When 28 Days Later was released in 2002, it completely reshaped the zombie genre. Now, some twenty three years later Cillian Murphy could finally be making a return to the franchise that launched him.
Director Danny Boyle has hinted that the Oscar-winning actor may appear in one of the upcoming 28 Years Later films. Though fans will won’t see him in the first instalment dropping this June.
“Like all good things in life, you may have to wait a little while for [Cillian] to make his appearance,” Boyle teased at Sony’s CinemaCon presentation this week.
The hype ramped up back in December, when a trailer for 28 Years Later showed a gaunt zombie rising in a field behind Jodie Comer’s character. Fans immediately lost it, thinking Murphy’s character Jim had returned in infected form.
That theory was short-lived. London model Angus Neill later confirmed he played the zombie—but Boyle now admits fans weren’t entirely wrong to get excited.
“I showed my girlfriend the trailer. She said, ‘People will think that’s Cillian.’ I said, ‘Don’t be silly.’ I ignored her,” Boyle said. “So I’ve eaten a bit of humble pie since.”
While Murphy won’t appear in the first film, he’s still actively involved. He’s even credited as an executive producer on the trilogy. Producer Andrew Macdonald has since also confirmed the actor wanted in from the start.
“He is not in the first film, but I’m hoping there will be some Jim somewhere along the line,” Macdonald told Empire.
Murphy himself has made it clear he’s keen. “I would be there in a flash,” he told The Independent last year. “I’d love to work with Danny and Alex [Garland] again.”
28 Years Later is the first of three new entries in the revived series. The sequel, The Bone Temple, directed by Nia DaCosta, lands in January 2026.
The new trilogy follows the virus timeline—28 days, weeks, and now years after the outbreak. And if Boyle’s tease holds, we might not have seen the last of Jim just yet.
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