The closest thing the 28 Days Later series has to a main character, Cillian Murphy’s Jim has had a harrowing history dodging the infected leading up to his eventual return in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. Set in a world in which Great Britain is overrun by a Rage Virus, causing anyone infected to become a mindless zombie-like psychopath bent on infecting other people through wanton violence, the 28 Days Later series hasn’t re-used any characters from previous films up until now. Though 28 Years Later won’t start a new canon, it’ll refocus the story of the franchise.

In the first film, Jim is introduced as a simple bicycle courier who is sent into a coma after a nasty accident that befalls him on the day of the original outbreak. Jim awakens to find himself in a post-apocalyptic England ravaged by the Rage Virus, joining forces with survivors Mark and Selena. Though Mark and a handful of other friendly survivors Jim meets along the way pᴀss away, he forms a close bond with Selena, eventually turning into a romantic relationship. Jim saves her and the young survivor Hannah from the clutches of a deranged rogue squadron of soldiers.

Cillian Murphy’s Jim Is Evacuated By Finnish Pilots At The End Of 28 Days Later

After Barely Surviving A Brutal Battle With Soldiers

After going on a vengeful rampage that briefly causes Selena to mistake Jim as one of the Rage Virus’ infected, he manages to free Selena and Hannah, taking them to safety, though he suffers a gunsH๏τ wound to the stomach in the process. Luckily, Selena is able to transport Jim to an abandoned hospital, resuscitating him and stabilizing his injury. From there, the trio find shelter in a small abandoned cottage, lying low enough to avoid any more infected or dangerous elements such as the soldiers.

Thanks to a large aerial-facing banner reading “Hello” crafted by Selena, she, Jim, and Hannah are eventually noticed by a Finnish military jet flying overhead. The jet then sends down a helicopter to pick the three of them up, taking them to mainland Europe, where the virus presumably hasn’t reached. Considering how bleak the majority of the 28 Days Later series is, this is a surprisingly happy ending, even if the road to get to it was quite a grueling and grisly one.

Jim Was Supposed To Die In 28 Days Later’s Original Ending

Not To Mention Most Other Alternate Possible Endings

Of course, it tracks that Jim’s fate in the original planned alternate endings wasn’t so kind. These alternate endings to 28 Days Later were included in the DVD release, and all three of them featured Jim’s death. Initially, writer Alex Garland meant for Jim to perish from his gunsH๏τ wound sustained in the ᴀssault on the soldiers in the Worsley House, bleeding out in the abandoned hospital after saving Selena and Hannah. As Hannah and Selena frantically try to save him, Jim ultimately succumbs to his injuries on the operating table.

Another ending plays out very similarly to this one, only with Jim dreaming of the accident that sent him into a coma while on the table, perhaps implying that the entirety of the infection was nothing more than a dream itself. In yet another ending, Jim’s death is far more poetic and meaningful. In this continuity, it’s revealed that a person can be saved from infection at the cost of a full blood transfusion, trading a life for a life. After Frank is infected, Jim voluntarily agrees to the procedure, sacrificing himself so that Hannah’s father might live.

Though their canon status is doubtful, the 28 Days Later comics also offer an answer as to what may have happened to Jim, Selena, and Hannah once they reached mainland Europe. Upon arriving, the trio are hailed as the “Manchester Three”, though Jim is once again sentenced to death as a punishment for his crimes against the military, slaughtering multiple soldiers during the rescue of Selena and Hannah. Jim is said to be scheduled for execution via firing squad, and only appears in the story via flashback.

Cillian Murphy’s Return In The 28 Years Later Trilogy Suggests An Unhappy Ending

Jim’s Life Can’t Be That Great If He Is Returning

Though Cillian Murphy won’t feature in the upcoming 28 Years Later, he is confirmed to return as Jim in the 2026 sequel and fourth entry in the franchise, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. This entry was filmed concurrently with 28 Years Later, making the two an inexorably linked duology, with characters from 28 Years Later such as Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Jamie also slated to reappear. But more importantly, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple will be the first official time audiences see Cillian Murphy’s Jim since the original film.

The fact that Jim is indeed returning doesn’t bode well for his history following the original film. For one thing, Naomie Harris and Megan Burns, the actresses behind Selena and Hannah, respectively, are not confirmed to return in either 28 Years Later or 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. It seems unlikely that Jim would be able to part with either of them to go back to England himself, especially Selena. This doesn’t bode well for their long-term survivability, suggesting they either fell victim to the Rage Virus themselves or were otherwise killed by the turmoil of the post-infection world.

Jim Might Be The Central Figurehead Of Some Bizarre Doomsday Cult

The Name “Jimmy” Seems To Bear Some Significance To The Latest Film

The trailers for 28 Years Later may also suggest that Jim has become an incredibly important figure to the mythos of the franchise in the years since the initial outbreak. At one point, a glimpse of graffiti on the side of a house on the island the protagonists hail from reads “Behold, he is coming with the clouds“, with what appears to be the name “Jimmy” scrawled next to it. “Jimmy” can also be seen carved lengthwise onto the chest of an infected hanging upside-down with a bag on his head encountered by the two of them on the mainland.

This could perhaps be connected to the same religious movement that sees an unstable reverend gleefully allow infected to pour through the windows of his church. The mᴀssive totems of skulls and bones, which may be referenced in the тιтle of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, could also be the result of this same cult-like phenomenon. It seems very possible that Jim has become a larger-than-life martyr figure in the post-apocalyptic society of 28 Days Later.