Is Cillian Murphy in 28 Years Later? Fans Thought They Spotted Him in the Sequel

Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for 28 Years Later.

When it first debuted in 2002, 28 Days Later did not seem like the kind of movie that would eventually become a franchise. Cillian Murphy was not the movie star that he is today, and director Danny Boyle hadn't yet won any Oscars. Now, though, Danny is back in the director's seat for 28 Years Later, the third chapter in a franchise that also includes 28 Weeks Later.

Now that a trailer for 28 Years Later has been released, many are wondering whether Cillian will be returning to the franchise for this installment. Here's what we know.

Many day-one 28 Days Later fans were shocked to see 28 Years Later begin, continue, and end without even a cameo from Cillian. The actor's character, Jack, isn't in the sequel. However, he worked as an executive producer on the film.

Cillian's lack of camera time on 28 Years Later was something fans didn't expect. Especially after Sony Motion Pictures Group CEO and chairman Tom Rothman told Deadline he was returning to the film "in a surprising way and in a way that grows." As it turns out, Tom likely meant the actor's EP promotion.

Cillian's Jack was the central character in 28 Days Later. He played a man who wakes up from a coma to find that the United Kingdom has been destroyed by something known as the "rage virus." The first trailer for 28 Years Later does not include any footage of Jack, and instead emphasizes the new cast, which includes Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, and Ralph Fiennes.

Fans also thought they saw Cillian's character in the 28 Years Later's trailer. In the trailer, there is one zombie that appears to resemble Cillian, but it was never definitively confirmed whether he's making a cameo as a zombified version of his character.

The film's official plot synopsis explains: "It's been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily defended causeway."

"When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well," the summary explains.

Alex Garland and Danny Boyle worked together on the 2002 film, but neither one of them was involved in the sequel. They have reunited for this third installment, though, and assembled quite the cast to make the movie.

Many of the movie's details and surprises likely won't be unveiled until the movie hits theaters in the summer of 2025. For now, then, fans will just have to speculate about whether Cillian will have any sort of on-screen role in the film.