What will humanity become? Or, perhaps more pressing, what has Cillian Murphy’s 28 Days Later hero become? Following the release of the first trailer for the long-awaited horror sequel 28 Years Later, fans think they may have spotted Murphy’s return…and it’s a real shocker.
While it has been confirmed that Murphy will reprise the role of Jim, a bicycle courier who awakes from a coma in the post-apocalypse, the Oscar winner’s name strangely does not appear on any of the newly released posters or in the cast list alongside the footage. And the reason why could be horrifying.
Fans have taken to social media to make note of a particularly emaciated zombie glimpsed towards the end of the trailer. A zombie that looks a whole lot like Cillian Murphy. There’s no mistaking those cheekbones. All we know about Murphy’s return so far comes courtesy of executive producer Tom Rothman, who previously teased that the 28 Days Later star would be back “but in a surprising way and in a way that grows, let me put it that way.” And finding Jim has a zombie would certainly be about as “surprising” as possible.
Would They Really Do This to Cillian Murphy’s ’28 Days Later’ Hero?
But could there be more to it? Is it possible that this Cillian Murphy-looking zombie is nothing more than a fake out? The actor was seemingly spotted looking a lot more human in several images from filming, and while he is also onboard as an executive producer, he certainly looked like he was dressed for the post-apocalypse rather than visiting set.
Whatever the case may be, fans have been reacting to this possible (and terrifying) shot of the Cillian Murphy zombie glimpsed in the 28 Years Later trailer. “I knew it looked like him. Hopefully it’s just a fake-out,” said X/Twitter user @LFAFSTYLE, with @Oliver_Demari positing a theory, saying, “It’s gonna be a dream sequence, I bet you.” 28 Days Later fan @NEPatriotsBoy, meanwhile, echoes what many are no doubt feeling, saying, “I thought he was alive? What the f*ck???? That’s upsetting if this true for fans of the first movie.”
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First Trailer for Long-Awaited Horror Sequel ‘28 Years Later’ Is Unleashed
After all this time, we return to Danny Boyle’s rage-fueled zombie franchise.
Directed by Danny Boyle, who co-wrote the screenplay with Alex Garland, 28 Years Later stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, Erin Kellyman, and Edvin Ryding Alongside the first footage from 28 Years Later, we also now have an official plot synopsis, which you can check out below.
“Academy Award®-winning director Danny Boyle and Academy Award®-nominated writer Alex Garland reunite for 28 Years Later, a terrifying new story set in the world created by 28 Days Later. 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.”
- Release Date
- June 20, 2025
- Main Genre
- Horror