Guide to the Cast & Characters of ’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’

The 28 Days Later film series is a post-apocalyptic horror film written by Alex Garland. It became an instant hit and was credited with revitalizing the zombie horror movie genre. In the years since, it’s been featured on numerous “best of” film lists and spawned three sequels with another movie currently in pre-production.

After its first sequel 28 Weeks Later was released in 2007, the franchise returned in 2025 with the first entry in a new trilogy set 28 years after the outbreak in the original film.

Nearly 30 years after the virus destroyed society, 28 Years Later follows a surviving group in the British Isles where a civilized community has been established after the last of the infected were driven from the region.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple picks up right where 28 Years Later left off. The film will focus on a cult of acrobatic killers led by Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal, who fills the power void in the post-apocalyptic world.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple hits theaters January 16, 2026.

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Cast & Characters of ’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’

A handful of characters will be returning for The Bone Temple, and one prominent figure will be returning to the 28 Years universe after nearly three decades. Here is where each character finds themselves heading into the film.

Ralph Fiennes as Dr. Ian Kelson

Ralph Fiennes (Schindler’s List, The English Patient, Conclave) stars as Dr. Ian Kelson, a former general physician in exile for being deemed too mentally unstable to provide care. He is introduced into the story when Isla, Jamie and Spike are looking for medical care for Isla, who is mentally deteriorating.

Kelson has constructed a monument out of cleaned human bones, meant to honor the inevitability of death. In examining Isla, he deduces that she her terminal cancer and guides her through the death process.

Kelson is adept at dealing with those infected from the original virus including a new, more intelligent species called the Alpha.

Jack O’Connell as Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal

Jack O’Connell (Sinners, Skins) will return as Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal, who was just a boy at the time of the initial virus outbreak. He is saved by his father, a minister. He creates a cult of killers deemed “the Jimmys.” Teased as a presence throughout the first film in the new trilogy, Jimmy will feature prominently in The Bone Temple as the story explores the nature of evil.

Alfie Williams as Spike

Alfie Williams plays Spike, a disillusioned teenager raised in the post-virus outbreak world. Throughout the first film, he desperately seeks medical care for his ailing mother. This journey leads him to rescue a newborn birthed from an infected mother and, eventually, to Dr. Kelson’s sanctuary. Spike is rescued by Jimmy at the end of the first film.

Erin Kellyman as Jimmy Ink

Jimmy Ink is a member of the group of psychopathic killers known as the Jimmys. Jimmy Ink will feature more prominently in The Bone Temple as the Jimmys take center stage.

Chi Lewis-Parry as Samson

Samson is the leader of the Alphas, a seemingly superpowered new breed of infected who are more intelligent than the infected from the earlier installments in the series. Samson has an antagonistic relationship with Dr. Kelson, who takes pity on Samson for the monster he has become.

Emma Laird as Jimmima

Jimmima is another member of the Jimmys who figures to take on a more impactful role in The Bone Temple.

Cillian Murphy as Jim

Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later, Oppenheimer, Peaky Blinders) will officially reprise his role from the original film. His return at the end of The Bone Temple will set up the conclusion of the new trilogy, which is expected to center on themes of redemption.

’28 Days Later’ films in order

Viewers new to the series should move through the series in order of their release.

• 28 Days Later (2002)
• 28 Weeks Later (2007)
• 28 Years Later (2025)
• 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026)

’28 Days Later’ (2002)

The film that started it all. 28 Days Later tells the story of Jim (Cillian Murphy) who awakes from a coma 28 days after a highly contagious, zombie-creating virus has caused the breakdown of society. Jim joins a group of survivors as they attempt to find safe shelter in a ravaged world.

’28 Weeks Later’ (2007)

Set about six months after the events of 28 Days Later, the sequel follows NATO forces attempting to establish a safe zone in London. The survivors must now deal with a mutated, more nuanced version of the virus as they fight to keep the virus out of mainland Europe.

’28 Years Later’ (2025)

As the title suggests, 28 Years Later takes place nearly three decades after the events of the first film. The story follows a young boy trying to find medical treatment for his mother who suffers from a mentally debilitating disease.

In the film, the virus has largely been eradicated from Europe with the British Isles under indefinite quarantine. But the virus has only gone dormant and is poised to remerge more powerful than ever.

’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ (2026)

Set in the immediate aftermath of 28 Years Later, The Bone Temple will focus on the terror of the Jimmys, a group of psychopathic killers led by Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal, a ministers son, who sees himself as a savior figure. It will also follow Spike who is now indebted to the Jimmys for saving his life as well as Dr. Kelson who is supposed to be forming a relationship with world-changing consequences.

Watch ’28 Days Later’ Movies on DIRECTV

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