Yesterday we learned that series favorite Leon Kennedy will appear in the upcoming Resident Evil Requiem. Rumors about his appearance have been circulating for a while, with Capcom even calling them “fake news”. But PlayStation unfortunately leaked the cover image for the game, with old man Leon visible as day on it.
However, it looks like the primary protagonist of the game will be series debutant Grace Ashcroft, as the promotional material has revealed so far. Leon will be playable, but we have no idea what his role in the story will be. Dusk Golem, the leaker who reported Leon's appearance, has a few theories based on what they know.
Why has Leon returned in Resident Evil Requiem?
In a lengthy Twitter thread, Dusk Golem explains that the new character, Grace, will give fans a new perspective on what happened in Raccoon City – arguably one of the biggest events in the Resident Evil franchise. It's also a kind of soft reboot, which will help newer players get into the series. Those who haven't played the game know very little about the events, and Grace will serve as a set of “fresh eyes to experience the horrors.”
As for Leon, the leaker said, “if [we’re] Returning to Raccoon City, it also makes a lot of sense to have someone who experienced the Raccoon City incident, someone who can see the before and after with longtime fans, a kind of 'Returning Home to Roost' moment that a lot of horror media does very well, but Resident Evil has never really done before.”
There aren't many Resident Evil characters as connected to Raccoon City as Leon, and he's already one of the series' most popular characters. This makes him the perfect candidate to act as a guide of sorts to Grace and the players for the Raccoon City Incident.
My only hope for Requiem is that it scares me like Resident Evil 7
The trilogy is ending, but it should go back to its roots.
“While most of the others have moved on, he has not, plus he has direct ties to the ongoing plot thread that the US government has never been fully brought to justice for their involvement in the Umbrella & Raccoon City cover-up,” they added. “Someone familiar with this horror that has never been fully resolved and is now boiling over, almost as if it has been waiting for their return.”
This theory makes a lot of sense, both in the RE universe and in terms of appeasing fans. Hopefully Leon gets a happy ending, but this is Resident Evil we're talking about.
- Released
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February 27, 2026
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Strong Language, In-Game Purchase
