Two years after the Resident Evil 4 remake, Capcom has finally revealed the ninth mainline installment in its beloved franchise, Resident Evil Requiem, which looks set to take the series back to where it all started.
There’s only so much we can dissect from the three-minute reveal trailer Capcom released at Summer Game Fest, especially since most of the tease consists of rapidly flashing images.
However, the return to a rundown Raccoon City suggests one thing; there is no way our favorite RPD rookie, Leon S. Kennedy, won’t be involved in some capacity, whether that’s as a playable character, or one who serves an Ethan Winters to Chris Redfield-style role as a secondary protagonist, or perhaps even the main protagonist.
There’s a lot to dive into, with very plausible rumors and supposed leaks that corroborate my predictions, but if we’re talking about a return to Raccoon City, Leon is the first character that comes to mind. It makes little sense – and would be a huge missed opportunity – if this weren’t the case; if you’ve played Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4, you’ll be aware of the close connection Leon has with the nuked, once zombie-infested city, even if it’s a traumatic memory.
I’ll be very shocked if I and those sharing rumors are wrong, because from my perspective, it seems pretty concrete that it’ll happen.
Recent leaks and rumors have aligned with the reveal trailer
While it’s always a good idea to take rumors and leaks with a grain of salt, the ones coming from Dusk Golem on X (who’s had a pretty good track record with RE leaks previously) look bang on the money.
The claims here are that Leon S. Kennedy is the main protagonist of Resident Evil Requiem, even more so than Grace Ashcroft (the daughter of Resident Evil Outbreak‘s Alyssa Ashcroft), who features through most of the reveal trailer. Dusk Golem suggests that we’ll see Leon as marketing continues to ramp up until the game’s launch – and while I’ve previously thought claims from Golem were wide of the mark, that’s now changed.
Before its reveal at the very end of Summer Game Fest, Golem teased the game’s title name and the ‘suggestion’ that it may be the closing reveal after Capcom’s prank, which hinted at a reveal on a later date.
If that’s not enough, a slightly older tweet addressed users’ suspicions that a second legacy Resident Evil character would appear alongside Leon – while I still personally think that will be the case, with either Ada or Jill joining the fray, Golem gave yet another hint that we would be seeing a new character, saying: “I mean, why not start a horror story with a fresh face?” instantly suggesting that there’s some legitimacy here.
A lot of people think Leon not being the only playable character in RE9 means someone familiar, but I never said that. I mean, why not start a horror story with a fresh face?June 3, 2025
I’m actually very amused by the Resident Evil 9 teasing, but hey. I think its very likely the show closer, be a pretty fun requiem to the whole thing.June 6, 2025
Leon will play the biggest role in Re9uiem. https://t.co/ZZmcjjUhtLJune 7, 2025
Again, I’m not saying this is an absolute certainty (as I’ve said, I’m almost certain), but if I were a betting man, I’d put my money on there being something to these rumors. Since our new protagonist, Grace Ashcroft, is an FBI analyst, it would be hard for me to see her going in solo to what is supposedly Raccoon City in its aftermath of an experimental thermobaric missile, and meeting deadly threats that appear to be ones we’ve never seen before in the franchise.
You could say a character like Ethan Winters was capable of holding his own as he navigates the nightmarish Baker house, although both RE7 and Village ended with Chris stepping in to take care of matters. I expect to see the same trend here with Requiem, especially since we’re going back to RE7‘s director, Koshi Nakanishi.
It won’t be the end of the world if Leon or the original characters aren’t involved (although it would be strange), but I can almost guarantee that if they are, the hype and anticipation from fans will be monumental.
