A brief anecdote in 28 Years Later provides a tongue-in-cheek reference to Cillian Murphy’s character from 28 Days Later, and retroactively mocks him in the process. The long-awaited sequel to what is typically classified as a zombie horror franchise (even if that’s not entirely accurate) picked up events nearly three decades after the Rage Virus first ravaged mainland Britain.

While 28 Years Later focuses on an entirely new cast of characters and a different part of the country, there are several minor callbacks to the original movie. One of the most prominent refers directly to Jim, Cillian Murphy’s character who woke up alone in London after coming out of a coma, having missed the breakdown of society and the spread of the virus.

Although Jim does not make an appearance in 28 Years Later, he is reportedly going to appear at the end of the movie’s forthcoming sequel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. He isn’t directly name-dropped in the summer 2025 horror blockbuster, but a quick story from a side character clearly intended to put him in the audience’s mind.

Erik’s Story About His Delivery Driver Friend Is An Insult To 28 Days Later’s Jim

It’s Clearly A Reference To Jim’s Original Accident

During the course of Spike and Isla’s desperate journey to the mainland to find Dr. Kelson, they of course have run-ins with a number of Infected and their new variants. Isla and Spike are saved on one occasion from the more traditional Infected by a Swedish soldier, Erik, who is the last surviving member of a recon unit whose boat sank off the coast of Britain.

With nowhere else to go, Erik tags along with Spike and Isla, and regales them with an anecdote about a friend of his from back home who is a delivery driver. He tells them about how he advised his friend that he was essentially wasting his life in that job.

It’s clearly intended to be a subtle reference to Jim from 28 Days Later, who was acting as a bicycle courier when he was hit by a car and fell into a coma. Erik’s commentary retroactively insults Jim, who was living with his parents in what Erik believed to be a ᴅᴇᴀᴅ-end job.

Jim’s Delivery Job May Have Been What Saved His Life In 28 Days Later’s Franchise

He Was Unintentionally Locked Away From The Rage Virus

Ironically, Jim’s job as a bicycle courier may have indirectly saved his life. While delivering a package, Jim was cut off by a vehicle and wound up being hit/crashing, which left him with a brain injury and in a deep coma. When he finally woke up, 28 days after the Rage Virus was first unleashed, he was still locked in his hospital room.

A nurse or doctor had locked the door behind them as they fled the virus, but slid a key under the door so that Jim could escape if he happened to wake up. Because of the locked door, Jim was protected from the Infected that ransacked the hospital, meaning that if he was never a bicycle courier, he may have fallen victim to the virus like so many others.

Jim later ventures to his parents’ house, only to find them ᴅᴇᴀᴅ by suicide with sleeping pills. If he had never had an accident, it’s entirely possible he would have joined them in the suicide with all hope seemingly lost. He also may have never gotten the chance, and could have become one of the Infected himself.

The anecdote from 28 Years Later is meant to be little more than a minor reference to Jim, but it’s interesting that it minimizes the job of delivery workers. The irony is extremely clear, given that Jim’s accident, which occurred while on the job as a courier, may have been the only thing that saved him from an Infected fate.