28 Years Later Wishlist: 10 Things We Want To See In The New Trilogy

Viewers have waited a long time for 28 Years Later and there is a lot that the much-anticipated follow-up needs to get right. The 28 Days Later franchise began in 2002 with the sleeper hit 28 Days Later. 28 Days Later starred Cillian Murphy and Naomie Harris as Jim and Selena, two survivors of a viral outbreak that has turned much of Britain’s population into monstrous, rage-fueled killers. 28 Days Later was followed in 2007 by the sequel 28 Weeks Later, and the upcoming follow-up 28 Years Later was finally announced in 2024.

Thanks to the lengthy gap between outings, 28 Years Later will be nothing like its predecessors. Many of the trends that 28 Days Later pioneered, from fast zombies to shaky cam, are now outdated and overly familiar thanks to decades of imitators. However, this doesn’t mean that expectations will not be high for 28 Years Later. Murphy’s 28 Years Later return has been made all the more exciting by his recent Oscar win, while the prospect of another addition to the franchise finally answering lingering plot holes is great news for fans.

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The Return Of Cillian Murphy’s Jim & Naomie Harris’ Selena In 28 Years Later

28 Days Later’s heroes need to come back in the sequel

28 Years Later must get a lot of things right if the follow-up wants to keep viewers happy, but the most important thing is bringing back Cillian Murphy’s Jim and Naomie Harris’s Selena. The protagonists of 28 Days Later remain the most memorable characters in the series and, although their young charge Hannah may have an independent life of her own all these years later, 28 Years Later needs to clarify whether Jim and Selena continued to brave the apocalypse together.

28 Days Later’s famous alternate ending saw Jim die in hospital, but the far more optimistic theatrical cut ended with all three characters being seen by a passing fighter jet as they waited for rescue in a remote country cottage. This means that both Jim and Selena may very well be alive. If so, they could both return in the sequel.

9
28 Years Later Should Continue 28 Weeks Later’s Immunity Story

The bleak franchise offered a glimpse of hope in its sequel

While the ending of 28 Days Later was relatively upbeat, its sequel wasn’t so hopeful. 28 Weeks Later ended with a group of the Infected running riot in Paris, meaning much of mainland Europe was likely flooded with the Rage virus in short order. However, this bleak coda did have one bright spot. The young characters Tammy and Andy were seemingly immune to the Rage virus, with Andy carrying the virus but not showing any symptoms in the movie’s ending.

As such, if the kids from 28 Weeks Later return in 28 Years Later, their genetic makeup could prove pivotal to a cure for the illness. 28 Weeks Later ended with the duo abandoned in France, so it’s currently hard to say whether they survived the arrival of the Rage virus in that country. It’s possible that the new movie will clear this up and could continue advancing this particular plotline from 28 Days Later.

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Tammy & Andy Should Return In 28 Years Later

28 Weeks Later’s young heroes should come back in 28 Years Later

Beyond their role in creating a cure for the Rage virus, Tammy and Andy were also compelling characters in their own right. Although 28 Weeks Later initially appeared to be the story of Robert Carlyle’s Don, the sequel’s focus shifted to Tammy and Andy when their father was infected by their asymptomatic mother. Don killed his wife and went on a rampage, resulting in Tammy and Andy acting as the protagonists of 28 Weeks Later in the movie’s latter half.

The pair were engaging, and Tammy’s actor Imogen Poots has since established herself as a horror genre mainstay with projects like Vivarium and Green Room. With this in mind, Tammy and Andy should return in 28 Years Later, even if their blood didn’t provide the miracle cure that viewers might have hoped for after 28 Weeks Later ended.

7
28 Years Later’s Infection Needs To Spread Worldwide

28 Weeks Later’s Paris attack promised global pandemonium

One of the biggest questions 28 Years Later must answer is whether the Infected attacking Paris resulted in a global outbreak of the Rage virus. Things certainly didn’t look hopeful for humanity at the end of the sequel, so 28 Years Later should begin with confirmation that the Rage virus infected the entire world. This would be in keeping with the previous film’s setup for the future.

It was already tough to believe that the virus could be contained in Britain in the original movie, but a mob of the Infected arriving in the center of Paris effectively ensured that the virus had to go global in the next movie. Revealing that the Rage virus somehow never left France after 28 Weeks Later would be a letdown since this would mean that the stakes of the sequel were no higher than those of the franchise’s preceding movies.

6
28 Years Later’s Infected Should Have Evolved Since 28 Weeks

The Infected have been around long enough to adapt and change

Since the virus has been around so long now, 28 Years Later’s Infected should have evolved by now. According to a DVD commentary, the Infected of 28 Days Later were originally going to have dialogue that would have consisted of a stream of screamed obscenities. This element could be brought back in 28 Years Later as a way of confirming that the Infected have grown more intelligent, something that was already hinted at back in 28 Weeks Later.

When Don became infected in the sequel, he showed a higher amount of advanced reasoning and perception than most of the Infected. The franchise could reveal that, like Romero’s zombies in the later Night of the Dead movies, the Infected needed to evolve to survive in a changing environment. This would make the villains simultaneously scarier and more sympathetic.

5
28 Years Later Needs The Social Satire of the Original Movies

This final movie must revive the political satire of its predecessors

Speaking of Romero’s famous franchise, 28 Years Later must bring back the sharp undercurrent of social satire that 28 Days Later borrowed from the legendary director. Although 28 Days Later’s original ending offered an even more brutal condemnation of the government and the military, the finished movie took a pretty dim view of both institutions. Something similar can be said of its sequel.

In 28 Days Later, the military was dangerously corrupt, whereas in 28 Weeks Later, they were so incompetent that they effectively ensured the survival and spread of the Rage virus. 28 Years Later shouldn’t pull any punches when it comes to the movie’s depiction of the military and the politicians they work for, as this would betray the dark satire of the original movie. This could be achieved via one character from 28 Weeks Later’s return in particular.

4
Idris Elba’s General Stone Must Return In 28 Days Later

The sequel’s General needs to answer for his mistakes

Like 28 Days Later’s Cillian Murphy, Idris Elba has become a much bigger movie star since he appeared as General Stone in 28 Weeks Later. The actor’s busy schedule could create an obstacle toward Elba returning, which would be a disappointment. After all, General Stone was responsible for many of the worst mistakes in 28 Weeks Later, and he needs to be held accountable for them in 28 Years Later.

From allowing Don to escape the facility to ordering his troops to shoot indiscriminately at the Infected and civilians alike, Stone was the most dangerously incompetent character in either movie. While the soldiers of 28 Days Later might have been actively malicious fascists, Stone was a lethally flawed character whose failures cost innumerable people their lives. Because of how integral he was to everything that happened, 28 Years Later needs to explain what became of the military official after the events of the sequel.

3
28 Years Later Must Bring Back An Iconic Score

John Murphy’s “In The House In A Heartbeat” deserves another spin

Another element of the 28 Days Later franchise that must return in 28 Years Later is the iconic score of the original movie. Specifically, John Murphy’s “In The House In A Heartbeat” must appear in the follow-up. 28 Days Later’s most famous music went on to appear in 2010’s Kick-Ass, but it was most memorably used to score Jim’s bloody rampage through an abandoned mansion at the climax of the original movie.

A pounding piece of music that gradually grows to a thrilling crescendo before returning to a quiet moment of intimacy as it ends, “In The House In A Heartbeat” perfectly encapsulates the movie’s blend of gory horror and quiet character drama. Not using this iconic piece in 28 Years Later would amount to a major missed opportunity.

2
28 Years Later Must Explain How The Infected Survived

The franchise’s monsters shouldn’t logically be able to live for decades

It’s important to note that the Infected shouldn’t have been able to survive for years since they seemingly never eat or drink. That said, the very premise behind 28 Years Later implies that the Rage virus found a way to keep its host alive for years. It is unlikely that the sequel will take place in a world free from the Infected and focus on the cleanup efforts of survivors, so viewers can reasonably assume that 28 Years Later‘s Infected found a way to live longer.

This is no small feat, though, considering the ending of 28 Days Later depicted them flopping over and dying in the streets when starved for a few weeks. That movie’s optimistic ending indicated that the Infected would simply die out if given a long enough timeline. That supposedly being the case makes it necessary for 28 Years Later to provide a satisfying explanation for their continued survival.

1
28 Years Later Needs To Justify A 28 Days Later Plot Hole

The original movie’s ending implied the Infected died out

On the topic of 28 Days Later’s ending, 28 Years Later must explain whether the ending that saw Jim and Selena survive is canon. Since 28 Weeks Later had no characters in common with the original movie, the sequel never needed to clarify why some of the Infected seemingly died out without intervention and others survived.

28 Days Later’s ending made it look like the threat was effectively neutralized and all that the survivors needed to do was wait it out, but 28 Weeks Later contradicted this when the outbreak was still in full swing months later. 28 Years Later needs to clarify which of these was true since, if the Infected were starting to die out at the end of the original movie, they would likely be much less of a threat before the third movie in the series began.