If there's one antagonist that the entire Resident Evil franchise is known for, in any medium, it's Albert Wesker. A member of Raccoon City's elite police force S.T.A.R.S., Wesker was revealed to secretly be on the payroll of the nefarious Umbrella Corporation, keeping his true employer's more deadly activities a secret at any cost. With Wesker confirmed to play a major role in Netflix's upcoming Resident Evil live-action television series, portrayed by acclaimed actor Lance Reddick, here's an overview of the character and what audiences may be able to expect from the character in the show.
Introduced in the original 1996 video game as the leader of S.T.A.R.S.' Alpha Team, Wesker and his squadmates investigate a series of grisly murders in the Arklay Mountains. Taking refuge from ravenous, undead dogs in a nearby mansion, the team learns that the mansion is filled with zombies and other bloodthirsty monsters before discovering it being used as a secret laboratory by Umbrella for their genetic weapon the T-Virus, designed to trigger the next stage in human evolution. Wesker betrayed the team to keep Umbrella's secret safe only to be gravely wounded by the bioengineered Tyrant when he turned on S.T.A.R.S. officers Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine.
Wesker was revealed to have survived his encounter with the Tyrant and the destruction of the mansion, having injected himself with a variant of the T-Virus granting himself accelerated healing and other superhuman abilities, including heightened speed and strength. The 2002 prequel Resident Evil Zero reveals Wesker was groomed to become an executive at Umbrella while Wesker would resurface in full during 2000's Resident Evil - Code: Veronica to torment Chris and his sister Claire, revealing how much he had transformed due to the T-Virus.
After conspiring behind-the-scenes to manipulate Ada Wong during 2005's Resident Evil 4, Wesker returned in 2009's Resident Evil 5. Here, he works with the Tricell Corporation to create a race of superhumans and install himself as their god, having killed Umbrella founder Ozwell E. Spencer and brainwashed Jill to serve as his accomplice. Chris killed Wesker seemingly for good at the end of RE5, blasting him with a rocket launcher into an active volcano to eliminate him. Wesker's legacy would live on with his son Jake Muller in 2012's Resident Evil 6, with the young man attempting to atone for his father's villainous actions by working for the BSAA.
Beyond the games, Wesker appeared in the first run of live-action movies, starting with 2007's Resident Evil: Extinction as the head of Umbrella, portrayed by Jason O'Mara. The role was recast with Shawn Roberts starting with 2010's Resident Evil: Afterlife, more closely appearing like his video game counterpart. He initially works with the team to combat Umbrella's Red Queen in 2012's Resident Evil: Retribution before betraying them and becoming the main antagonist of 2016's Resident Evil: The Final Chapter where he is killed by Alice.
The plot description for the upcoming Resident Evil series suggests a version of the franchise's events where Wesker and Umbrella's plans were relatively successful, with the world overrun by those infected with the T-Virus. As generations of Wesker's children realize their father may not be all he seems, Albert Wesker is poised to be front and center for the franchise once again as it shifts into live-action television.
Developed for television by Andrew Dabb, Resident Evil stars Lance Reddick, Ella Balinska, Tamara Smart, Siena Agudong, Adeline Rudolph and Paola Nunez. No release date has currently been set.