28 Years Later: The Bone Temple: How does Cillian Murphy return as Jim?
Run like a rage zombie to your nearest theater, because after over two decades, Cillian Murphy is reprising his role from 28 Days Later in Nia DaCosta's 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. And what this means for the franchise has got us foaming at the mouth for the next installment.
Murphy, who played survivor Jim in Danny Boyle's original 28 Days Later, did not appear in 2025's 28 Years Later, also directed by Boyle. However, he did serve as an executive producer, and Boyle confirmed that Murphy would be back as Jim in The Bone Temple.
Now, audiences can see what Jim has been up to in the 28 years since the Rage Virus ravaged Great Britain. He doesn't show up until the very end of The Bone Temple, but his appearance does give us an idea of what to expect from the third installment in the 28 Years Later trilogy.
What happens at the end of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple?
By the end of The Bone Temple, both Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) and Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O'Connell) have perished, the result of a fiery confrontation within Kelson's memorial to the dead. Finally free of Jimmy, Alfie (Spike Williams) escapes with Jimmy Ink (Erin Kellyman), who reveals that her real name is Kelly.
From there, The Bone Temple makes like Heated Rivalry and goes to the cottage. In the film's case, the cottage is the same place Jim, Selena (Naomie Harris), and Hannah (Megan Burns) escaped to at the end of 28 Days Later. Now, the house in Cumbria is cozy and lived-in, stocked with books and food and all the signs of setting down roots in a place for decades.
The ending scenes sees Jim quizzing his daughter on a history test he'll be assigning her. Selena, presumably the young girl's mother, and Hannah are nowhere to be found. Have they died or been rescued? Or are they just away from the house at the moment?
Either way, two people who are decidedly not Selena and Hannah are approaching the cottage. It's Spike and Kelly, and they're on the run from a horde of Infected. Jim's daughter wonders whether they should help them, to which he replies, "Of course." Cue the credits — and my burning anticipation for the third 28 Years Later film.
What will happen in the third 28 Years Later film?
Obviously, Jim will play a larger part in the third 28 Years Later film, which Boyle has confirmed he'll direct. (That is, unless he dies saving Spike and Kelly, but I can't imagine that happening after the hype around Murphy's return.) Perhaps he takes Spike and Kelly in for a bit. Based on just the few minutes we spend with him and his daughter, their life is an infinite upgrade from Sir Jimmy and his ritual killings.
There are still a few loose story threads writer Alex Garland could pull into the third installment, if he so chooses. Spike's father Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) may be tracking his son across the mainland. And Cathy (Mirren Mack), the pregnant woman who escaped from Jimmy, may come back into the fold as well, as this trilogy has been consistently fascinated by pregnancy and raising children post-Outbreak.
Whatever happens, after 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, I'm seated and ready for whatever Boyle and Garland throw at us.