Leon Could Be 70 and Still Be a Great Character, Resident Evil Director Says

Capcom wants fans to know that age won't stop Leon Kennedy from appearing in future games set after Resident Evil Requiem, as he'll likely "still be a great character" even "when he's 70."

Fans were concerned that the 50-year-old survival horror hero might be too old for new entries, but his inclusion in the latest game was revealed late last year. After the events of Resident Evil Requiem, Leon proved he's still fit to take on mutated villains, and Capcom has stated it's not hesitant to bring him back for more missions.

Game director Koshi Nakanishi discussed Capcom's fondness for Leon in a comprehensive interview with Eurogamer. When asked if Resident Evil needs fresh characters, he said the team doesn't feel pressured to adhere to a strict timeline.

"It's not a hard rule that whenever we release a new game, we have to age everyone up to match it," Nakanishi explained. He added that Capcom doesn't "feel the need to replace its most recognizable faces with younger characters... we don't think of it in those terms."

Leon's age has been a topic of discussion since Resident Evil Requiem launched earlier this year. While other characters like Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Ada Wong took a back seat, Leon returned with a more weathered appearance. Nakanishi appreciated how Capcom handled an older version of the Resident Evil 2 protagonist and even suggested fans might see him return 20 years later in the timeline.

"I think Leon is really appealing in his current form," he continued. "And who knows, we could bring him back when he's 70, and I'm sure he'll still be a great character."

Elsewhere in the interview, producer Masato Kumazawa addressed the response to the recent DLSS 5 AI controversy. For more on Resident Evil Requiem, you can read our 9/10 review.

"Like the result of an experiment conducted in an underground Umbrella Corporation lab, Resident Evil Requiem successfully splices two separate strains of survival horror together into one highly infectious new mutation," we wrote when it launched for PC, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S in February.