’28 Days Later’ Recap: What to Remember Before ’28 Years Later’

“28 Years Later” is finally here and a refresher on the first two films might be in order.

It has been 18 years since the last film in the franchise and 23 years since it all began in “28 Days Later.” The latest film proves that things are hardly better off despite all the time that has passed. The years have not been kind to the world, and survivors are still doing their best to fight against a plague of Rage Virus-fueled monsters.

Before you dive into the latest film, refresh yourself on the most important bits from “28 Days Later” and “28 Weeks Later” so you’re square on all the most important lore bits.

The Rage Virus Began in Monkeys

The virus that burned through the UK and then the world began in chimpanzees. The animals were experimented on by scientists while searching for a way to trigger enhanced aggression and anger in victims. According to the comic book “28 Days Later: The Aftermath,” the virus came about by combining research into aggression triggers with the Ebola Virus. The results spoke for themselves.

The Outbreak Started Because of Animal Activists

All those monkeys being tested on were bound to attract the attention of the more extreme animal activists. Unfortunately, in their attempt to do a good deed, they ended the world. The activists are seen breaking into the facility that was experimenting on the chimps at the beginning of “28 Days Later,” and a Rage Virus-filled testee immediately attacks one. The virus is spread through the rest of the activists and the scientists lingering around, and the rest is history.

All it Takes is a Drop to Turn You

Blood is how the Rage Virus transfers from host to host. If you get an infected person’s blood anywhere in your body, it’s game over. People don’t need to be covered in gore to trigger a turn. In “28 Days Later,” Brendan Gleeson’s Frank has a single drop of blood fall into his eye, and he’s turned into a rage zombie in a matter of minutes.

Cillian Murphy’s Jim Was Alive Last We Saw

Cillian Murphy’s character Jim may not have appeared in “28 Weeks Later,” but he’s still alive as of the end of “28 Days Later.” While escaping from a group of soldiers who led them to believe they were safe with the intention of turning Selena (Naomie Harris) and Hannah (Megan Burns) into sex slaves, Jim was shot and lost consciousness. He wakes up after another month’s time in Cumbria – still alive for the time being.

Director Danny Boyle said that Murphy won’t appear in “28 Years Later,” but will show up at the end of the second film in the planned trilogy and hopefully all of the third one.

“He is in the second one,” Boyle said to IGN. “I shouldn’t give away too much. I’ll get killed.”

“All I can say is you have to wait for Cillian, but hopefully he will help us get the third film financed,” he added to Business Insider.

Some Humans Are Immune to the Rage Virus

“28 Weeks Later” revealed that a random lucky few humans can be immune to the Rage Virus. A woman named Alice was unknowingly an asymptomatic carrier of the virus, and a kiss shared with another man passed it along to someone who was not so genetically lucky. The kiss kicked off a secondary outbreak after NATO had got a handle on things in the UK.

At Least Two Immune People Could Still Be Out There

Alice may have died, but the film follows her children, Tammy (Imogen Poots) and Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton), in their dash to survive the latest outbreak. The government that helped get a handle on the initial Rage Virus outbreak is convinced that Alice passed down her immunity to her children.

The ending remains open-ended but on the bleak side. After getting a flight out of the city on a helicopter with designs on getting to France, the final moments show the chopper wrecked, but no sign of either Tammy or Andy. Things may not look good, but without a body to confirm their death, there is hope that one or both of them got out of the crash alive. However, it sounds like that won’t play a role in the new films — Boyle told Collider that “28 Years Later” will not explore natural immunity, and it will keep the action contained to Britain, with the virus “driven back from mainland Europe.”

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