Cillian Murphy has taken a smart approach with franchises in his career. His portrayal of Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy solidified him as a great superhero movie villain. He even took on a leading role in A Quiet Place Part II a few years ago, filling a void as the adult male lead left by John Krasinski.

Yet, Murphy’s career is not overstuffed with traditional IP roles. He’s a regular in Nolan movies, allowing him to appear in huge hits like Inception, Dunkirk, and Oppenheimer. But, he hasn’t otherwise taken on recurring roles in big franchises. He’s steered clear of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Jurᴀssic, and more.

That doesn’t mean he’s been immune from the occasional franchise-adjacent appearance. In fact, two of Murphy’s franchises returned in 2025 – but he was left out of the newest installments.

Cillian Murphy Didn’t Return For 28 Years Later Or Tron: Ares

In a strange coincidence, Murphy’s only other franchises both had new installments release this year. 28 Years Later was a sequel to his 2002 zombie movie, 28 Days Later. Meanwhile, Tron: Ares is the sequel to 2010’s Tron: Legacy.

The actor is more well-known for his role in 28 Days Later, where he played the male lead, Jim. The fate of his character in the cult hit left audiences desperate to see him return, which didn’t happen in 2007’s 28 Weeks Later. There was even some confusion that Murphy was a zombie in 28 Years Later when the trailer dropped.

However, he did not make an appearance in the film, even though he was a producer. The franchise shifted the focus to a new group of characters trying to make a life in the UK zombie apocalypse. And while many were convinced he’d make a surprise return, this didn’t happen. 28 Years Later didn’t even directly mention Murphy’s character.

As if being left out of that sequel wasn’t bad enough, the actor also didn’t get a chance to return in Tron: Ares. He made a surprise, uncredited appearance in Tron: Legacy as Edward Dillinger Jr. His character was left in a position where he could’ve become the big bad of the franchise going forward.

Instead, Tron: Ares replaced Murphy’s character. The sequel introduced two new Dillinger family members rather than bring Edward Jr. back. The first is Julian Dillinger, played by Evan Peters, as the new CEO of Dillinger Systems. The second is Elisabeth Dillinger, played by Gillian Anderson, the mother of Julian and sister of Edward Jr.

It seems that the movie would have had a simpler time with its story including Murphy. He could’ve been a connective thread to Legacy and filled Julian’s role, which would allow Elisabeth’s role to be cut or changed to focus on a sibling rivalry.

Why Cillian Murphy Didn’t Return For 28 Years Later Or Tron: Ares

Murphy’s absence from 28 Years Later is part of a larger plan. Danny Boyle, Alex Garland, and Sony made the film with ambitions of it starting a new trilogy. That always made it likely that Jim would be seen again at some point in the next three movies.

It’s already been confirmed that Murphy makes a small appearance as Jim at the end of the next installment, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. This will presumably set him up to have a bigger role in the third 28 Years Later, should it be officially greenlit.

That helps explain why Murphy was left out of 28 Years Later. He’s not meant to be part of the story at this point, but there is a plan for that to change. No one wants this franchise to go on without seeing Jim again, even Murphy. The fact that he was aboard the project early on as a producer signaled his creative allignment with Boyle and Garland on when he’d come back.

Murphy wants to be part of the zombie franchise again, but that might not be the case with Tron: Ares. The film’s director said “sometimes actors don’t want to be in it anymore” as a reason why he and other previous franchise actors didn’t return.

Even though the director didn’t name Murphy, he could be one of the actors who didn’t want to come back. It had been over a decade since he did Legacy by the time Ares got moving, and the new Tron installment happened with an entirely different creative team.

While the gap between 28 Days Later and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple will be substantially longer than from Tron: Legacy to Tron: Ares (24 years vs. 15 years), the former is easily the role that is a bigger deal for Murphy’s career. That was one of his earliest breakthrough performances and gave him a bond with Boyle and Garland.

With his connections to the Tron franchise removed from Ares, there likely was not the same allure to return to this franchise. And considering Tron 4 likely will not happen, he probably won’t ever come back to this series now. Future 28 Years Later movies can better utilize Cillian Murphy, allowing that franchise to grow in its importance to his career.