28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE Director on Bringing Cillian Murphy’s Jim Back - "I Was So Excited"
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is now playing in theaters, and I thought it was great! I’ve actually seen it twice so far. The film goes bigger, stranger, and more vicious, then caps things off with a final stretch that fans of the original film will appreciate.
That closing sequence delivers a major reveal that reshapes the future of the franchise and officially brings a familiar survivor back into the fold.
Set in the aftermath of the chaos at Dr. Kelson’s ossuary, the film watches Spike and Jimmy Ink fleeing for their lives after Kelson and Jimmy Crystal are killed. Their desperate escape cuts to an unexpected pocket of calm.
A teenage girl named Sam studies history inside a quiet cottage by the water, chickens wandering freely outside like the world never ended. That calm doesn’t last long.
From another room, a voice begins talking about reparations. “Why help our defeated enemy?” The voice belongs to Jim, played once again by Cillian Murphy, revealed to have survived the events of 28 Days Later.
He’s older, sharper, and raising a teenage daughter. Selena is nowhere to be seen, but Jim’s instincts are intact. When the distant chaos reaches their valley and he spots Spike and Jimmy Ink being chased, Sam asks if they should help. Jim doesn’t hesitate. “Of course we do.”
It’s a great handoff moment and with a third 28 Years Later film already confirmed, the implication is clear. Jim will be back in full force in the next movie, and his story isn’t done shaping this world.
While his appearance wasn’t a total surprise after Danny Boyle confirmed Murphy’s involvement months ago, seeing it play out onscreen hits differently. With the movie now out in the world, director Nia DaCosta opened up about what it meant to bring Jim back into the story.
“I loved it. I was so excited to do it. I was like, ‘Yes, I get to do this!’ Like, you know, bring this guy back.” DaCosta said. “It was great because also Cillian’s amazing. 28 Days Later is so important to me. It’s a formative film for me.
“I mean, it’s actually insane for me as an 11-year-old watching and being obsessed with that movie and Cillian and Naomi and Christopher Eccleston, everyone in that movie. And then to be able to direct one of those actors in the context in which I fell in love with them, essentially, is amazing.”
That personal connection shows. Jim’s return feels grounded, not flashy, and it quietly reframes the future of the franchise around legacy and survival rather than spectacle.
Whether DaCosta returns for the third film or other familiar faces reappear is still up in the air, but after The Bone Temple’s final moments, we know Jim is a key piece of what comes next as Spike’s fight to survive across the north of England continues.