The plot synopsis of28 Years Laterreveals a major detail about how the world has changed since the previous installment. 2002’s28 Days Laterintroduced the rage virus, a virulent disease that transforms its hosts into the ravenous, fast-moving, zombie-like Infected. While the outbreak in the movie was limited to the island of Great Britain, the finale of the 2007 sequel28 Weeks Laterfeatured it spreading to continental Europe by showcasing a group of Infected running through Paris after surviving characters Tammy (Imogen Poots) and Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton) crash-landed there.
Theupcoming28 Years Later, which is set to premiere in theaters on Jul 29, 2025, is intended to be the first installment of a new trilogy of movies continuing the franchise after more than a decade. The first of the trilogyreteams original director Danny Boyle with original writer Alex Garland and original star Cillian Murphyas Jim. The ensemble cast of the movie also includesKraven the Hunter’s Aaron Taylor-Johnson,Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer,The Menu’s Ralph Fiennes,Unbroken’s Jack O’Connell,The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s Erin Kellyman, andYoung Royals' Edvin Ryding.
28 Years Later Photos Tease The Sequel’s Real Main Villain (It’s Not The Infected)
The infected may run amok in 28 Years Later, but new images tease a different main villain - one that’s in-keeping with the past two movies.
28 Years Later’s Premise Must Mean The Rest Of The World Is Infected
During an interview withIndieWirethat was published on October 25, Ralph Fiennes shared the synopsis of the upcomingDanny Boyle moviein his own words. He shared that the movie takes place in Britain, which ispopulated with “violent, rabid humans with a few pockets of uninfected communities.“A young boy travels through this dangerous world with his dying mother to seek help from a doctor (Fiennes). Read the star’s full synopsis, which provides a major clue as to how the movie will follow up on the28 Weeks Laterending, below:
Britain is 28 years into this terrible plague of infected people who are violent, rabid humans with a few pockets of uninfected communities. And it centers on a young boy who wants to find a doctor to help his dying mother. He leads his mother through this beautiful northern English terrain. But of course, around them hiding in forests and hills and woods are the Infected. But he finds a doctor who is a man we might think is going to be weird and odd, but actually is a force for good.
This synopsis seemingly reveals what happened after the28 Weeks Laterkidslanded in France. Because Britain continues to be overrun by Infected, it seemshighly likely that the entire world has since been destroyed by the rage virus. If people on other continents were still able to martial their forces, it seems likely that they would have offered aid in the many years since the previous installment, as the United States of America did when London was being rebuilt in the second movie.
The Rest Of The World Being Infected In 28 Years Later Promises A More Expansive Story
The Trilogy Could Move Beyond The UK
While Fiennes' synopsis for28 Years Laterimplies that the majority of the movie is set in the UK,the implication that the entire world has been ravaged could open up the future installments in the trilogyand allow them to explore how other territories were impacted by the rage virus. Even if this is not the case, as the first two movies in the trilogy have so far been filmed in the UK, the movie could explore what the surviving humans know about the situation in other regions, expanding the world of the franchise considerably.
