While it seems likely that28 Years Laterwill be significantly different from its predecessors in more ways than one, new details surrounding its character beats suggest it will repeat a change28 Weeks Latermade to the originalDanny Boyle movie. After28 Weeks Later’s underwhelming critical performance, it seemed like the apocalyptic movie franchise had ended. Many rumors surrounding its return kept floating around for several decades. However, the flywheels of a new installment’s production did not start moving until recently.
Titled28 Years Later, the third part of the sci-fi movie franchise is all set to feature another collaboration between Danny Boyle and Alex Garland. Scheduled to be released on June 22, 2025, it is planned to mark the inception of another trilogy of movies. While only time will tell whether28 Years Laterwill be as commercially and critically successful as the franchise’s first installment, it seems to share one intriguing parallel with28 Weeks Later.
28 Years Later Has A Child Main Character, Just Like 28 Weeks Later
The Main Character Is 13 Years Old
The more28 Years Later’s production progressed, the more actors were revealed to be associated with the project. Early details surrounding28 Years Later’s castconfirmed that Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Corner, and Ralph Fiennes would be the movie’s leading cast members. Soon, it was also confirmed thatCillian Murphy would return as Jimin the franchise’s third installment. Actors like Jack O’Connell, Erin Kellyman, and Edvin Ryding also joined the roster. However, as a recent report suggests, none of them play the main character.
During an appearance onMythical Kitchen’s YouTube series, Aaron Taylor-Johnson confirmed thatthe protagonist of28 Years Lateris “this young lad Alfie.“As theBullet Trainstar revealed, Alfie is 13 years old, and he and Danny Boyle took him under their wing. While casually opening up about the news, Taylor-Johnson also added that he took good care of the young 13-year-old actor because he, too, remembered being that young and not having someone look out for him.
Why 28 Years Later’s Child Protagonist Will Be Different To 28 Weeks Later
His Story Arc Already Seems Significantly Different Because Of The Movie’s Timeline
While most plot details surrounding28 Years Laterremain under wraps, the movie’s recent teaser confirms it might unfold on an isolated island. The film’s disturbing poster also says that “Time Doesn’t Heal Anything,” hinting that even though three decades have passed since the outbreak, the RAGE virus is still a looming threat across the globe. When it comes to individual character beats in the film, nothing much has been revealed so far.
Is 28 Years Later an unnecessary sequel?
28 Years Later, which is set to be released in 2025, comes over 20 years after the original movie, 28 Days Later. The movie already has a successful standalone sequel, 28 Weeks Later, so is 28 Years Later necessary? Returning to a franchise after a long gap isn’t unheard of, but it does make me wonder why now. It may not be necessary, but I’m interested to see where the story will go, especially with Cillian Murphy reprising his role as Jim. 28 Years Later also has a strong supporting cast, and I’m looking forward to their performances and seeing how they fit into the story and established world.
However, the child protagonist in28 Years Laterseems reminiscent of28 Weeks Later’s Andy Harris(played by Mackintosh Muggleton), with one key difference. Since28 Weeks Laterunfolds almost six months after the outbreak’s inception, Andy was still around when the world was free from the infections. He knew what the world looked like before the virus wreaked havoc and turned the majority of the population into aggressive, enraged creatures, driven by nothing but hunger.
Only through stories and legends would he know that the world was once far more peaceful and safe than the one he grew up in.
In contrast,28 Years Later’s young main character would know little about the world before the apocalypsebecause he was born after the outbreak. Only through stories and legends would he know that the world was once far more peaceful and safe than the one he grew up in. Since he never experienced a world without the undead, the outbreak is all he would know in28 Years Later’s timeline, making him significantly different from Andy Harris.
