Danny Boyle teases Cillian Murphy’s long-awaited return to 28 Years Later trilogy – after fans mistook zombie character for the Oscar winner

It’s been over two decades since his breakthrough role in 28 Days Later.

And Danny Boyle has teased that Cillian Murphy will finally make his long-awaited return to the hit zombie franchise, in one of the upcoming films.

The director, 68, is working on a trilogy of movies as a follow-up to the original 2002 post-apocalyptic horror, with the first, 28 Years Later, set to be released in June.

When the nail-biting trailer for the highly-anticipated film was released in December, fans went wild over one unexpected moment that saw a zombie rise up in a field behind Jodie Comer’s character.

The clip sparked worldwide speculation amongst fans, believing it to be the zombified form of Cillian’s character Jim from the first film.

However, this theory was quickly shut down when a London art dealer and model revealed he was the one playing the zombie character.

Danny Boyle has teased that Cillian Murphy will finally make his long-awaited return to the hit zombie franchise, in one of the upcoming films (seen last year) 

The director, 68, is working on a trilogy of movies as a follow-up to the original 2002 post-apocalyptic horror, with the first, 28 Years Later, set to be released in June (Danny pictured)

When the nail-biting trailer for the highly-anticipated film was released in December, fans went wild over one unexpected moment that saw a zombie rise up in a field behind Jodie Comer ‘s character (seen) 

But in a exciting new update for fans, Danny has now teased that viewers may get to see Cillian, 48, return after all, in one of the later films in the trilogy.

Speaking during Sony’s presentation at 2025 CinemaCon, the filmmaker hinted: ‘Like all good things in life, you may have to wait a little while for [Cillian] to make his appearance’.

28 Years Later was directed by Danny and stars Jodie, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes. 

It was filmed back-to-back with the second film, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, by director Nia DaCosta, which is being released in January 2026.

Producer Andrew Macdonald previously confirmed that Cillian would not be appearing in 28 Years Later, but also suggested he could return for a future film.

He told Empire: ‘[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.’

He added: ‘He’s involved at the moment as an executive producer, and I would hope we can work with him in some way in the future in the trilogy.’

It came after Angus Neill confirmed to The Guardian he plays ‘Emaciated Infected’ in the film, the zombie that fans had mistaken for Cillian.

The clip sparked worldwide speculation amongst fans, believing it to be the zombified form of Cillian’s character Jim from the first film (pictured)

However, this theory was quickly shut down when a London art dealer and model revealed he was the one playing the zombie character (Angus Neill pictured)

But in a exciting new update for fans, Danny has now teased that viewers may get to see Cillian, 48, return after all, in one of the later films in the trilogy 

Reflecting on the casting choice, Danny later admitted that he had not realised how many people would assume the character was a cameo from the Oscar winner.

He said: ‘I showed my girlfriend the trailer and she said, “People will think that’s Cillian”. I said, “Don’t be silly.” I ignored her. So I’ve eaten a bit of humble pie since.’

In January last year Cillian addressed speculation that he’d once again feature in the hit zombie franchise.

He told The Independent of his plans for involvement: ‘I would be there in a flash. I made two movies with both of those guys (Boyle and Garland), and I would love to work with them again. Of course, I’m there.’

The original film 28 Days Later starred Cillian as a bicycle courier who wakes up from a coma to discover the accidental release of a highly contagious, aggression-inducing virus has caused the breakdown of society. 

Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Megan Burns, and Brendan Gleeson appeared in supporting roles. 

28 Years Later is set to hit cinemas in June and also stars Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson [pictured] , Ralph Fiennes , Erin Kellyman and Jack O’Connell 

28 Days Later was a genre-defining film as it was the first to portray zombies as lightning fast rather than slow and sluggish.

The films take place 28 days, weeks, and years after the outbreak of a deadly virus in London, which infects everyone and turns them into bloodthirsty killers.

The film 28 Years Later is the sequel to 2002’s 28 Days Later and 2007’s 28 Weeks Later. 

With a budget of $75million, 28 Years Later is the biggest film to be created with an iPhone and follows in the footsteps of a new Apple TV show.