Hold onto your hazmat suits, because Sony just unleashed two brand new trailers for the ultra-anticipated sequel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple! While fans are buzzing and theories are flying all over the internet, director Nia DaCosta and writer Alex Garland are practically winking at us, letting us know we haven’t seen the whole picture yet.
The sequel, set to hit US theaters this January, looks absolutely bonkers and focuses heavily on the chilling character of Jimmy Crystal (played by the intense Jack O’Connell).
Chaos, Tracksuits, and a Religious Purge?
The fresh footage gives us a much better idea of the post-apocalyptic chaos engulfing Britain, largely thanks to Jimmy’s crew. They are a tracksuit-sporting gang of teenagers who aren’t just surviving—they’re slaughtering the infected for fun. We also see the sequel recruiting a core character from the last film, Spike (Alfie Williams), into Jimmy’s terrifying ranks.
The trailers are leaning hard into a potential motive for Jimmy’s extreme violence that has fans convinced they’ve spoiled the ending:
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The Devil is in the Details: In the first trailer, Jimmy asks Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) if he’s “Old Nick” (a nickname for Satan). He then delivers a sinister sermon about the infected: “Old Nick released his demons unto the world of man, and the world of man fell before the demons.”
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Searching for Souls: The international trailer doubles down on the religious extremism, with Jimmy explaining, “We travel the land, we search for souls… to deliver to hell.”
Remember, in the first film, we saw Jimmy’s gang draining the blood of an infected man hung upside down. So maybe they’re not just killing, but performing some ritualistic delivery service to the underworld!
The Science Side and the Promised Twists
Meanwhile, on the more grounded, scientific side of the apocalypse, the trailers tease that Dr. Kelson is attempting to find a cure by experimenting on the huge infected Alpha, Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry). We also get quick flashes hinting at Samson’s backstory on a train, suggesting we’re going to get some deep lore backstory on the infected themselves.
While it seems pretty cut-and-dry that Jimmy is conducting a religious purge, it’s pretty clear that Garland and DaCosta, masters of the psychological thriller, have some massive surprises waiting for us. They’re practically setting up the theory to smash it later.
We can’t wait to find out what Jimmy is really doing when 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple hits theaters on January 16, 2026! Get ready for the mayhem.
