Summary
A new28 Years Laterreveal may signal the arrival of a main villain who is virus-free, but a monster nonetheless. Currently in production,28 Years Laterreunites Danny Boyle and Alex Garland after the Hollywood heavyweights handed the reins over for 2007’s follow-up,28 Weeks Later. Plot details for Boyle and Garland’s threequel remain firmly under wraps, but28 Years Laterset photoshave revealed stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jodie Comer looking suitably disheveled as they potter around the UK’s post-apocalyptic landscape avoiding28 Years Later’s infected.
One especially curious reveal from28 Years Later’s on-location shoot is the presence of characters in military uniform. The image depicts a young blond soldier called E. Sundqvist, who, according to the badge emblazoned on the sleeve of his jacket, is present on behalf of NATO. The character is portrayed by Swedish actor Edvin Ryding and pictured without any context linking him to28 Years Later’s story. Thinking back to the previous two movies, however, this NATO soldier might give away a big clue about the sequel’s main villain.
How 28 Days Later Filmed Its Empty London Scenes
The empty London scenes in 28 Days Later are iconic - and the fact no CGI was used to achieve them makes Danny Boyle’s directing even more impressive.
28 Years Later Is Bringing Back The Military After Its Villainous Role In Past Movies
Set Photos Confirm A Military Presence 28 Years After London Fell
In any given zombie story, the zombies themselves are rarely the main villains, and28 Days Lateris no exception to that rule. In Boyle and Garland’s original movie, the most sinister menace was, by some distance, Christopher Eccleston’s Major West, whose plan to repopulate the human race singled him out as28 Days Later’s true antagonist.
28 Years Later’s Infected Will Be Very Different Thanks To 1 Subtle Sequel Change
The infamous Infected of 28 Years Later will be different from the versions seen in the previous films thanks to a change teased in 28 Weeks Later.
Despite having a totally different creative team,28 Weeks Latercontinued its predecessor’s theme of morally corrupt military leaders via Idris Elba’s Stone - a US Army general leading a NATO operation. Nowhere near as outwardly malicious as West in28 Days Later, Stone was nevertheless responsible for executing Code Red and ordering the mass shooting of innocent civilians in an unsuccessful attempt to halt the virus.
28 Years Laterwill seemingly carry the franchise’s militaristic baton onward. At the very least, Ryding’s role confirms military forces will continue to play a significant role in the ongoing post-apocalypse narrative. Based on the less-than-stellar track record of how such organizations acted in those past movies,it does seem probable that28 Years Later’s big bad will be another high-ranking soldiermaking morally questionable, or outright evil, decisions for the supposed greater-good.
The Military’s Role In 28 Years Later Could Be Positive, Critical, Or Both
Don’t Expect Clear-Cut Answers From Alex Garland’s Script
At such an early stage in the movie’s production, it is too early to say for sure whether28 Years Laterwill depict its military characters as good, bad, or somewhere in between. It should be noted that28 Days Laterand28 Weeks Laterboth stopped short of critiquing the military as a whole. While28 Days Laterincluded the deplorable West and his sadistic sidekick, Corporal Mitchell, Sergeant Farrell spoke out against his superior officer and sought to help the protagonists. Boyle and Garland were careful to portray West and his minions as a rogue outfit corrupted by the decay of social law without painting the entire Armed Forces as villains.
28 Weeks Laterfollowed much the same pattern. Ruthless and horrific Stone’s Code Red order may have been, but Jeremy Renner’s Doyle, Rose Byrne’s Scarlet, and Harold Perrineau’s Flynn all chose to rebel and follow their own ethical principles. Once again, the villainy came from a higher-ranking officer whose conscience had been warped by the horrors of the Rage Virus outbreak.
While Doyle and Scarlet both perished, Harold Perrineau’s Flynn could potentially return in28 Years Later.
That same moral grayness will likely carry over into28 Years Later.Alex Garland is renowned for scripts that leave room for interpretationover the movie’s meaning and message -Ex Machina,Annihilation, and most recently,Civil War. It’s difficult to imagine his vision of the military in28 Years Laterbeing either wholly heroic or entirely critical, meaning the movie’s soldier characters will probably receive representation on both ends of the ethical spectrum.
Is This 28 Years Later Actor Playing A Military Villain?
Has 28 Years Later Pulled Off A Genius Piece Of Casting?
If28 Years Laterdoes introduce another villainous military leader figure, it already has the perfect actor for the gig. In addition to Taylor-Johnson and Comer,28 Years Later’s other major cast addition is Ralph Fiennes - an actor renowned for his portrayals of both villains and military figures. On the villainous side, Fiennes has brought to life Voldemort, Amon Göth fromSchindler’s List, and Chef Slowik inThe Menu. In terms of military roles, Fiennes played M in the James Bond movies, Oxford inThe King’s Man, the leader of a military contractor group inThe Hurt Lockerand, again, Amon Göth.
Any blockbuster looking to cast a military general as a leading antagonist would struggle not to consider Ralph Fiennes, so his presence among the28 Years Latercast - combined with the franchise’s demonstrable history of militaristic villains and the now-confirmed NATO soldiers in the upcoming movie - feels undeniably significant. Similar to his predecessors, Fiennes'28 Years Latercharacter may believe that sacrificing infected countries is the only way to save the world, or perhaps he seeks to satisfy his own lust for power by establishing harsh military rule where government has fallen.
28 Years Later
28 Years Later follows a group of survivors living on an isolated island nearly three decades after the rage virus outbreak. Venturing into the quarantine zone of the mainland, they uncover dangerous secrets and transformations among both the infected and other surviving factions.
