The Exorcist - film - sequels chronology order

The Exorcist Franchise Timeline

"The power of Christ compels you."

Based on William Peter Blatty's novel, this franchise redefined horror by grounding it in theological terror. Upon its release in 1973, it became a cultural phenomenon: audiences reportedly fainted, vomited, and fled theaters, while religious groups protested outside cinemas.

It legitimized the horror genre, becoming the first of its kind to be nominated for Best Picture.

The film's impact was amplified by its score; the haunting, repetitive piano notes of Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" transformed an obscure progressive rock track into the universal anthem of evil, instantly recognizable decades later.

Warning: Contains plot details for all released films.

The Blatty Continuity (The Holy Trinity)

The films directly associated with the original author William Peter Blatty. These are widely considered the thematic core of the saga.

The Exorcist

Year: 1973 Dir: William Friedkin

Key Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Jason Miller, Linda Blair

The Premise: In Georgetown, actress Chris MacNeil's 12-year-old daughter, Regan, begins exhibiting violent, blasphemous behavior. The film meticulously documents the failure of modern science; Regan endures brutal medical procedures (including a harrowing carotid angiography) before doctors admit defeat. Chris turns to Father Damien Karras, a psychiatrist-priest losing his faith, and the elderly Father Merrin to perform the Roman Ritual.

Themes & Legacy: Unlike slasher films, The Exorcist is a theological thriller about the silence of God. It introduced subliminal horror techniques, flashing the white-faced demon "Captain Howdy" for split seconds to unsettle the audience. The climax, where Karras invites the demon into his own body to save the girl, frames suicide as an act of Christian martyrdom.

The production was plagued by disasters, including a massive fire that destroyed the MacNeil home set (leaving only Regan's room untouched). Ellen Burstyn suffered a permanent spinal injury during a stunt, and Jack MacGowran (Burke Dennings) died shortly after filming his scenes. 

A priest was brought in to bless the set multiple times.

The Exorcist III

Year: 1990 Dir: William Peter Blatty

Key Cast: George C. Scott, Ed Flanders, Brad Dourif, Jason Miller

The Premise: Ignoring the events of Exorcist II, this film picks up 15 years later. Lieutenant Kinderman (George C. Scott) investigates a series of murders bearing the signature of the "Gemini Killer," who was executed years ago. The trail leads to a catatonic patient in a psychiatric ward who looks exactly like Father Karras. The twist reveals that Karras's body did not die at the bottom of the steps, but was possessed by the soul of the Gemini Killer at the moment of the demon's exit.

Based on Blatty's novel Legion, it is a cerebral, dialogue-heavy thriller. It famously features one of the greatest jump scares in cinema history: a single, static shot of a hospital hallway that lasts for minutes before a figure with giant shears abruptly decapitates a nurse. The film is also noted for its surreal dream sequences involving Fabio and Samuel L. Jackson.

 Originally titled Legion, Morgan Creek demanded an exorcism be added to the climax, forcing extensive reshoots. The original "Director's Cut," featuring Brad Dourif as the primary antagonist without the exorcism finale, was considered lost until it was reconstructed and released in 2016 as The Exorcist III: Legion.

The Divergent Timeline

The first sequel, which took a metaphysical turn and is largely ignored by subsequent entries.

Exorcist II: The Heretic

Year: 1977 Dir: John Boorman (Zardoz, Deliverence)

Key Cast: Linda Blair, Richard Burton, Louise Fletcher, Max von Sydow

The Premise: Four years after the original, Father Lamont is assigned to investigate the death of Father Merrin (posthumously accused of heresy). He finds Regan MacNeil, seemingly recovered, and uses a synchronized hypnosis device called the "Synchronizer" to link their minds. The journey takes them to Africa to face the origins of Pazuzu, retconned here not as a demon, but as a corrupted "Good Locust" spirit.

Themes & Legacy: Director John Boorman openly disliked the first film and attempted to make a metaphysical art film. The result was a psychedelic disaster featuring Ennio Morricone's disco-infused score and James Earl Jones in a locust costume. It was famously jeered by audiences, leading to riots in some theaters.

Production Note Linda Blair reprised her role, but Ellen Burstyn refused to return. The film attempts to retcon Regan as a "healer" with psychic powers, a plot point completely abandoned by all future films.

The Prequel Debacle (2004–2005)

This era represents a chaotic chapter in Hollywood history. Morgan Creek hired acclaimed director Paul Schrader to film a psychological prequel. Upon viewing his completed cut, the studio deemed it "too boring" and refused to release it. They then hired action director Renny Harlin to re-shoot the entire script from scratch with more gore and jump scares. When Harlin's version flopped, the studio eventually released Schrader's original version, resulting in two distinct films born from the same script.

Exorcist: The Beginning

Year: 2004 Dir: Renny Harlin

Key Cast: Stellan Skarsgård, Izabella Scorupco, James D'Arcy

The Premise: Renny Harlin's "Studio Cut." Set in 1949 Kenya, a younger Father Merrin (Stellan Skarsgård, Andor, MCU) works as an archaeologist excavating a buried Byzantine church. Harlin added a prologue involving the crucifixion of priests by Nazis to explain Merrin's loss of faith. The film focuses on the "infection" of the camp, with hyenas eating people and local tribesmen going mad.

Reception: Harlin's version was criticized for relying on cheap gore, CGI animals, and standard horror tropes. It removed the psychological ambiguity of the original script in favor of loud jump scares and a more physical manifestation of the demon.

Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist

Year: 2005 Dir: Paul Schrader

Key Cast: Stellan Skarsgård, Gabriel Mann, Clara Bellar

The Premise: Paul Schrader's "Original Cut." While it shares the same lead actor (Skarsgård) and setting, the tone is radically different. It portrays Pazuzu not as a monster, but as a "perfect" human tempter, represented by a beautiful young man named Cheche who is healed of his deformities by the possession. Merrin must battle the demon intellectually, debating the nature of evil and God's silence.

Themes: A slow-burn psychological drama. While technically unfinished (some FX are crude due to budget cuts), it is generally regarded by critics as the superior film. It frames the demon as an entity that offers "perfection" in exchange for the soul.

The Legacy Era (2023–Future)

Modern attempts to revive the franchise by ignoring the sequels and connecting directly to the 1973 original.

The Exorcist: Believer

Year: 2023 Dir: David Gordon Green

Key Cast: Leslie Odom Jr., Lidya Jewett, Olivia O'Neill, Ann Dowd, Ellen Burstyn

The Premise: Intended as the start of a new trilogy. Two young girls, Angela and Katherine, disappear in the woods and return days later with no memory and signs of synchronized possession—their heartbeats are linked, meaning if one dies, both die. The desperate parents track down Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), who is blinded by the possessed girl in a shocking twist.

Themes & Legacy: The film attempted to modernize the concept by featuring a "multi-faith" exorcism (Catholic, Baptist, Rootwork). However, it was critically panned for its lack of scares and the controversial choice to have Chris MacNeil be a victim rather than a savior. The poor reception led Universal to scrap the planned sequels Deceiver and an untitled third film.

Production Note Universal reportedly spent $400 million to acquire the rights to the franchise, putting immense pressure on this film to perform. Its critical failure caused a massive creative pivot for the studio.

The Exorcist (Untitled Reboot)

Year: 2027 (Scheduled) Dir: Mike Flanagan

Key Cast: Scarlett Johansson

The Future: Following the cancellation of the David Gordon Green trilogy, acclaimed horror director Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep) was hired to take over the franchise. He has described his take as a "radical new approach" that is not a direct sequel to Believer. Flanagan is known for his ability to blend deep emotional trauma with supernatural horror, often using long monologues to explore character psychology.

Status: Scarlett Johansson has joined the cast. The film was originally eyed for 2026 but has been pushed to March 12, 2027, to accommodate Flanagan's work on a Carrie adaptation.

X-Men Movies in Chronological Order =+ Timeline

Mutant History Chronology

The X-Men Film Universe in Chronological Order

The X-Men film series stands as a convoluted, magnificent achievement in superhero cinema. Spanning 24 years, two distinct timelines, and multiple reboots, it tracks the ideological war between Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr across nearly a century. This guide navigates the "Fox Universe" (Earth-10005) from the 1960s Cuban Missile Crisis through the revised timeline created by time travel, culminating in the multiversal crossover of 2024.

Note: The timeline was "soft rebooted" in 2014, meaning events in films set after 1973 diverge into two separate realities.

Era I: Origins and The Divergence (1962–1992)

The prequel films that established the relationship between Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr. This era serves as the foundation for both the "Original" and "Revised" timelines.

1. X-Men: First Class

Release: 2011 Setting: 1962

Set during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the film reveals the origin of the "X-Men" name and the paralysis of Charles Xavier. It introduces the Hellfire Club, led by Sebastian Shaw, who manipulates nations toward nuclear war. The climax sees Magneto kill Shaw and embrace his helmet (which blocks telepathy), officially creating the ideological split between the X-Men and the Brotherhood.

Timeline Connection: Establishes the close brotherly bond between Xavier and Mystique, a relationship that becomes the emotional hinge for the timeline reset in Days of Future Past.

Lore Note: Actress January Jones, who played Emma Frost, took the role to do something different from her 1960s-set TV show Mad Men, only to discover First Class was also set in the '60s.

2. X-Men: Days of Future Past

Release: 2014 Setting: 1973 / 2023

The fulcrum of the entire franchise. In a dystopian 2023 where Sentinels have exterminated mutants, Kitty Pryde sends Wolverine's consciousness back to 1973 to stop Mystique from assassinating Bolivar Trask. This assassination is the key event that originally authorized the Sentinel program. By stopping it, Wolverine erases the "Original Trilogy" timeline (X-Men, X2, The Last Stand) and creates a new, hopeful future.

Timeline Connection: The "New Future" shown at the end features a living Jean Grey and Cyclops, confirming that the tragic events of The Last Stand never happened in this new reality.

Lore Note: In the film's universe, President John F. Kennedy was secretly a mutant. His assassination is re-contextualized as a conspiracy against mutants.

3. X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Release: 2009 Setting: 1845–1979

A look at Logan's life before the X-Men, covering his time in the Civil War, WWI, WWII, and Vietnam alongside his half-brother Victor Creed (Sabretooth). The core plot details his time in "Team X" under William Stryker and the painful procedure that bonded adamantium to his skeleton. It culminates in a fight against "Weapon XI" — a butchered, mute version of Deadpool.

Timeline Connection: The film's version of Deadpool is universally reviled and is explicitly "cleaned up" by Ryan Reynolds via time travel in the post-credits of Deadpool 2.

Lore Note: The screenplay was co-written by David Benioff, who would later co-create HBO's Game of Thrones.

4. X-Men: Apocalypse

Release: 2016 Setting: 1983 (Revised Timeline)

Set in the new timeline created by Days of Future Past. The ancient mutant En Sabah Nur awakens and recruits Four Horsemen (including Magneto) to cleanse the earth. The film re-introduces younger versions of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, and Nightcrawler. It features a pivotal scene where a feral Wolverine escapes the Weapon X facility, gifted a small memory restoration by Jean Grey.

Timeline Connection: Shows the first flare of the Phoenix Force within Jean Grey, setting up the conflict for the next film.

Lore Note: Features the third on-screen appearance of Nightcrawler, played by Kodi Smit-McPhee (previously Alan Cumming in X2).

5. X-Men: Dark Phoenix

Release: 2019 Setting: 1992 (Revised Timeline)

The final chapter of the prequel quadrilogy. During a space rescue mission, Jean Grey absorbs a massive cosmic entity. The power corrupts her, leading to the accidental death of Mystique and a fracture within the X-Men. The film ends with Xavier retiring and the school being renamed the "Jean Grey School for Gifted Youngsters."

Timeline Connection: Unlike The Last Stand, Jean is not killed by Wolverine but evolves into a cosmic being, leaving Earth to explore the universe.

Lore Note: This is the first mainline X-Men film without Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, marking the end of an era for the Fox franchise.

Era II: The Original Trilogy (Early 2000s)

These films take place in the original timeline that was eventually erased/overwritten by the time travel in Days of Future Past.

6. X-Men

Release: 2000 Setting: ~2000

The introduction of mutants to the wider public. Rogue runs away from home after nearly killing her boyfriend with her power absorption abilities and meets Logan. They are taken in by the X-Men, who are fighting Magneto's plan to use a machine on the Statue of Liberty to forcibly mutate world leaders.

Timeline Connection: Establish the "amnesia" plot point for Logan that drives the trilogy, a direct result of the adamantium bullet he took in Origins: Wolverine.

Lore Note: In the comics, Sabretooth is an Iron Fist villain; this film cemented his connection to Wolverine in pop culture.

7. X2: X-Men United

Release: 2003 Setting: 2003

Widely considered the peak of the original trilogy. Colonel William Stryker attacks the X-Mansion to kidnap students and use Xavier's powers (via a duplicate Cerebro) to telepathically kill all mutants. The X-Men and Brotherhood form a temporary alliance. Jean Grey seemingly sacrifices herself at Alkali Lake to stop a massive flood.

Timeline Connection: Flashes of Logan's past at Alkali Lake directly reference the Weapon X procedures shown in Origins and Apocalypse.

Lore Note: The "Danger Room" set was built but the scene was cut due to budget constraints.

8. X-Men: The Last Stand

Release: 2006 Setting: 2006

The darkest chapter of the original timeline. A "mutant cure" is developed, sparking a war. Jean Grey returns as the Dark Phoenix, killing Cyclops and Professor Xavier. The film ends with Wolverine being forced to kill Jean to save the world, a trauma that haunts him for years.

Timeline Connection: The massive loss of life and political instability here leads directly to the dystopian Sentinel future seen in the opening of Days of Future Past.

Lore Note: Briefly the most expensive film ever made at the time ($210 million).

Era III: The Modern Era & The End (2013–2029)

The films that deal with the aftermath of the timeline reset, the solo adventures, and the final conclusion of the Fox Universe.

9. The Wolverine

Release: 2013 Setting: 2013

Set years after The Last Stand, Logan lives as a hermit in the Yukon, hallucinating Jean Grey. He travels to Japan to say goodbye to a dying soldier he saved in WWII, only to be stripped of his healing factor and hunted by Yakuza. He regains his spirit but loses his adamantium claws (regrowing his bone ones).

Timeline Connection: The post-credits scene features a resurrected Xavier and Magneto approaching Logan at an airport, warning him of the Sentinel threat, leading directly into Days of Future Past.

Lore Note: The "Unleashed Extended Edition" features 12 extra minutes of more brutal combat.

10. Deadpool

Release: 2016 Setting: 2016 (Revised Timeline)

Wade Wilson, a mercenary diagnosed with cancer, undergoes a rogue experiment to cure himself, leaving him disfigured but immortal. He hunts down Ajax, the man responsible. The film ignores the "Weapon XI" version from Origins entirely.

Timeline Connection: Features a scrapped Helicarrier that resembles the ones from the MCU, and explicitly jokes about the confusing timeline ("McAvoy or Stewart?").

Lore Note: Ryan Reynolds' muscle mass was so significant that the muscle padding in the suit had to be removed.

11. Deadpool 2

Release: 2018 Setting: 2018 (Revised Timeline)

Deadpool forms the X-Force to protect a young mutant, Russell, from Cable, a time-traveling soldier from the future. Cable's future is different from the Days of Future Past Sentinel future, indicating the timeline has indeed shifted. Key plot involves the use of a Time Travel device.

Timeline Connection: In the mid-credits, Deadpool uses Cable's device to travel back and kill the Origins version of Deadpool, canonically cleaning up the timeline errors.

Lore Note: The cameo of the main X-Men team closing the door was filmed on the set of Dark Phoenix.

12. The New Mutants

Release: 2020 Setting: ~2026

Five young mutants are held in a psychiatric hospital that is revealed to be a facility run by the Essex Corporation. They must face their fears (manifested by the Demon Bear) to escape. It's a contained horror story that highlights the corporate exploitation of mutants.

Timeline Connection: The Essex Corporation (Nathaniel Essex/Mr. Sinister) link ties this film to the DNA collection plot points hinted at in Apocalypse and Logan.

Lore Note: The final film of the Fox era before the Disney acquisition.

13. Logan

Release: 2017 Setting: 2029

The tragic finale. In 2029, no new mutants have been born for 25 years due to genetically modified food. The X-Men are dead, killed by a seizure-induced telepathic blast from an aged Charles Xavier in Westchester. Logan, dying of adamantium poisoning, makes one last run to save his clone daughter, Laura (X-23). He dies protecting her, marking the end of the Wolverine.

Timeline Connection: This is the definitive end of the Fox X-Men timeline (Earth-10005). The grave of Logan becomes a sacred point in the multiverse.

Lore Note: Inspired by the "Old Man Logan" comic run and classic westerns like Shane.

14. Deadpool & Wolverine

Release: 2024 Setting: 2024 / The Void

Six years after Deadpool 2, Wade Wilson is detained by the Time Variance Authority (TVA). He learns that his universe (Earth-10005) is decaying because its "Anchor Being" (Logan) died in 2029. To save his world, Deadpool travels the multiverse to find a replacement Wolverine. He teams up with a "failed" variant of Logan to stop Cassandra Nova in the Void.

Timeline Connection: It officially bridges the Fox Universe to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Earth-616). It canonizes Logan (2017) as the absolute end of the 10005 timeline while allowing variants to exist.

Lore Note: Features the return of Hugh Jackman, who previously retired from the role, and explicitly references the Disney acquisition as a plot point.

Multiverse Incursions: X-Men in the MCU

Following Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox, classic X-Men actors began appearing in Marvel Cinematic Universe projects via the multiverse.

WandaVision

Release: 2021 Format: TV Series

Evan Peters, who played Quicksilver (Peter Maximoff) in the Fox prequel films, appears at Wanda Maximoff's door claiming to be her lost brother Pietro. While initially seeming like a massive multiverse crossover, it is later revealed he is a resident of Westview named Ralph Bohner under a spell, serving as a meta-commentary on the audience's expectations.

Legacy: The first acknowledgment of Fox casting within the MCU architecture.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Release: 2022 Format: Film

Doctor Strange visits Earth-838, where he stands trial before the Illuminati. The group is led by Professor Charles Xavier, played once again by Patrick Stewart. This version utilizes the classic yellow hoverchair from *X-Men: The Animated Series* and quotes dialogue from *Days of Future Past* before being killed by the Scarlet Witch.

Legacy: Confirmed that variants of the classic X-Men exist in parallel MCU dimensions.

The Marvels

Release: 2023 Format: Film

In the post-credits scene, Monica Rambeau wakes up in a parallel universe where her mother, Maria, is the hero Binary. She is treated by none other than Dr. Hank McCoy (Beast), voiced and played by Kelsey Grammer in his classic blue fur form from *X-Men: The Last Stand*, confirming the X-Men are active in this reality.

Legacy: Sets up a direct link between the MCU main timeline and a fully operational X-Men universe.

Evil Dead - film chronology order

Evil Dead films, continuity and tone map

Chronological guide to the Evil Dead films

Evil Dead is a rare horror franchise that mutates instead of repeating itself. It begins as scrappy cabin nightmare, mutates into splatter comedy myth, then re-emerges decades later as prestige brutality and urban possession horror. 

What stays constant is the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, an ancient book that turns curiosity into catastrophe.

This guide is film-first. Television and other media are referenced only where they directly shape the films.

The original Raimi trilogy

The original trilogy stands as the genesis of modern cabin horror, born from the enduring creative partnership of director Sam Raimi, producer Robert Tapert, and actor Bruce Campbell. What began as a grueling, low-budget shoot in Tennessee evolved into a genre-defying saga that cemented Raimi’s kinetic visual style. 

The aggressive camera movements, "shaky cam" POV shots, and inventive practical effects developed here would become Raimi's calling card, techniques he would later refine in his blockbuster work on the Spider-Man trilogy.

The writing process reflects a drastic tonal evolution. The first film was scripted as a relentless exercise in terror, but by Evil Dead II, Raimi (co-writing with Scott Spiegel) injected a manic, slapstick energy inspired by The Three Stooges, effectively birthing the "splatstick" subgenre. 

By Army of Darkness, the script had fully embraced adventure-comedy, proving the concept's elasticity.

Central to this legacy is the character of Ash Williams. Unlike the stoic, competent heroes typical of 80s action and horror, Ash is uniquely fallible - a panic-prone, loudmouthed retail worker who survives through sheer stubbornness rather than skill. 

Bruce Campbell’s performance is legendary for its physicality; he essentially served as a human punching bag for Raimi's camera, blending leading-man charisma with the durability of a cartoon character. 

This collaboration created an anti-hero who remains the franchise's beating heart: a man who isn't the chosen one because he's special, but simply because he's the only one left standing.

The Evil Dead

Release: 1981 Director: Sam Raimi

Plot, lore, and themes

Five friends retreat to a decaying Tennessee cabin, unknowingly crossing a bridge that collapses behind them to seal their fate. The discovery of the Naturon Demonto (later the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis) and a tape recorder in the cellar triggers the horror. 

The tape recorder acts as the true antagonist here, representing curiosity as original sin - a warning about knowledge replayed without context. The playback acts as an invocation, proving that belief is irrelevant; repetition is enough.

The "Force" is depicted as a disembodied camera POV that stalks them, culminating in the forest itself sexually violating Cheryl. This establishes the franchise's recurring theme of the violation of safe space; the cellar, the woods, and even Ash’s own body become hostile environments. The possession spreads like a virus, turning friends into "Deadites" who mock and mimic to psychologically dismantle the survivors. 

Ash survives not through strength, but because the evil prefers prolonging his suffering. The final shot - the Force rushing into the cabin to claim him - cements the theme of cosmic indifference: there is no victory, only delay.

Evil Dead II

Release: 1987 Director: Sam Raimi

Plot, lore, and themes

Retconning the first film’s ending, Ash is possessed by the sunrise but released when sunlight passes, leaving him trapped in a loop of torment. The tone shifts to "splatstick" madness, where the environment itself mocks him - a laughing deer head and bleeding walls push Ash into a state where madness becomes a survival mechanism. Laughter becomes his only way to cope with the impossible.

The film deeply explores fragmented identity. Ash is forced to battle his own body when his hand becomes possessed, a literalization of self-betrayal. He severs the limb with a chainsaw in a violent act of self-reclamation. 

The arrival of Annie Knowby expands the lore with the Kandarian Dagger and the specific history of the book. The climax, where Ash modifies a chainsaw to replace his hand, frames the moment like a knight claiming a sword, marking the birth of a legend. He is sucked into a portal to 1300 AD, realizing he is the "Hero from the Sky" of prophecy - a man constantly pulled out of time, doomed to fight battles he never chose.

Army of Darkness

Release: 1992 Director: Sam Raimi

Plot, lore, and themes

Stranded in medieval England, Ash is enslaved and stripped of his hero status. He must recover the Necronomicon to return home, but his arrogance leads to catastrophe. In the graveyard, he splits into "Good Ash" and "Bad Ash," a manifestation of his internal conflict between selfishness and heroism. He kills his dark half but forgets the precise words ("Klaatu Barada Nikto") when claiming the book, awakening the Army of Darkness. 

This underscores that language is power; mispronounced words can doom kingdoms.

The film shifts into fantasy spectacle, where Ash uses 20th-century science to lead a human resistance. His journey is one of heroism by resistance - he saves the world while resenting it every step of the way. The theatrical ending, where he returns to his S-Mart job and slays a Deadite in the aisles, emphasizes the theme of mythologized survival. 

He is the blue-collar king, a man who just wants to do his job but is forced by fate to be a warrior.

Standalone resurrection and modern era

These films expand the Evil Dead idea beyond Ash, treating the book as a curse that can surface anywhere.

Evil Dead

Release: 2013 Director: Fede Álvarez

Plot, lore, and themes

This reimagining shifts the catalyst from curiosity to addiction as possession. Mia is brought to the cabin by her brother David and friends to cold-turkey off heroin. This narrative device brilliantly camouflages the initial possession symptoms as withdrawal; her claims of seeing monsters and smelling rot are dismissed by the group, creating the isolation necessary for the evil to thrive. 

When Eric reads from the Naturom Demonto, he unleashes the "Taker of Souls," an entity bound by specific rules: it requires five souls to unleash the "Abomination."

The film is an exercise in purification by pain. The violence is excruciatingly intimate - boiling water showers, tongue splittings - suggesting that the only cure for the "infection" is the total destruction of the self. David sacrifices himself to resuscitate Mia, fulfilling the soul count and allowing the Abomination to rise from a blood rain. 

Mia’s survival depends on her becoming the Survivor Girl reborn; she rips her own trapped hand off to wield a chainsaw, physically severing the part of herself that was weak or infected to destroy the demon.

Evil Dead Rise

Release: 2023 Director: Lee Cronin

Plot, lore, and themes

Moving the horror from the woods to a condemned Los Angeles high-rise, Rise explores the perversion of the home. An earthquake unearths a bank vault containing one of the three volumes of the Naturom Demonto and vinyl recordings from 1923. The invocation is auditory here, broadcasting the virus through the building. 

The possession of Ellie, a single mother, twists the maternal instinct into maternal horror; she uses her children’s trust and fears against them, taunting them with intimate knowledge only a mother would have.

The lore expands with the "Marauder," a multi-limbed creature formed by the physical fusion of Ellie, Bridget, and Danny. This "Rat King" of flesh symbolizes inescapable family trauma - the terrifying idea that you can never truly separate yourself from your family's damage. 

The climax, involving a wood chipper in a parking garage, reinforces that domestic tools are just as deadly as magical ones. The film ends with a loop back to the lakeside prologue, confirming that the evil has successfully escaped containment to spread further.

Evil Dead Burn

Release: 2026 Director: Sébastien Vaniček

Status and expectations

Details are under wraps, but the creative team suggests another tonal mutation. With director Sébastien Vaniček (known for the spider-horror Vermines) at the helm, the film is expected to focus on sensory discomfort and claustrophobia. The guiding idea remains consistent: the book travels, the evil adapts, and no one escapes unchanged.

Resident Evil, canon game timeline guide

Chronological order of the Resident Evil games

This is the in universe order first, with release year included so you can see how Capcom’s horror history bends time. Each card stays practical, what happens, why fans remember it, who matters, what it changed, and how it connects to the next domino.

Note on versions: remakes mostly retell the same in universe events, but they often adjust character beats, motivations, and how cleanly details line up across later entries. The cards below focus on the story events those games represent, and flag the few differences that genuinely matter for continuity.

Official introduction

PlayStation’s Resident Evil introduction provides Capcom-approved background and tone before diving into canon nuance.

3 nights plan

If you only have three sessions, start with Resident Evil 2, then Resident Evil 4, then Resident Evil 7. That gives you the classic outbreak, the action pivot, and the modern reboot of tone, without homework.

Continuity cheat

Think in eras: Raccoon City, post Umbrella global bioterror, then the mold saga. The dots on each card mark the vibe so you can pick what you feel like playing.

How to use this page

Read top to bottom if you want the canon flow. Jump by era if you want a mood. Open the expandable sections when you want lore and connective tissue.

Resident Evil 0

Release: 2002 In universe: July 23 to 24, 1998 Setting: Ecliptic Express, training facility Era: pre mansion spark

Plot synopsis

Bravo Team’s investigation into the Arklay murders goes sideways before it even begins. Rebecca Chambers teams with fugitive Billy Coen, and together they stumble across the ugly origin story of Umbrella’s culture: brilliant science, petty revenge, and founders who treat human beings like lab rats with paperwork.

Why it matters in the timeline

This is the final warning sign before the mansion incident turns Umbrella from a secret into a disaster. It also explains why the outbreak feels engineered rather than accidental, and why the people inside Umbrella often look like believers, not just employees.

Key characters

Rebecca Chambers, Billy Coen, Dr. James Marcus, Albert Wesker, William Birkin (background), Oswell E. Spencer (background).

Big fan moments

• Partner switching as tension, not empowerment, you are always one mistake away from being alone.
• The training facility reveal, where Umbrella’s "family business" becomes literal and grotesque.
• The leech body horror, a monster concept that feels like rot given legs.

Play tip

If you bounce off the inventory friction, treat it like part of the horror. The discomfort is the point, you are not supposed to feel stocked or confident.

Remake vs original notes that matter

Continuity note

As a prequel, it retrofits motivations and causes that the 1996 game only hinted at. When a later entry references founders, Marcus, or early research culture, this is the texture it is borrowing.

Timeline link: leads directly into the Spencer Mansion incident on July 24, 1998.

Resident Evil

Release: 1996 In universe: July 24 to 25, 1998 Setting: Spencer Mansion, Arklay Mountains Era: the template

Plot synopsis

Alpha Team enters the Spencer Mansion and finds an elaborate deathtrap built over a buried lab. Zombies are the headline, but betrayal is the real infection. Umbrella is gathering field data, S.T.A.R.S. is the test subject, and the mansion is a velvet curtain hiding industrial scale cruelty.

Why fans remember it

Because it teaches the series’ central language: doors that do not want to open, puzzles that mock panic, and the feeling that the building itself is alive. It is gothic horror turned into level design.

Key characters

Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield, Albert Wesker, Barry Burton, Rebecca Chambers.

Big fan moments

• The mansion loop, keys, crests, shortcuts, fear as geography.
• Tyrant as the Umbrella signature: we built a weapon, then we lost control of it.
• Wesker’s turn, the blueprint for the human villain who thinks he is the future.

Legacy

Everything later games remix comes from here: corporate evil, haunted science, and survival horror as puzzle logic under pressure.

Remake vs original differences that matter

Continuity note

The remake deepens Umbrella’s internal structure and the mansion’s ecological horror, and it becomes the reference point for how later entries “remember” this incident.

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

Release: 1999 In universe: Sept 28 to Oct 1, 1998 Setting: Raccoon City streets Era: outbreak collapse

Plot synopsis

Jill tries to escape an unraveling city while Umbrella runs an active field test: Nemesis, a hunter killer weapon built to erase S.T.A.R.S. evidence, starting with her. The outbreak is background noise, the real story is a corporation cleaning up witnesses while the city burns.

What it adds to the mythology

It makes Umbrella feel tactical and cruel in real time. This is not a lab accident anymore, it is a live operation with assets, handlers, and objectives.

Key characters

Jill Valentine, Carlos Oliveira, Nicholai Ginovaef, Mikhail Victor, Nemesis.

Big fan moments

• “STARS” and the footstep panic, predator design at its purest.
• Jill’s infection and the desperate sprint for a cure.
• The final showdown, a boss fight that feels like a city screaming its last.

Legacy

It turns the outbreak into a chase film you play, and it cements Jill as the series’ most resilient survivor, the one who keeps standing up.

Resident Evil 2

Release: 1998 In universe: Sept 29 to 30, 1998 Setting: RPD, sewers, NEST Era: outbreak core

Plot synopsis

Leon and Claire arrive in Raccoon City at the worst moment in modern horror history. They survive the police station labyrinth, then descend into Umbrella’s NEST facility where the G virus story turns a family tragedy into an extinction level bio accident.

Why it hits

Because it balances scale with intimacy. A city dies, but the emotional core is a kid who needs protecting and two strangers learning how to be brave on zero notice.

Key characters

Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield, Ada Wong, Sherry Birkin, William Birkin, Annette Birkin.

Big fan moments

• RPD as a puzzle box cathedral, fear built into architecture.
• Pursuer pressure, the lesson that safety is temporary and loud.
• Sherry’s rescue, the rare soft heart inside a cruel outbreak.

Legacy

Leon and Ada become a long running spy thriller thread. Claire becomes the civilian survivor who never asked for hero status, then earned it anyway.

Remake vs original differences that matter

Continuity note

The remake clarifies character motivation and modernizes the facility lore. The broad beats stay the same, but the tone becomes more grounded, and that tone spills into how fans interpret later references.

Resident Evil Outbreak

Release: 2003 In universe: Sept 23 to Oct 1, 1998 Setting: Raccoon City, multiple scenarios Era: civilian survival

Plot synopsis

Eight ordinary residents fight through bite sized nightmares as the city collapses. This is a street level view of Raccoon City, where the horror is not “save the world,” it is “find a door that opens” and keep the people beside you alive long enough to see morning.

Why it matters

It proves the setting is bigger than the main cast. It also shows the outbreak’s social physics, the way systems fail, trust collapses, and small decisions decide who gets out.

Key characters

Alyssa Ashcroft, Kevin Ryman, Mark Wilkins, Cindy Lennox, Jim Chapman, George Hamilton, David King, Yoko Suzuki.

Big fan moments

• Scenario storytelling, the city as an anthology that keeps getting worse.
• Limited supplies and cooperation, panic becomes a resource management problem.
• Alyssa’s truth seeking thread amid government clean up and corporate silence.

Legacy note: this is where the franchise feels like a lived in world, not just a stage for iconic heroes.

Resident Evil: Code Veronica

Release: 2000 In universe: Dec 27 to 28, 1998 Setting: Rockfort Island, Antarctica Era: global Umbrella

Plot synopsis

Claire’s search for Chris drags her into an Umbrella prison island ruled by the Ashford legacy. Chris enters mid crisis, and Wesker returns with superhuman power, turning family dynasties and virus aristocracy into the series’ next big arc.

What it changes

It moves Resident Evil from “city disaster” to “global empire,” and it turns Wesker from a twist villain into a long term threat who feels like a genre in himself.

Key characters

Claire Redfield, Chris Redfield, Albert Wesker, Alfred Ashford, Alexia Ashford, Steve Burnside.

Big fan moments

• Wesker’s comeback, the “impossible villain” era begins.
• Alexia as bio royalty, a final boss built from obsession and pedigree.
• Claire and Chris converging after the Raccoon chaos, family as anchor.

Legacy

It expands scope without losing melodrama. Umbrella becomes a world spanning machine, and the Redfields become the series’ moral counterweight.

Resident Evil 4

Release: 2005 In universe: 2004 Setting: rural Spain Era: action pivot

Plot synopsis

Leon is sent to rescue the President’s daughter and finds a parasite cult instead of zombies. Las Plagas shifts the biothreat from lab virus to living control system, and Ada’s shadow war for samples continues in broad daylight.

Why it matters

It widens the threat model. Now it is not only infection, it is control. It also redefines how the series is played and how it feels in your hands, with a camera and combat language that influences a decade of games.

Key characters

Leon S. Kennedy, Ashley Graham, Ada Wong, Osmund Saddler, Luis Sera, Jack Krauser.

Big fan moments

• The village assault, the moment the action horror template crystallizes.
• Krauser rivalry, agent versus soldier, ideology versus survival.
• Ada taking the sample, because of course she does, and because it always matters later.

Legacy

One of gaming’s most influential pivots. It keeps horror structure, then dresses it in velocity. Leon becomes a genre icon, and the series’ tone becomes more elastic from here on.

Resident Evil: Revelations

Release: 2012 In universe: 2005 Setting: Queen Zenobia, Mediterranean Era: BSAA formation

Plot synopsis

Chris and Jill investigate a bioterror plot at sea. The BSAA era takes shape, with organizations, cover ups, and “the war on bioterror” becoming the new normal after Umbrella’s collapse.

Why it matters

It makes the post Umbrella world feel structured. When later games talk about jurisdiction, task forces, and the politics of containment, this is the bridge that makes it believable.

Key characters

Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield, Parker Luciani, Jessica Sherawat, Raymond Vester, Morgan Lansdale.

Big fan moments

• Jill back in survival mode, scanning, conserving, enduring.
• The ship as a floating mansion, classic design remixed with modern pacing.
• BSAA foundations, the backbone of the action era explained from the inside.

Legacy

It proves you can do “modern Resident Evil” without losing atmosphere, and it strengthens the connective tissue between classic and blockbuster eras.

Resident Evil 5

Release: 2009 In universe: March 2009 Setting: Kijuju, West Africa Era: blockbuster bioterror

Plot synopsis

Chris and Sheva chase bioweapon trafficking and uncover a corporate successor to Umbrella’s sins. Wesker’s endgame pushes the series into blockbuster territory, with partnered combat, global stakes, and a villain who refuses to die until he really does.

What it resolves

It closes the Wesker chapter that began in the mansion. It also recasts the series as an ongoing war, where outbreaks are weapons, and the front line is everywhere.

Key characters

Chris Redfield, Sheva Alomar, Jill Valentine, Albert Wesker, Excella Gionne, Ricardo Irving.

Big fan moments

• Jill’s “lost and weaponized” twist, identity turned into a tool.
• The volcano finale, peak series excess, thrilling and ridiculous at once.
• Wesker’s final defeat, long delayed closure for the original saga spine.

Mini timeline inside the timeline

Lost in Nightmares (in universe Aug 2006) is the key “how Jill vanished” incident. It also explains why Chris shows up later carrying anger like a second weapon.

What this era does to the tone

Series shift

For many fans this is the turning point where horror yields to spectacle. That is not automatically bad, but it changes the emotional contract. Later games react to this by shrinking spaces again.

Resident Evil: Revelations 2

Release: 2015 In universe: 2011 Setting: island detention facility Era: smaller horror

Plot synopsis

Claire and Moira are abducted and forced through a sadistic experiment built around fear responses. Barry’s search and the Wesker Project shadow connect mid era games to long running Umbrella ideology, even after Umbrella is gone.

Why it works

It is intimate again. Experiments, cruelty, and claustrophobia. The story asks what survivors pass down to the next generation, and what it costs to keep going.

Key characters

Claire Redfield, Moira Burton, Barry Burton, Natalia Korda, Alex Wesker.

Big fan moments

• Claire back in the spotlight, competent, exhausted, stubborn.
• Barry as a late series dad hero, warm and surprisingly moving.
• Fear as mechanics, light, stealth, and panic made literal.

Legacy

It keeps the “experiments on people” theme sharp, and it proves smaller scale stories still land in a post RE5 world.

Resident Evil 6

Release: 2012 In universe: 2012 to 2013 Setting: global outbreaks Era: maximum scale

Plot synopsis

Multiple campaigns collide across a worldwide bioterror cascade. Leon deals with political truth, Chris spirals through soldier trauma, Ada’s identity fractures into conspiracy, and Jake Muller becomes a genetic key nobody can ignore.

Why it matters

This is the peak of the “Resident Evil as globe spanning action saga” idea. It establishes how bad things can get when the technology spreads, and why later games need to reboot the feeling of fear.

Key characters

Leon S. Kennedy, Chris Redfield, Ada Wong, Jake Muller, Sherry Birkin, Piers Nivans, Derek Simmons.

Big fan moments

• Sherry returning, one of the cleanest “the past is alive” payoffs.
• Leon’s campaign carrying the most classic tone inside a huge machine.
• Piers’ sacrifice, Chris’ grief finally given a face.

Legacy

Messy but consequential. It sets a global baseline that later games deliberately pull away from, because horror needs tighter spaces.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Release: 2017 In universe: July 19 to 20, 2017 Setting: Baker estate, Louisiana Era: horror reset

Plot synopsis

Ethan Winters searches for Mia and walks into a mold infected family tragedy engineered by a bioweapon child. The horror is intimate, bodily, and sticky. The series reinvents itself by shrinking the frame and making every hallway personal.

What it introduces

The mold and The Connections become the new myth engine. It also brings back the feeling that information is a weapon, and every document you read is a clue to what kind of evil you are dealing with.

Key characters

Ethan Winters, Mia Winters, Eveline, Jack Baker, Marguerite Baker, Lucas Baker, Zoe Baker, Chris Redfield.

Big fan moments

• The dinner scene, disgust and dread welded together.
• Jack as relentless pursuer, humor and horror sharing the same heartbeat.
• The Umbrella shock and what it implies about brand versus reality.

Legacy

It puts survival horror back in the driver’s seat, and it sets up the modern era’s family tragedy angle, where the monster is also a person who got used.

Resident Evil Village

Release: 2021 In universe: Feb 8 to 10, 2021 Setting: Romanian village and estates Era: modern myth

Plot synopsis

Ethan is dragged into a folkloric nightmare where the mold lineage expands into Miranda’s cult and the four lords. The story connects modern horror back to old Umbrella symbols by showing how academic obsession becomes corporate apocalypse.

Why it matters

It ties the new saga to the franchise’s oldest iconography, and it proves Resident Evil can wear different horror masks, gothic, folk, body, while still being itself.

Key characters

Ethan Winters, Mia Winters, Rose Winters, Chris Redfield, Mother Miranda, Alcina Dimitrescu, Karl Heisenberg, Donna Beneviento, Salvatore Moreau.

Big fan moments

• Castle Dimitrescu as a cultural moment that escaped the game.
• Beneviento’s house, weaponized anxiety, a dread clinic.
• Ethan’s sacrifice, a rare clean tragedy in the franchise.

Legacy

It turns the Umbrella logo into a retroactive echo of Miranda’s world, then closes Ethan’s arc with real weight, not just lore.

Resident Evil Village: Shadows of Rose

Release: 2022 In universe: 2037 Setting: Megamycete memory realm Era: epilogue forward

Plot synopsis

Teenage Rose enters a molded consciousness space built from absorbed memories. It is a psychological sequel that treats the Megamycete like a library of trauma, and it lets Ethan’s presence linger in a way the main game only implied.

What it does differently

Instead of escalation, it goes inward. The set pieces are memories, and the monsters feel like emotional logic given a body. It is Resident Evil as a haunted mind.

Key characters

Rose Winters, Ethan Winters (echo), Mother Miranda (echo), Chris Redfield (off screen influence).

Big fan moments

• Rose claiming agency over her “gift” instead of being defined by it.
• Ethan’s goodbye as emotional closure, not just a lore button.
• The question it leaves hanging, what does the next era even look like?

Legacy

It is the furthest jump forward on the canon timeline so far, and it functions like an epilogue door left slightly open.

Resident Evil Requiem

Release: Feb 27, 2026 In universe: October 2026 Setting: Raccoon City ruins, Wrenwood Hotel, Rhodes Hill Era: legacy return

Plot synopsis

FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft investigates new deaths tied to the condemned Wrenwood Hotel in the remains of Raccoon City. Leon S. Kennedy returns as a second playable lead, pulling the series back toward its origin point, with a new case that treats the RPD legacy like a haunted landmark, not nostalgia wallpaper.

What to watch for

This premise is all about pressure. Can the series return to the ruins without being trapped by them. Grace is positioned as a modern viewpoint character, and Leon is the living witness to what Raccoon City really meant.

Key characters

Grace Ashcroft, Leon S. Kennedy, Alyssa Ashcroft (legacy connection).

Big fan moments to watch for

• Raccoon City mythos with modern rot, new scars on old ground.
• Dual protagonist pacing, survival tension versus trained competence.
• Grace as a reset without a reboot, if the writing earns it.

Why this could matter long term

Returning to the disaster site can do two things: it can clarify the franchise’s moral thesis, or it can expose how much damage is still unpaid. If Requiem leans into consequences, not souvenirs, it could set a new decade of stories.

Quick catch up before release: IGN complete timeline recap video.

Status note

Scope caution

This card reflects officially shared info and previews. Full plot details, timeline placement nuance, and any continuity retcons will only be clear once the game is out.