28 Years Later’s 3 New Cast Members Are A Really Bad Sign For Cillian Murphy’s Return

Danny Boyle’s upcoming sequel 28 Years Later has confirmed the involvement of three major actors, which while exciting, augurs poorly for the return of the franchise’s original star, Cillian Murphy. Although Murphy played a prominent role in 28 Days Later, his character was totally ignored in the 2007 follow-up, 28 Weeks Later. Following the returns of director Boyle and writer Alex Garland, expectations were high that Murphy, too, would be back in the center of the story. However, 28 Years Later‘s casting news seems to suggest a different approach is in the pipeline.

Rather than confirming potential franchise returnees, such as Cillian Murphy or Naomie Harris, 28 Years Later will be led by an all-star trio of British acting talent. As confirmed by multiple sources, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, and Ralph Fiennes have all joined the project (via Screen Rant), lending 28 Years Later some serious gravitas. Although the extent of their roles is currently unknown, the trio’s respective ages suggest parallels with 28 Days Later‘s original story. Beyond this, however, their involvement has potential ramifications for Cillian Murphy’s future in the series.

28 Years Later Castings All But Confirm Cillian Murphy’s Jim Isn’t The Main Character

The new cast members are too high-profile

Even though 28 Years Later‘s story remains shrouded in mystery, the involvement of Taylor-Johnson, Comer, and Fiennes indicates that Cillian Murphy’s Jim will not be the main character. With such high-profile actors joining the cast, not to mention reported plans to make 28 Years Later the start of a new trilogy, it seems likely that the story will focus on establishing new faces, rather than continuing Jim’s story. While this doesn’t necessarily make Jim’s involvement impossible, it does suggest that the movie will want to make full use of Taylor-Johnson, Comer, and Fiennes’ acting talents, rather than relegating them to the sidelines.

Clearly, this has profound implications for how 28 Years Later‘s story might unfold. Given that Jim’s post-28 Days Later fate remains a mystery – not to mention what happened to Selena and Hannah, revisiting his story would be an easy way for the franchise to reassert itself after a nearly two-decade hiatus. The fact that a new trio of famous actors seems to be leading the way suggests that 28 Years Later will instead offer a fresh start for the series – potentially ignoring the original story in much the same way that 28 Weeks Later did.

Jim Can Still Appear In 28 Years Later (As A Cameo)

It would help resolve some story issues

28 Years Later‘s casting news clearly suggests that Jim will not be the main protagonist. However, this does not mean that the character can’t feature in some capacity. Each of the previous 28 movies has been defined by how the major players interact with various supporting characters along their journey. In the original, Brendan Gleeson and Christopher Eccleston fulfilled this role, while Jeremy Renner played a similar part in 28 Weeks Later. Whatever 28 Years Later‘s story, there’s no reason that Jim couldn’t have a similar function in the narrative.

Despite the involvement of additional high-profile actors, completing Jim’s story in 28 Years Later would be a good move for the franchise. As one of the few notable survivors from the series, his uncertain fate (given the relapse seen in 28 Weeks Later) is a major cliffhanger for long-term fans of the films. An acknowledgment of his pivotal role in the wider 28 story – however minor – could help connect the new film to the franchise’s legacy, rather than risk turning the film into an isolated vignette with little relevance to what came before.

28 Years Later’s Cast Proves The Franchise Is Moving Forward

It’s a move away from the previous movies

Irrespective of whether Jim plays a minor role or is completely left out of the story, the 28 Years Later casting news proves that the franchise is definitively moving the story forward. One of the series’ strengths has been showing how the Rage Virus outbreak affected various communities. This helped give the movies a real sense of scale, without detracting from the empathy of its characters. Starting afresh continues this trend, and suggests that the film is primarily interested in showing yet another facet of the outbreak.

Considering the appetite for blockbusters and franchises, it’s tempting to think that bringing back pre-existing 28 characters for the legacy sequel is the right approach. Especially after Murphy’s success with Oppenheimer, giving him another starring role may seem like a no-brainer. However, turning one character into the de facto star of the franchise risks undercutting what makes 28 Days and Weeks Later so special. Ultimately, there are no overpowered heroes fighting off hordes of zombies – just everyday humans trying to survive. 28 Years Later can now continue this theme – albeit with more famous faces in the leads.