Really digging this idea. If I recall a series of comic books came out around that time OTL. At least I remember reading them around then. They were very graphic and my friends and I had to be sneaky reading them as we were in middle school. 😆 But they could be helpful in figuring out the details of this animated series.
Ah, I remember what you're talking about. The Wildstorm comics from 1998-2000, I read those when I was a little kid (Yay for permissive parents!) and I do intend to include elements from them for inspiration, and it's part of why I picked a POD involving Capcom buying out White Wolf in the mid-1990's.
Another butterfly effect would be that Phil Hartman is still alive in this timeline due to Andy Dick being pulled over for DUI on the night he sold cocaine to Brynn Omdahl in OTL, which results in her mental condition not deteriorating as rapidly as it did in real life, and Hartman separates from her in 1998 when he realizes he can't help her, and the divorce is finalized the following year. Even after the divorce, he pays for her rehab treatment though.
As a consequence, Phil Hartman is one of the voice actors for Resident Evil: The Animated Series, partly due to him working at Fox as a recurring voice on The Simpsons. Hartman's role in this animated series is also his first major serious role and nets him several awards, including the first Emmy for a dramatic role awarded to a voice actor.
The cast of voice actors for Resident Evil: The Animated Series is rather interesting with the following actors in the following roles roles. Many of them would reprise these roles or voice other characters in the other projects of what would become the Capcom Animated Universe.
First appearing in Resident Evil
Chris Redfield: Max Brooks
Jill Valentine: Kelly Sheridan
Barry Burton: Clancy Brown
Rebecca Chambers: Lara Jill Miller
Albert Wesker: Phil Hartman
Brad Vickers: Billy West (using the same voice he uses for Philip J. Fry)
Richard Aiken: Hank Azaria
First appearing in Resident Evil 2
Claire Redfield: Alyson Court
Leon S. Kennedy: Joshua Seth
Sherry Birkin: Lisa Yamanaka
Ada Wong: Grey DeLisle
Brian Irons: Mark Hamill
Annette Birkin: Mary Elizabeth McGlynn
William Birkin: Bryan Cranston
Marvin Branagh: Phil LaMarr
Ben Bertolucci: Seth MacFarlane
HUNK: David Hayter
First Appearing in Resident Evil 3
Carlos Olivera: Carlos Alazraqui
Nikolai Zinoviev: Steve Blum
Mikhail Victor: Yuri Lowenthal
Nemesis: Steve Blum
I only used professional voice actors or celebrities who were both active at the time or they had prior and extensive experience in voice acting at the time such as Phil Hartman, Clancy Brown, Bryan Cranston, and Mark Hamill
Max Brooks was a voice actor in the late 1990's and early 2000's in real life, and was in several DC Animated Universe shows like Batman Beyond. I figured the author of the Zombie Survival Guide should be the voice of the main hero of the franchise that revived the zombie genre and make it go from a niche exploitation horror sub-genre to part of mainstream pop culture.
(28 Days Later, the movie that is often credited with starting the zombie revival, was directly inspired by the early Resident Evil games)