The 2025 Movie schedule is shaping up to be a year of much anticipated three-quels, with 28 Years Later being one of the most hotly tipped titles. Even if you’re not a die-hard fan of Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s original film, and the franchise that followed, you have to admit it’s a pretty intriguing concept. However, if you are a big fan of 28 Days Later, then trying to puzzle out how the confirmed return of Cillian Murphy’s legacy 28 character will take place is probably intriguing. Well, I think I have a theory on what’s going on in terms of that very subject, and it’s a prospect that’s more complicated than I thought.
Before we jump into this discussion though, take a look at the 28 Years Later trailer:
And now, it’s time for days to turn to weeks, and weeks to years. Here’s what I think is going on with 28 Years Later and the return of Jim.
How Jim Could Be Returning For 28 Years Later
Taking the tagline of “time didn’t heal anything” into account, I don’t think the years have been kind to our former bike messenger and his friends. From what we saw in the canonical 28 Days Later ending, Jim, Selena (Naomie Harris) and Hannah (Megan Burns) all survived in the countryside. And, just as predicted, the Rage Virus seemed to be starving itself out of existence.
Of course, that’s before 2007’s 28 Weeks Later threw another wrench into humanity’s existence. As you’ll see in the official synopsis for 28 Years Later, there’s a lot going on in this ravaged landscape:
It’s been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well.
Even with the theory of Jodie Comer’s potential 28 Years role still firmly on the table, I’m willing to think that Cillian Murphy’s Jim has “mutated” into a feral warlord. The peace of surviving with Hannah and Selena didn’t last long, especially if the Boom Comics miniseries depicting the journey of Naomie Harris’ character are canon.
Throw in the second, more severe outbreak in 28 Weeks Later, and you’ve got a version of Jim that’s fed up with people and ready to reshape the world. Believe it or not, we’ve already seen some clues to suggest this hypothesis scattered through this new teaser trailer.
The 28 Years Later Trailer Has Some Intriguing Teases Hidden In Plain Sight
What we know about 28 Years Later has just gotten a pretty huge update, thanks to showing us our first look at a struggling pocket of humanity hunkered down on a remote island. Seeing peeks at graffiti and branded Infected that carry the name “Jimmy,” I think this is the new moniker that 28 Days Later’s survivor is now in what could be called his boogeyman era.
As for that Infected corpse that looks like Cillian Murphy, I think there’s a perfectly good explanation for that: it’s a scarecrow-style diversion. The Infected do not move that slow when active, and they usually can’t move when they get to that level of decay; as we saw at the end of 28 Days Later. So either this is a fever dream that’s inspired by the memory of Jim, or this is a bespoke icon that invokes his visage in the name of fear.
There’s a lot more we could talk out about this theory, and that’s one of the few upsides to the fact that we have to wait for 28 Years Later to hit our screens. Danny Boyle & Alex Garland’s big cinematic reunion will be heading to theaters on June 20, 2025; just a week shy of the original movie’s 22nd anniversary in the U.S.
Another plus side to this prolonged anticipation is that you can still prepare by watching 28 Weeks Later with a Hulu subscription. Those days are numbered though, as that sequel will leave that streaming platform by the end of the month; joining its out of print predecessor in limbo.