{"id":1231927,"date":"2026-02-25T23:31:58","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T23:31:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=608187"},"modified":"2026-02-25T23:31:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T23:31:59","slug":"28-years-laters-ending-is-basically-a-post-credits-scene-for-the-trilogys-next-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/28-years-laters-ending-is-basically-a-post-credits-scene-for-the-trilogys-next-movie\/","title":{"rendered":"28 Years Later’s ending is basically a post-credits scene for the trilogy\u2019s next movie"},"content":{"rendered":"
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28 Years Later<\/em><\/a> <\/em>might be the third entry in the horror series, but the moody film feels like it could be a standalone work \u2013 right up until its final moments. <\/p>\n

The post-apocalyptic coming-of-age story from director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire<\/em>) and writer Alex Garland (Civil War<\/em><\/a>) plays with time and perspective, only revealing the importance of its first scene with a cliffhanger ending that sets up the next film in a new planned trilogy. If it\u2019s not obvious: We are getting 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple<\/em> in January 2026. And the first movie tees it all up.<\/p>\n

[Ed. note:<\/strong> Spoilers ahead for 28 Years Later<\/em>.]<\/p>\n

While most of 28 Years Later <\/em>follows Spike (Alfie Williams), a 12-year-old leaving a quarantined island for the first time to hunt some infected, the film opens in the immediate aftermath of the Rage Virus outbreak with a group of terrified kids watching the Teletubbies<\/em>. When the infected inevitably break in and start biting everyone in the house, one kid named Jimmy (Rocco Haynes) manages to flee into a nearby church where his vicar father has decided to embrace the plague as the fulfillment of divine will. The vicar gives his son a golden crucifix and welcomes the bloodthirsty horde with manic glee while his child hides beneath a baptismal font grate.<\/p>\n

We see Jimmy again as an adult (played by Jack O\u2019Connell of Sinners<\/em><\/a>) when he rescues Spike from the hungry infected who\u2019ve come to claim his fish dinner. Still carrying the crucifix, which he wears upside down, he\u2019s also sporting a tiara, a tracksuit, and plenty of glitzy rings. Apparently, in the intervening decades, he\u2019s become the leader of a cult that dress in matching apparel and fight the infected with impressive martial arts skills rather than the more pragmatic bows used by Spike\u2019s people. Boyle says the look and character name were inspired by BBC host Jimmy Saville,<\/a> who was accused of being a serial sex offender.<\/p>\n

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