Just kidding, Cillian Murphy isn't in 28 Years Later at all

Seems like someone on the 28 Years Later team made an oopsie. Last May, Deadline asked Sony executive Tom Rothman whether or not Cillian Murphy—the star of Danny Boyle’s original 28 Days Later—would be back for the sequel. To clear up any confusion, this is exactly what the outlet wrote: “Cillian Murphy who just won the Best Actor Oscar for Oppenheimer, was the indelible protagonist in the original. Will he be back?” Rothman answered: “Yes, but in a surprising way and in a way that grows, let me put it that way.” 

Being exceptionally generous to Rothman, it now seems the big secret is that the actor is on board as an executive producer, and doesn’t actually appear onscreen at all. Uh… surprise? “[On] this, we wanted him to be involved and he wanted to be involved. He is not in the first film, but I’m hoping there will be some Jim somewhere along the line,” 28 Years Later producer Andrew Macdonald confirmed to Empire. “He’s involved at the moment as an executive producer.”

Luckily, Macdonald isn’t ruling out a return of the character completely. “I would hope we can work with him in some way in the future in the trilogy,” he said. That’s potentially a cheeky reference to Nia DaCosta’s already completed 28 Days Later: The Bone Temple, which hits theaters on January 16, 2026. There’s also a third film in this batch of lore extensions scheduled, but its fate depends on how audiences connect with the first two.

If the reaction to 28 Years Later‘s (exceptional) first trailer is anything to go by, its chances are pretty good. That trailer also spawned an earlier Cillian Murphy-related kerfuffle, as audiences quickly noted that one of the emaciated infected had suspiciously similar cheekbones to the Oscar winner. It was not Murphy, it turned out, but model and art dealer Angus Neill, who graces the cover of this month’s Empire Magazine. Apparently, Danny Boyle got some advanced warning that this might happen. “I showed my girlfriend the trailer and she said, ‘People will think that’s Cillian,'” the director told the outlet. “I said, ‘Don’t be silly.’ I ignored her. So I’ve eaten a bit of humble pie since.”

28 Years Later actually stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes, and Jodie Comer. It comes out June 20.