The Real Reason Mr. X Doesn't Appear In Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City

As one of the most popular and long-running horror video game franchises of all time, "Resident Evil" has spawned a never-ending array of related media since its inception in 1996. The latest entry to the franchise will be "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City," a reboot of the infamous film adaptations.

The upcoming film will combine the plots of the first two video games, placing the characters at the Spencer Mansion and the Raccoon City Police Department (via CBR.com). It follows a group of survivors — including siblings Chris and Claire Redfield — as they investigate the wasteland created by the Umbrella Corporation's torturous human experiments and battle the undead.

Thanks to director Johannes Roberts, the new movie will bring in quite a few fan-favorite characters, like Ada Wong (Lily Gao) and Leon S. Kennedy (Avan Jogia). However, not all of the franchise's most popular characters made the cut — most notably, T-00 Tyrant, a.k.a. Mr. X, doesn't appear in "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City." So, why did Roberts decide to leave Mr. X out of the reboot?

Although fans were looking forward to seeing Mr. X in "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City," director Johannes Roberts admits that he couldn't find a place for the video game villain in his film. On the ComicBook Nation podcast, he explained his reasoning for excluding the character.

Roberts revealed that "The one thing that I wanted to put in and I didn't, I just couldn't find a way to put in was Mr. X. There is a nod. It's tricky to see in the shot and I was like, 'Just use that shot,' but it doesn't work in the movie." Despite really wanting to include the character for the fans, Roberts knew that "you have to actually tell a proper movie rather than just use the shots that you want," as he added in the interview. In the podcast episode, Roberts also emphasized how fan-focused the "Resident Evil" franchise is, and how he wanted to "keep faithful to the game whilst making [the reboot] its own thing." 

It's now up to fans to decide if "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" is a good adaptation or not when it comes out in theaters on November 24, and who knows, maybe Mr. X will show up in a possible sequel.