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic is a completely new and different story that will introduce new characters.

“We’re still early in development, with many challenges ahead,” Hudson said in a blog post on StarWars.com. “I’m grateful to have enjoyed the support of KOTOR fans for many years, and I look forward to embarking upon this journey together, sharing more of what we’re doing as soon as we can!”

Despite Hudson’s comment reassuring fans, there is some debate about whether Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic will end up missing the current generation of consoles and end up launching on the PlayStation 6 and the next Xbox, as well as PC. Time will tell.

Be sure to check out everything announced at The Game Awards 2025 for more, as well as the winners list in full.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Spoilers follow for IT: Welcome to Derry Episodes 1-7.

Episode 7 of IT: Welcome to Derry introduced us to Bob Gray, a character briefly glimpsed in the movie IT Chapter Two but one who is of great interest to fans of Stephen King’s creation. Essentially, Bob Gray is the original, human Pennywise, whose form It began to favor taking to hunt the children of Derry. Now Welcome to Derry is finally telling his story.

Andy Muschietti, who directed the IT movies and developed Welcome to Derry with his sister/producing partner Barbara Muschietti and co-showrunner Jason Fuchs, told me that the goal of the show was always to dig into the “big enigmas” that are presented in the Stephen King book. He felt that King intentionally created an incomplete puzzle, with cryptic characters and events that lent themselves to being further explored. And chief among them was the character of Bob Gray, aka the man who would become Pennywise.

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Audible's new Harry Potter full-cast audiobook series is already receiving its second entry. This new form of the Harry Potter books kicked off just last month with a unique interpretation of The Sorcerer's Stone, and you'll soon be able to listen to the second book starting on December 16.

Looking for a cheap (under $20) item that's sure to be a hit for your tech-savvy giftee? Then check out this really run STEM toy for both kids and adults, now on sale at a pretty deep discount. Amazon is currently offering Amazon Prime members the Syma S107H-E RC Helicoptor for just $19.88 after you apply coupon code "N5NYAFZR". According to camelcamelcamel, the price has hovered consistently around $50 for most of the year. Everything you need to get off the ground is included, including the remote control and rechargeable batteries.

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The Lord of the Rings has maintained its cultural significance since the 1950s through books, movies, and now television, expanding a fandom that stretches across generations, which makes it an excellent starting point as you shop for the One Gift in 2025. Now that the holidays are almost here, a good LotR gift idea could be just what you need to bring some Middle-earth flavored joy into the equation.

Top The Lord of the Rings Gifts

There’s no shortage of options for the Lord of the Rings fans in your life, so we’ve narrowed down the best gifts across different areas of interest, from must-have movie and book sets to collectibles of all kinds. There's a little something for everyone here.

Gifts for Fans of the Books

Gifts for Fans of the Movies

Gifts for Fans of LEGO

Gifts for Fans of Board Games

Gifts for Fans of Magic the Gathering

Gifts for Chronic Puzzlers

There are a lot of great jigsaw puzzles for adults out there. If anything, there are way too many options to choose from. Because of this, it can sometimes help to narrow down your search to a specific franchise you love and then start looking for options within that. You can never go wrong with a puzzle depicting one of your favorite stories or characters, and the end result can sometimes even be display worthy.

One such franchise that has some great puzzle options is The Lord of the Rings. J.R.R. Tolkien's world has been expanded beyond books to be portrayed in movies, video games, and even LEGO sets, so it shouldn't be too surprising that there are some enticing jigsaw options too. I've found seven of the best best Lord of the Rings puzzles that are available online right now. All of these would make for a great gift for any adult LotR fan in your life.

TL;DR — These Are the Best Lord of the Rings Puzzles

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Puzzle

Best Overall

Holiday shoppers, there's still time. We're still in that peak window where you can reliably get your orders delivered before Christmas, often with free shipping. If you've missed out on the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals bonanza, don't fret. You still have opportunities to pick up some amazin gifts for the holidays and save a ton of money while you're at it. There are plenty of great deals on popular tech products like gaming handhelds, AirPods, video games, and more. In fact, most of these prices are lower than what I saw during Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

Xbox Ally Z2 A Windows Edition

The new LEGO Goonies set is just about perfect. It is a LEGO Ideas set, which means that a fan pitched a proof-of-concept model, which the LEGO community voted on. After approving the set, the LEGO designers formalized an "official build" of the original idea. The fan gets a percentage of the subsequent profits – a finder's fee or his or her contribution.

The set's 12 minifigures account for the film's entire main cast: Mike “Mikey” Walsh, Clark “Mouth” Devereaux, Richard “Data” Wang, Lawrence “Chunk” Cohen, Andrea “Andy” Carmichael, Stephanie "Stef" Steinbrenner, Brandon "Brand" Walsh, Sloth, Mama Fratelli, Francis Fratelli, Jake Fratelli, and One-Eyed Willy. On its outside, the set is a wreck of The Inferno, One-Eyed Willy's ship. On the inside, it is a tribute to every major set piece in the film. This is a thorough build that doesn't miss a narrative beat.

The LEGO Goonies set comes in a stylized box with a massive, detachable Copper Bones Skeleton Key on its front. Opening the box reveals a smaller, standard box inside, which contains 21 plastic bags – apparently, LEGO is still transitioning from plastic to paper. The instructions are spread across two instruction booklets. There is a single sticker sheet, but thankfully, most of the graphic elements are printed onto the bricks themselves, which will save you the anxiety of setting them on straight.

You build the set in four main chunks, which are fastened together at pin connection points to form the ship. The build felt like it took longer than it usually does, thanks to a whole lot of small, angular pieces. The process can occasionally feel fussy, because you're counting studs to ensure that every detail is in its right place. There's nothing so satisfying as bringing the two halves of the ship together, and having them meet in the middle. And there's nothing so demoralizing as being a single row off and having to redouble your efforts.

The build is fragile while you're putting it together. The designers incorporated holes to create the impression of rotting wood, which occasionally compromises structural integrity. But once the entire build is complete, the bricks reinforce against each other to create a stasis, and the set is sturdy enough to move around and place on the shelf of your choice.

There are so many little, neat details scattered throughout the build. Mikey, for example, has his inhaler, and Sloth has his Superman shirt with suspenders. Mama Fratelli (who always terrified me as a kid) has her signature black beret.

There's enough set locations in this build that if you wanted to, you could make a Goonies stop-motion movie out of it, and it would make perfect sense. There's the top floor, where Mama Fratelli gives the Goonies dirty glasses of water. There's the fireplace, which shifts to the side to reveal a hidden passage. There's the TV room where Chunk and Sloth meet for the first time, which has shackles hanging from the ceiling. There's an above-ground wishing well, which leads to a flat area covered with coins. The pirate ship area includes the Treasure room, which is covered with gold bars, doubloons, a pirate skeleton, and One-Eyed Willy himself. Elsewhere in the build, you can find the skeleton of Chester Copperpot.

Below ground is every major booby trap from the film, and most of them have mechanical functionality. Hit the organ keys, and the floor gives way. Turn the dial, and the trap door opens, leading to a bed of spikes. Crank the massive rocks up to the ceiling and then trigger them to fall, crushing the minifigures below.

LEGO The Goonies is expensive, retailing for $329.99. High prices demand a high standard, but too many companies take their audience for granted. To use a personal example: I took my family to Disneyland in California three years ago, despite increasingly prohibitive pricing. We had a great time, overall. But the most galling thing was when I went on The Haunted Mansion – my favorite ride since I was a kid. I realized that the Hitchhiking Ghosts effect – the climax of the entire experience – was broken. And when I got off the ride and asked an employee about it, she acknowledged that yes, they knew it was broken, and no, they didn't know when it would be repaired. For the prices Disney charges (at the time, $180 for a single-day pass), that's inexcusable.

"Cheap, efficient, good. Pick two," the saying goes – not one.

The simultaneous increase in price and decrease in quality – getting less while paying more – erodes brand trust, and it is an all-too-common pitfall for companies – like Disney – that make "quality" their reputation. For years, I've wondered if LEGO, in the midst of its global expansion, would fall into a similar complacency, and occasionally, I thought I saw signs of it. Because at the prices that LEGO charges, "good" is never enough. The sets have to be "great," every time.

But I'm happy to report that the LEGO Goonies set easily meets the company's highest standard. There's usually something missing – a minor character, a silly aside – even in sets that outwardly claim to be "complete." But this one follows through on its promise. I am hard pressed to think of anything noteworthy that the designers could have added but did not. It even includes the octopus, a "final boss" that was ultimately cut from the final film. That's the next-level sort of dedication that all sets like these should have.

LEGO The Goonies, set #21363, retails for $329.99, and it is composed of 2,912 pieces. It is available now, exclusively at the LEGO Store. It's currently on backorder (place an order and it will ship in 60 days), and for good reason.

Kevin Wong is a contributing freelancer for IGN, specializing in LEGO. He's also been published in Complex, Engadget, Gamespot, Kotaku, and more. Follow him on Twitter at @kevinjameswong.

Ever consider replacing your gaming headset with a pair of earbuds? Just in time for the holidays, Steelseries has dropped the price of its blemished box Steelseries Arctis Gamebuds for PlayStation 5 or PC to $125.99 (normally $200 new) with coupon code "FROST10". Get free delivery before Christmas. This is lowest price I've seen for the best dedicated gaming earbuds of 2025, even beating out Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.

Steelseries Arctis Gamebuds for $125.99

After a surge of popularity across streaming and social platforms, Canadian streaming service Crave and HBO Max announced the renewal of Heated Rivalry, the blockbuster hockey romance drama for a second season.

The announcement came from the stars of the show, Hudson Williams (who plays Shane Hollander) and Connor Storrie (who plays Ilya Rozanov) in an Instagram video. The two unwrapped a gift box which had "Heated Rivalry" written on one side of a hockey puck, and when turned over, the words, "Season 2" appeared.

Heated Rivalry is an orginal series on Crave, created by director, writer, and producer, Jacob Tierney and based off a fictional enemies-to-lovers novel by Rachel Reid, which follows rookie professional hockey players as they come up as superstar hockey players in the league, while also developing feelings for one another. Not only do they have to navigate being rivals – which the league and media are loving pushing into the limelight – but also their (somewhat confusing) feelings for one another, while hiding their personal secrets from everyone in their lives.

Give the gift of Sonos for Christmas. As part of a greater Sonos Cyber Sale on select certified refurbished sound bars, speakers, and subs, you can pick up the Sonos Arc for just $399 with free delivery before Christmas. That's nearly $500 less than its original retail price of $900. It's a better value than picking up the Arc Ultra, currently "on sale" for $879.

Sonos refurbished products go through rigorous testing; they come with all accessories, manuals, and documentation and are reshipped in "pristine" packaging. Most importantly, Sonos includes the same 1-year warranty as buying new. I like when retailers offer the same warranty as new because that means they have faith in the reliability of their refurbs.

Sonos Arc Soundbar (Refurbished)

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has officially been named Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2025, alongside multiple other wins. If that winning sweep has you jumping in for the first time (or returning for another playthrough), IGN has you covered with guides, explainers, and wikis to help you get started for your journey across The Continent.

What Is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33? Should You Play It?

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG (it's kind of like Final Fantasy VII... kind of) set in the world of The Continent. It follows a group called Expedition 33 on a mission to destroy The Paintress, a mysterious figure who wipes out anyone over a certain age in a yearly ceremony called the "Gommage."

Alongside extremely unique turn-based combat, which emphasizes various skills and parries to deal damage to bosses with "tells" and plenty of secret weak points, you and your party explore various different areas, encountering enemies, finding treasure, and discovering what happened to other Expeditions that ventured out to beat the Paintress - and failed - before. You also can also build your team to deal ridiculous combo-based damage, something that hardcore players have come to love about Expedition 33.

If you're an RPG fan but don't have time to sink 100+ hours into them, Expedition 33 may be perfect for you. If you solely focus on the main story, you can expect to roll credits in around 28 hours. With side quests, this increases to 45 hours. If you're set on completing everything, it'll take roughly 65 hours. And if you want to beat a bunch of optional bosses with crazy builds, you can do that, too. Oh and we gave Expedition 33 a great score in our review if you want a more in-depth take!

How Combat Works in Expedition 33

As mentioned previously, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 features turn-based combat, which means that everyone in battle, including enemies, attacks one at a time, rather than everyone at once - think classic Final Fantasy, Persona, or Baldur's Gate 3.

You don't just wait for enemy attacks to hit you, though. Here, one of the main selling points is the ability to parry, dodge, and jump to avoid and counter attacks. When an opponent uses a move, you're able to press a button that, when timed right, either dodges, jumps, or parries to avoid damage completely or deal damage back to them.

When it comes to your own skills, these are powered by Pictos and Luminas. Pictos are special pieces of equipment that you equip to characters to grant special benefits and increase stats. Luminas, working hand-in-hand with Pictos, are special skills that unlock after you've won a battle with a Picto four times, and can be carried over and used with every member of your party.

Builds are a crucial part of combat in Expedition 33, and you'll need to pay mind to not only your Pictos and Luminas, but weapons and attributes. No matter the character, we've got Build Guides to help you plan, so you're always suited up in the best gear and stats.

If all this sounds confusing or overwhelming to you, head to our Combat Guide that explains everything you need to know about Expedition 33's battle system in more detail, including the more intricate mechanics we haven't covered here. For more combat and party-adjacent Game Help, check out:

• Lumina Points Explained
• How to Parry
• Attributes
• Weaknesses Chart
• Status Effects List
• All Pictos List and Effects
• Best Pictos
• All Weapons
• Best Weapons

Exploration and World Design Explained

After you set off on your journey to defeat the Paintress, you'll arrive at The Continent, which is essentially a giant overworld. Not only is this how you travel to new areas during the main story, but there are also enemies that roam around, waiting to be defeated (or avoided).

In addition, The Continent is home to various collectibles to find, Optional Bosses to take down, and Side Quests to complete. If you're a completionist, you can spend hours just on The Continent overworld alone, tracking down every item, Secret, and Easter Egg possible.

Our Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 interactive map is the perfect companion tool to aid you in exploring The Continent. Not only does it lay the entire area out to help you plan your next move, but it also tracks essential locations, such as new areas, side quests, collectibles, and bosses, so you always know where to go to meet your objective.

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Through its (near-)consistent excellence, innovation, and longevity, Resident Evil games have earned their crown as the king of survival horror. Capcom debuted its world of mutants and mercenaries in 1996 and has since grown Resident Evil into a multimedia franchise that spans over two dozen console games, six films, two recent Netflix series, novels, comics, and even stage plays.

It can be an exciting franchise to explore given the amount of content it houses, though for the same reason, it can be an equally daunting series to approach in 2025. With the upcoming launch of Resident Evil: Requiem, this article focuses exclusively on video games and cuts out the convolution by presenting two ways to play only the most narratively significant and accessible Resident Evil games in order.

Jump to:

• How to play in chronological order
• How to play by release order

How Many Resident Evil Games Are There?

There are 10 core Resident Evil games: RE 0-7, Village, and Code: Veronica. However, the total number of Resident Evil console games — including spinoffs and remakes — sits around 30. That number rises near 60 when accounting for mobile and pachinko games.

Which Resident Evil Game Should You Play First?

Our overall suggestion for where to begin is with Resident Evil 4 Remake. It's the most visually/technically impressive RE remake to date and, thanks to its masterful mix of action and horror, arguably the best overall Resident Evil game in the franchise's nearly 30-year history. It's a largely self-contained story that doesn't require you to play each game that came before it.

However, if you prefer first-person horror, we recommend starting with Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. It's the beginning of the Ethan Winters storyline and an excellent game that uses the more immersive first-person camera to heighten the horror.

How to Play the Resident Evil Games in Chronological Order

For this list, we’re focusing on 12 Resident Evil games: all 10 core entries and the two Revelations spinoffs. While many others are considered canon, this is not an exhaustive chronology, but rather an approachable guide to entering and enjoying the world of Resident Evil video games.

Missing from this list are mobile and pachinko games, light gun and Wii shooters (Resident Evil Survivor, Survivor 2, Dead Aim, Umbrella Chronicles, Darkside Chronicles), and non-canonical/non-consequential/difficult to access spinoffs (Resident Evil Gaiden, Outbreak, Outbreak: File #2, Mercenaries 3D, Operation Raccoon City, Resistance, Umbrella Corps, Re:Verse)

With series newcomers in mind, the brief plot synopses below contain only mild spoilers such as broad plot points and character introductions.

1. Resident Evil 0

Resident Evil 0 is the fifth game released in the series but the first chronologically. It takes place just before the events of Resident Evil, with Special Tactics and Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S.) medic Rebecca Chambers and former marine Billy Coen discovering a train full of zombies in the Arklay Mountains (home to the Spencer Mansion). Billy and Rebecca uncover valuable information related to series villains Albert Wesker and William Birkin. We also learn more about the origins of the sinister Umbrella Corporation and its deadly T-Virus. The game wraps with Rebecca headed toward the mansion, where she’d serve as a supporting character in RE 1.

2. Resident Evil

The first Resident Evil came to PlayStation in 1996, though for those coming to the franchise in 2022, you’ll want to play the 2002 remake (or its more recent HD remaster), as it improves gameplay and expands on the story.

RE 1 picks up right after RE 0. You play as one of two S.T.A.R.S. agents — Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine — who come to the Spencer Mansion while investigating a series of murders in the woodlands outside of Raccoon City. Chris/Jill encounters the murderous, mutated victims of the T-Virus and uncovers key information about Umbrella and its biological experimentation.

3. Resident Evil 2

Taking place two months after RE 0 and 1, Resident Evil 2 introduces two new protagonists — rookie cop Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield (Chris’s sister) — each with their own connected yet distinct campaign. RE 2 also introduces the recurring character Ada Wong and the iconic Tyrant enemy.

We learn more about William Birkin and his work on an even more threatening virus called the G-virus. Leon/Claire uncover more disturbing details about the clandestine work of Umbrella, as well as its ties to the Raccoon Police Department.

Resident Evil 2 is currently available to play for free with an Xbox Game Pass subscription.

4. Resident Evil 3

The chronology gets dicey with Resident Evil 3, but for the sake of simplicity, we recommend playing it after 2. The first part of RE 3 takes place before the events of RE 2; the second part takes place after. You could play halfway through 3, pause, play through 2, then return for the second half of 3. However, playing RE 3 after 2 won’t detract from the experience or your understanding of the story. We chose to place it fourth on this list seeing as its conclusion progresses the overall narrative beyond RE 2.

You begin RE 3 as Jill Valentine, still coping with her experience from RE 1, trying to escape from an overrun Raccoon City. For part of the game, while Jill is indisposed, control shifts to her mercenary ally Carlos Oliviera. RE 3 also introduces Nemesis and reveals the fate of Raccoon City.

5. Resident Evil: Code – Veronica

Resident Evil: Code – Veronica advances the timeline by a couple of months and sees Claire Redfield continue the search for her brother Chris that began in RE 2. This time Claire’s search takes her to an Umbrella facility in France, where she escapes captivity and follows the trail to the southmost region of Earth.

Chris Redfield, one of the protagonists from the original game, returns as a second playable character in Code Veronica. Chris, like Claire, is looking for his sibling, and the search results in a meeting with series antagonist Albert Wesker.

6. Resident Evil 4

Resident Evil 4, arguably the series' most beloved entry, puts players back in the shoes of Leon Kennedy six years after his time in Racoon City during RE 2. Leon travels to a rural village in Spain on a mission to rescue the U.S. president’s daughter.

There, Leon encounters a cult and explores its ties to a mind-controlling parasite. The story that unfolds weaves together the narratives of two characters from Resident Evil's past: Albery Wesker and Ada Wong.

Read our Resident Evil 4 Remake review to see the improvements that were made since the original.

7. Resident Evil Revelations

Resident Evil Revelations is set between the events of RE 4 and 5. It explores another consequence of Umbrella’s bioweapon development and introduces players to the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA).

Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield are now BSAA agents, with Jill serving as the game’s primary protagonist. The duo head to the Mediterranean to combat the use of T-Abyss, a new variant of the T-Virus.

8. Resident Evil 5

Resident Evil 5 is set five years after RE 4. Chris Redfield, as part of the BSAA, flies to Africa with his partner Sheva Alomar to prevent the black market sale of a bioweapon. The people of Kijuju, however, have already been infected with an enhanced version of the mind-controlling parasite seen in RE 4.

It’s a larger-scale story than past Resident Evils, though Chris also embarks on the more personal mission of finding his long-lost partner, Jill Valentine. We also learn of Albert Wesker’s latest nefarious plot.

Unlike past games in the series, RE 5 can be played cooperatively; the second player controls Sheva.

9. Resident Evil Revelations 2

Resident Evil Revelations 2 is set between RE 5 and 6. It brings Claire Redfield back into the spotlight for the first time since Code Veronica. The game is split into four episodes, with each episode divided into two parts: a past sequence with Clarie and Moira Burton and a present sequence with Barry Burton (Moira's father) attempting to locate them. The story introduces another antagonistic Wesker.

10. Resident Evil 6

Resident Evil 6 is an action-heavy adventure that tells an even more sprawling (and convoluted) tale than that of RE 5. It weaves together four campaigns starring Leon Kennedy, Chris Redfield, Ada Wong, and a mercenary named Jake Muller.

The BSAA introduced in Revelations plays an important role in 6, as the quartet of protagonists work to squash the bioterrorist group Neo-Umbrella and prevent the spread of yet another mutant-creating virus (the C-Virus).

11. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

With Resident Evil 7: Biohazard Capcom reinvented the franchise in several ways: It’s RE’s return to mass acclaim and fandom following the largely disappointing fifth and sixth entries, it introduces a new protagonist in Ethan Winters, and most notably it switches the series’ longrunning perspective from third-person to first-person.

Despite all these changes, RE 7 still exists on the series canonical timeline, presumably taking place in the modern-day sometime after RE 6. The game is set in rural Louisiana, with the first part taking place in the home of the wonderfully insane Baker family. Its ties to past RE games are rather loose, though many of the series staples are here: clandestine human experimentation, bioweapons, and toward the end, a familiar face.

12. Resident Evil Village

Resident Evil Village is a continuation (and the conclusion) of Ethan Winters’s story, set three years after the events of RE 7. Biohazard and Village stand on their own as a duology of games. Though Village includes a few more ties to the series’ past, including a more prominent role for the aforementioned “familiar face” and further information about the origins of Umbrella.

A post-credits scene extends the timeline even further. We’ll save the details, but those curious can read on to the next section for a bit more context.

Bonus: Shadows of Rose DLC

Picking up shortly after Village’s post-credits scene (16 years after the main story of Village), Shadows of Rose progresses the Resident Evil timeline further than any game before it. Assuming the events of Village take place in 2021, Shadows of Rose brings the franchise into the near future of 2037.

The 3-4 hour DLC stars Ethan’s daughter Rose, who attempts to rid herself of the unwanted powers inherited from her father.

How to Play the Resident Evil Games by Release Date

• Resident Evil (1996)*
• Resident Evil 2 (1998)*
• Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999)*
• Resident Evil: Code – Veronica (2000)*
• Resident Evil 0 (2002)*
• Residet Evil 4 (2005)*
• Resident Evil 5 (2009)*
• Resident Evil: Revelations (2012)
• Resident Evil 6 (2012)*
• Resident Evil: Revelations 2 (2015)
• Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017)*
• Resident Evil Village/Shadow of Rose (2021/2022)*

*Mainline Resident Evil games

The Future of Resident Evil Games

There's plenty to look forward to from this iconic horror series. In late 2023, Capcom confirmed they're working on more RE remakes, and some reports suggest Resident Evil Zero and Code Veronica are up next.

Capcom isn't just looking to previous games, however. The studio confirmed that Resident Evil 9 was in development last year, and a full reveal trailer for what is officially titled Resident Evil Requiem was presented at Summer Games Fest.

Helmed by Resident Evil 7's director Koshi Nakanishi, the first trailer showed Raccoon City after it was destroyed in an attempt to contain the virus. The trailer also introduced Grace Ashcroft, an FBI analyst and daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft.

While some theorists were early to believe the game would feature none other than Leon Kennedy, Capcom initially outwardly denied those rumors with an interesting justification. Then, of course, Leon was revealed as the game's second protagonist at the 2025 Game Awards. Grace's gameplay will place greater emphasis on story and survival, while Leon will bring the good ol' actoin.

Resident Evil Requiem is set to launch on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch 2 (!!!) on February 27, 2026. Preorders are now live for a spread of different editions.

An RTS mobile game allegedly developed in close collaboration with Capcom, titled Resident Evil Survival Unit, is also set to hit Android and iOS in late 2025. In the meantime, Capcom's social media has presented Leon with a particular strong threat: the Duolingo owl.

Jordan covers games, shows, and movies as a freelance writer for IGN.