The 28 Years Later Sequel Will Bring Back Cillian Murphy (But There's A Big Catch)

This post contains minor spoilers for "28 Years Later."

After nearly two decades, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland at long last reunited for the long-awaited "28 Years Later." That means a great many horror fans have finally been granted their wish of seeing a sequel to "28 Days Later" and "28 Weeks Later," with even more on the way. Indeed, "28 Years Later" is but the first entry in a planned new trilogy that will eventually bring Cillian Murphy's Jim back from "28 Days Later," with the second movie having already been filmed. So, what's Jim like nearly three decades later? It seems we're going to have to wait a while to get that answer.

In an interview with Screen Rant, Boyle was asked about Murphy and when we're going to see Jim appear, as he does not play a proper role in "28 Years Later." Last year, Sony's Tom Rothman confirmed that Murphy would be back "but in a surprising way and in a way that grows." What he didn't clarify, however, is that we're not going to see him until the end of the very second movie, which is being directed by Nia DaCosta ("Candyman") and titled "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple." Here's what Boyle had to say about the matter:

"I've seen a rough cut of Nia DaCosta's film, 'The Bone Temple,' and he is introduced beautifully at the end of that film. And that obviously leads you, in the way that you'll probably realize that Jimmy is going to be a huge part of the second movie, having been introduced in the coda of the first movie. Likewise, Cillian will be a huge part of the third movie."

In other words, it seems Jim won't be showing up fully until the end of "The Bone Temple," which is slated to reach theaters in January 2026. As of this writing, though, there's no guarantee that we're going to see that third movie Boyle is talking about.

While Sony has committed a lot of resources to Boyle and Garland for this new trilogy, it didn't confirm funding for a third installment right up front. It all depends on how these first two movies do. So, if "The Bone Temple" isn't a large enough hit, we might not see much of Jim and it sounds like we'll be left with something of a cliffhanger. As Boyle noted, "28 Years Later" features a pretty bizarre ending that re-introduces us to Jimmy, whom we see in the very beginning of the film. It sounds like Jim's return will similarly be a punctuation mark on the second installment.

It's also worth recalling that Murphy's Jim didn't appear in "28 Weeks Later." In fact, as of right now, it's not entirely clear how he's going to factor into the rest of the story based on what happens in "28 Years Later." Clearly, however, Boyle and Garland have that mapped out. It's just a matter of whether or not Sony will grant them the financing they need to make a third "28 Years Later" movie.

The good news is that "28 Years Later" has been met with very solid reviews from critics. More importantly, as it relates to the third movie getting the green light, it also had a very strong debut at the box office. If that continues, then there is a high probability of that third film getting made. Here's hoping it does — because having Murphy's long-awaited return as Jim dangled in front of us for two whole movies without ever getting his actual story would be pretty frustrating.

"28 Years Later" is in theaters now.