Walking into my interview with Resident Evil: Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi and producer Masato Kumazawa, I had prepared a long list of questions about a character who, as far as official information goes, seems entirely absent: Leon Kennedy.
I prepared those questions because the day before our meeting, Capcom aired its Capcom Online Program showcase during Tokyo Game Show. To passionate Resident Evil fans, myself, and many of my colleagues, it seemed all but certain we would finally get a new trailer confirming Leon’s official involvement—whether as a playable character or in another role.
That didn't happen. We saw a new trailer, but Leon was nowhere to be found. A preview build at TGS, which I tried after the interview, similarly lacked any trace of Leon.
When I mentioned the odd mismatch between my expectations and the continuing absence of Leon Kennedy to Nakanishi and Kumazawa, they simply laughed.
“We’ll take that feedback on board,” Kumazawa replied.
Fan demand for Leon has been growing for months, ever since the first game trailer appeared to hint at his possible appearance. Since then, speculation has only intensified, with rumors suggesting Leon could even appear as a secondary playable protagonist alongside newcomer Grace Ashcroft. Although Nakanishi and Kumazawa have tried to downplay those rumors—pointing out that Kennedy doesn’t fit Requiem’s less action-driven tone—the excitement hasn’t faded. And the two haven’t completely ruled out the possibility of playing as him, even briefly.
With so much attention on Leon, I asked if they worried this speculation might distract from establishing Grace as the game’s main character. They weren’t concerned. “We're always glad people are so interested in the game that they engage in so much speculation,” Kumazawa noted.
If the developers are so committed to positioning Grace as the new face of this Resident Evil story, could Requiem serve as a symbolic passing of the torch from the old guard to the new? Not exactly, says Kumazawa.
“While we don't have concrete plans yet for future storylines in the series, I still think 'passing the torch' might be overstating it. We’re not planning to wipe the slate clean in terms of the series’ lore and history. At the same time, I don’t want to always rely on returning characters when creating new games—that was part of why we introduced Grace.”
We previewed Resident Evil: Requiem just last month; you can read our impressions of what we’ve seen so far here. You can also check out the rest of my conversation with Nakanishi and Kumazawa, including how Requiem came to the Nintendo Switch 2. We’ve also spoken with the pair previously on other topics, such as the return of Raccoon City and the game’s new monster designs.
