I totally agree with you that aging action heroes have a lot of potential, but it’s not entirely out of the picture for Capcom to try to make a game more in line with past action focused titles, and the idea of a veteran having to deal with PTSD and his own physical shortcomings may be more suited for a more traditional horror experience, at least for me.
On the subject of ages and military service, I’m a civie, so I won’t argue with you on that. Maybe having prior combat experience lets people enlist even when they’re not physically in their prime, and Chris has it in spades, so it could work.

Dark Knight Returns, Old Man Logan and maybe the upcoming Terminator (to give a female example) prove that ageing action heroes have appeal. The current comic Batman is also in this early to mid 40s. All these are far more interesting than any of the 20 year old GIs with no personality and even Ethan Winters was already 33 in RE7. Chris needs a consistent characterization though… despite being the star of the franchise.

And then we have post Batman Begins Liam Neeson. He is 66 and still doing action film. Capcom needs to lean in into that shit in the same way MGS 4 did. Chris, Jill and Leon (due to Vendetta) all have canonical PTSD syndromes. Put that into a horror game and see what happens. Aka. Spec ops The Line but in the RE universe. I was lastly in the military and saw people into their mid to late 50s. Meaning that the old dogs still have a decade or realistic duty ahead.

PS: The oldest playable RE characters are: Rev2 Barry (what a hunk), Mr. Vietnam from RE7 and then 52 year old Mark Wilkins -a security guard- from the Outbreaks. Steve -age 17- is the youngest if i don´t count Sherry.

Piers -please senpai notice me- Nivans is one of the worst Capcom protagonists of all time and Chris is 45 in RE7. There is little to our franchise protagonist but he has at least 10 years left till his body will give out due to all the fighting and the drugs he now takes mid operation.

We could actually use old man Chris if Capcom for once decided to use a frail protagonist, as even Moira and Ethan quickly turned to a one man army. Jill may also be semi-immortal in the same way adult Sherry is. Meaning that the OG 1996 duo could make for a great pair again.
Street Fighter III lastly proved to Capcom you can´t just throw out the whole cast that made the series famous. Some need to stay around.

REmake 3 will be an interesting game. A goods portion of original happens in city streets and the small building surrounding them. The somewhat optional Nemesis and modern Mr.X aren´t that challenging. RE3´s hard mode is a pushover, ammo was readily available and the protagonist is already a seasoned vet at the start. My very first run only lasted 5 hours back then too. Easily the game´s biggest problem. I faithful remake would have little to do with the tone and playstyle of REmake 2. Fine with me but the equivalent of Revelations 3 in Raccoon City will only restart the old argument of what RE is and what it needs to be.

PS: REmake 3 could use a present day framing device to explain what is going on with Jill, the Weskers, the 2 Umbrellas and so on. Unless RE8 can do that first. Even series vets can´t follow along anymore…

Maybe Piers doesn’t have the most interesting of personalities, (and neither does Chris), but he fits perfectly in the “Call of Duty soldier in a horror game” niche that Chris has now in the series, and that could be useful if Capcom wants to do some spin-off RE based in the gameplay of the 4-6 era. Because, yes, Chris is becoming too old. Keep in mind that most military personnel cannot enlist past the age of 35, and in combat specialized units (similar in role to BSAA’s SOU) that age it’s even lower. But I totally get the need to let iconic characters stay to keep a series from losing their appeal, so maybe that idea of yours of having an old not-so-strong Chris unwittingly getting involved could work as a good compromise between still having him around and not letting him become the Dorian Gray of the RE universe.

Kevin wasn’t killed in the crash, he decided to wait at the helicopter while the others searched the grounds. He just got killed by the zombie dogs roaming the premises. Not that he ever was officially part of STARS anyway.

I think Rebecca’s introduction in RE1 is fine, since she is not really all that fragile when you look at things in context. She only gets jumped by a Hunter with no ammunition to deal with it (canonically, those bullets you saved in-game don’t count). Besides, she’s been awake like over 24 hours and has gone through a lot of shit enough to give a seasoned vet PTSD, while still being a rookie, in her late teens and on her first friggin’ mission. Her entry to the mansion and meeting up with Richard is shown in Umbrella Chronicles where she still blasts through enemies left and right, and even in RE1 once you actually get to play with her you can still badass your way through the place. I don’t blame her for trying to get a less action-centric job afterwards, even though she still gets cought up in at least two different incidents.

I still believe Zero should have been Bravo team’s moment to shine. If Capcom ever remaster zero I want Bravo team more fleshed out.
Kenneth demise for an example died pretty late as Alpha arrived. Could have seen more about him,Enrico and Richard.
But would have loved too seen more of them in general Dewey,Forrest etc
Maybe not Kevin as he seemed to been killed in the crash but the rest.

I agree that Capcom should retire Chris and let other take his mantle. I like the guy as much as anyone, but he’s almost 40, it’s not realistic having him going around with a rifle punching BOWs in the face. Maybe not kill him, but leave him in a support role as a mentor figure for the newcomer, ala Roy Campbell in Metal Gear. Piers was perfect for that role, but now it would be ridiculous having him back