‘This absolute diva’: The ‘28 Years Later’ trailer’s Cillian Murphy-like zombie has people losing it

The trailer for 28 Years Later—the third film in the post-apocalyptic horror franchise, which reunites director Danny Boyle with screenwriter Alex Garland—is easily one of the best we’ve seen this year. One particular shot of a zombie that looks eerily like actor Cillian Murphy is going … viral (pun intended) with the fans.

The trailer, set to Rudyard Kipling’s WWI poem ‘Boots,’ teases just the right amount about what we can expect from the threequel. It follows survivors three decades after the rage-inducing virus broke out into the world, infecting humans and leading to an utter breakdown of society. We even catch glimpses of the film’s ensemble cast—Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, and Ralph Fiennes. But was Cillian Murphy, the lead of the first film, also there? Did we miss him?

Erm … well, not exactly. Fans are convinced that even though it was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, they might’ve spotted the Oppenheimer actor in the trailer. Unfortunately, Jim the courier guy looks slightly different since we last saw him. You see, the shot is that of a decaying zombie, clearly infected by the virus, who pops up in a field!

If you find it hard to believe, you aren’t alone. There’s no confirmation as to whether this zombie is indeed Murphy’s character, other than a bunch of news portals claiming this could “potentially” or “reportedly” be him. His ultimate fate was unknown since Jim was a survivor at the end of the first film and didn’t appear in the sequel, 28 Weeks Later. However, Murphy is confirmed to be a part of 28 Years Later, and since he wasn’t spotted in the trailer as his usual self, can we blame people for this outrageous leap of faith?

There’s been a flood of posts on X discussing the resemblance between the zombie and the actor, whose hollow cheekbones stirred quite the conversation when he transformed to play Robert J. Oppenheimer. This has resulted in a bunch of memes about how much of a method actor Cillian Murphy is to have gone a step further to look the part for another film.

From diet culture and Ozempic jibes to not respecting the balance of The Substance, fans have gotten quite creative about their ideas, with some calling Murphy “an absolute diva” for making such an unexpected entrance. One astute X user even remarked how the zombie was a dead ringer for Paddy Considine’s decaying King Viserys I Targaryen from House of The Dragon.

The shot has also spawned a new viral meme where people relate to the zombie’s appearance in random scenarios, like when they are dehydrated in the middle of the night or when waiting for something for a long time.

Whether Cillian Murphy is indeed one of the infected in 28 Years Later or we were just desperate to see him in that trailer will become clearer once more information about the film comes out in the lead-up to its June 20, 2025 release. But can you imagine how weird it would be if the much-hyped return of the actor to the franchise is for a barely-there zombie moment? The internet would lose it even more!

Until we know for sure, let’s pray for Jim’s health, people!