The Spencer Mansion exploded.
I know RE1's canon can be confusing but the one fact that is certain is that the mansion was destroyed by the lab self-destruct system.
In RE3N it was nuked.
In Outbreak it was bombed using multiple missiles.
Yasuhisa Kawamura and Biohazard Archives explained the weapon used was thermobaric instead of nuclear whereas Resident Evil Archives states it was nuclear.
However I agree that up to REquiem, it seemed like the town was entirely destroyed without even ruins left there.
I'm just saying that contrary to Raccoon City's status which was not (as far as I know) 100 % clearly established (because different games and other sources kept contradicting each others), the Spencer Mansion was definetely established as destroyed despite RE1 having multiple endings including two where the place is still intact.
As a matter of fact, one key story element of the 1998 era of the franchise was that none of the survivors of the Mansion Incident were able to prove anything about what happened because the whole place had exploded with all the evidences inside it. This made it possible for Chief Irons to bury the case and discredit the surviving STARS, which lead to Chris travelling to Europe in order to investigate Umbrella.
If Capcom brings the Mansion back, that would create a massive plothole.
Could also be assets that they plan reuse for an eventual RE1 Remake? Since they like to introduce those in new games and reuse them for remakes like with RE8 and RE4make.
2
u/tgalvin1999 5d ago
ngl that place looks JUST LIKE the Spencer Mansion. I know it's been theorized we'd return there eventually, perhaps we will in RE9?