Warning! Major spoilers ahead for the 28 Years Later ending. 28 Years Later director Danny Boyle, writer Alex Garland, and star Alfie Williams break down the film’s wild ending and its new character. After collaborating on the franchise-starting 28 Days Later back in 2002, Boyle and Garland have reunited for the third installment, which follows a young boy named Spike (Alfie Williams) and his father, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), as they leave their isolated community on a rite-of-pᴀssage run to the dangerous mainland. The 28 Years Later ending features Spike running into Jimmy (Jack O’Connell), a cult leader who promises to be a major figure moving forward.
During a recent interview with ScreenRant‘s Liam Crowley, Boyle and Garland reveal Jimmy’s script origins. Speaking about the years-long journey from script to screen, the writer and director reveal that Jimmy was not a part of previous incarnations of the story, and was in fact a more recent addition. Jimmy’s inclusion in the story was part of a broader change to an earlier version of the script, which involved moving away from decisions deemed “too generic.” Read Garland and Boyle’s explanation below:
Alex Garland: No, Jimmy didn’t appear until this incarnation. There was a version that we worked on before, there was another writer who wrote a script, and then I did what was in effect, a kind of rewrite of that script. Jimmy didn’t feature in that story at all. In fact, the only, there’s a sort of trace bit of ancestry in a way, which is with some Swedish soldiers that wash up on the shores of quarantined Britain. But apart from that, there’s not really anything I don’t think. No, I don’t think so, until we meet Cillian anyway.
Danny Boyle: Cillian is obviously someone that we wait for in the trilogy, but Jimmy, when he did arrive, I remember reading it thinking, I’ll be honest with you, I remember thinking that’s the most original bit of screenwriting I’ve seen since Clockwork Orange. Not that I read Clockwork Orange as a screenplay back in the day or anything like that. You look at films like screenplays as well as films because when you’re in the business you think how it manifests itself and are drawn to certain writers and you kind of love their work. I remember thinking, ‘Yeah, this is like Clockwork Orange. This is what it must have been like.’
Alex Garland: This whole film structure came about as a result of abandoning a previous structure. So we completely went down an avenue, we asked why the avenue was not right and reductively, the reason it wasn’t right was it was too generic. In a way, learning the danger of being generic was what freed us up to be hopefully a good deal less generic and more subversive really, I would say.
As far as what’s to come following the final scene of 28 Years Later, Williams tells Crowley that Spike is apprehensive about this larger-than-life cult figure. Check out his response below when asked if Spike trusts Jimmy:
No. No. I mean, he doesn’t really have a choice, but no, not really. Not at all.
What This Means For The 28 Years Later Story’s Future
Spike & Jimmy’s Tale Is Just Getting Started
The film’s ending leaves several 28 Years Later characters’ stories up in the air, Spike especially, paving the way for additional films. This latest installment is the first in a planned trilogy, with Cillian Murphy’s Jim set to return at the end of the second before playing a larger role in the third movie. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple releases next January and has already been sH๏τ, and it has previously been revealed that the reception to these first two installments will determine whether the third gets made.
Jimmy is poised to play a significant role in The Bone Temple. Jimmy is first introduced at the very beginning of 28 Years Later, and is shown escaping an attack on his small Scottish community. Almost three decades later, Jimmy has become a cult-like leader with a look reminiscent of notorious British media personality and Sєx offender Jimmy Savile. How O’Connell’s character became this figure, developed his following, and survived the dangers of the Rage Virus could play a larger part in the next two films.
Our Take On Jimmy In 28 Years Later
Jack O’Connell’s Character Could Make The Next Movie Feel Quite Different
Though 28 Years Later reviews have been generally very positive from critics, the audience response has been somewhat less warm. The film’s tonal shifts seem to be at least partly responsible for this, and Jimmy’s return during the last few minutes does certainly feel different from the rest of the movie. Jimmy and his crew wear colorful clothing with plenty of shiny jewelry, and their fighting styles involve lots of flips, jumps, and twirls in a style reminiscent of the Power Rangers.
On Rotten Tomatoes, 28 Years Later has a glowing 89% critics’ score but only a 65% score from audiences.
If Jimmy and his crew play a larger role in The Bone Temple, which feels like a certainty, it’s possible that, tonally, this upcoming film will be another departure. Whether audiences embrace what is to come in the next movie remains to be seen, but 28 Years Later evidently takes some bold swings with its narrative and tone.
