Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City Ending Explained: No Future In Raccoon City

Combining story elements from the original "Resident Evil" and "Resident Evil 2" games, "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" shows Claire Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy as they battle genetically modified undead to survive in the Raccoon Police Department. Meanwhile, Claire's brother Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Albert Wesker try to uncover the insidious truth hidden within the walls of the Spencer Mansion.

Audiences and critics alike can't seem to figure out what to make of "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City," with just as many finding the film to be less-than-stellar as those who found it to be a great deal of fun and faithful fan service. As a full-on "Resident Evil" fan, I found myself aligning with the latter camp, and had a blast exploring the world of Raccoon City with my zombie-killing, Licker-avoiding, Umbrella Corp-hating besties.

"Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" truly set itself apart from the ridiculously profitable "Resident Evil" cinematic universe established by Paul W.S. Anderson, but what comes next? Here's our breakdown of the reboot's ending, so consider this a giant, shrieking, SPOILER ALERT moving forward.

While "Raccoon City" feels like a love letter to the games, Roberts definitely took some liberties to keep fans on their toes. Arguably the biggest change comes in the form of Albert Wesker, the S.T.A.R.S team leader historically revealed as a double agent for Umbrella. In the film, he's still a S.T.A.R.S. leader, but betrays his team in a move of financial desperation and for his own survival. He's given instructions to retrieve a G-Virus sample, something Dr. William Birkin is going to try and prevent at any cost. Wesker eventually murders Birkin and his wife before being shot by Jill Valentine, but the "death" of Birkin sparks his transformation into the gnarled G-Virus creature.

In the film's finale, Claire, Leon, Jill, Chris, and Sherry (the daughter of grotesquely mutated scientist William Birkin) flee Raccoon City on a train from Umbrella's secret underground bio-weapons laboratory. Birkin, completely destroyed by the G-Virus, chases them down in a murderous rage. Just as it looks like Birkin's going to kill Claire Redfield, Leon saves the day by blowing him away with a rocket launcher found in the first-class section of the train. While this is not the way Birkin is destroyed in the games, it is an homage to the death of The Tyrant (or Mr. X) in "Resident Evil 2." With Birkin exploded into gross and gooey pieces, our heroes manage to make it out of Raccoon City alive as the Umbrella Corporation obliterates the city and any possible evidence of its crimes.

With Raccoon City now wiped off the map through some form of an underground detonation rigged by Umbrella in the event of an outbreak — a change made by Roberts compared to the accurate ending of the game of "Resident Evil 3" portrayed in the ultra-hated film "Resident Evil: Apocalypse"1 — it seems like the only survivors of the film are the five who escaped on the train. However, a mid-credits sequence reveals that Albert Wesker, dead by a gunshot wound from Jill Valentine, has been revived by the mysterious person who gave him the order to steal the G-Virus strain in the first place: the iconic anti-hero, Ada Wong. Despite Ada Wong only being a playable character in some side quests throughout the series, she's remained an all-time favorite since her debut in "Resident Evil: 2."

In the mid-credits scene, Ada explains that she's brought him back to life, and as Wesker complains about his sensitivity to light, she hands him a pair of black sunglasses, the trademark look of Wesker in the games, and explains the sensitivity to be a side effect of his revival. Now all those people complaining about Wesker not having sunglasses on in the trailer can sit in syrup. This role reversal is a total inversion compared to the games, where Ada typically works as a spy for Wesker in addition to her mysterious second employer. In the film, it is Ada Wong who introduces Wesker into the corrupt world of Umbrella, not the other way around.

With Ada Wong finally appearing, we'll hopefully get more of her story in future films. Roberts has spoken about originally wanting to include more of her in the film, but realizing it was proving to be too difficult to push in so many main characters in the length of the movie. Never forget, the "Resident Evil" games take anywhere between two to 22 hours to complete each installment. Trying to cram that much storytelling in a 90-120 minute movie would be overwhelming.

The ending of "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" leaves plenty of ends still loose, setting up the possibility for sequel installments. The status of the empathetically monstrous Lisa Trevor is unknown, as the nearly invincible mutation could have very well survived the implosion of Raccoon City. The film doesn't really dive into her backstory, something that would make for a compelling plot point in a future film.

We know that our main five characters survive, but that isn't to say they were the only ones to avoid the explosion. It's doubtful that Umbrella only rigged one way out of the city, so there's no way to guarantee that no one else got out. The film teased plenty of characters and situations for future movies, and knowing director Johannes Roberts wants to direct films based on "Resident Evil 4," "Code: Veronica," and "Resident Evil 7," the opportunities are endless.