And so, it has finally arrived: the first trailer for the long-awaited sequel, “28 Years Later.” Like another sequel, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” it was stuck in the deep, dark and despairing pit known as development hell. But like said sequel, this one finally emerged from its depressing depths and looks to promise us another round of infected zombies running way too fast and devouring everything in their path, and it looks to be a creative reinvigoration for Danny Boyle, the Oscar winning director of “Slumdog Millionaire.”

The story so far indicates that almost thirty years have passed since the Rage Virus was unleashed upon the world after a group of animal rights activists naively released an infected chimpanzee from its cage (the road to hell is always paved with good intentions). After what looks like a prologue in which a harried parent locks a group of children into a room where they watch the Teletubbies before blood starts flying everywhere, we are taken to an island where humans can find peace as they are surrounded by water which acts as a much-needed border between them and the infected. Like those characters from the “Dawn of the Dead” remake, they think this island will offer them a safe haven, but we all know this will not last very long.

This first “28 Years Later” trailer promises an especially visceral and bleak time at the movies as humanity still struggles in a post-Rage Virus world. But then again, remembering how “28 Weeks Later” ended with dozens of infected running towards the Eiffel Tower, we could not have expected things to get much better. And keep in mind, the tagline for this sequel states, “Time didn’t change anything.” With Boyle returning to this franchise as a director for the first time since “28 Days Later,” and Alex Garland returning as screenwriter, it will be interesting to see how life has evolved (or perhaps devolved) for the characters we see here and the virus.

Movie trailers for the longest time have been using special remixes of popular songs to get the audience’s adrenaline pumping as excitement is always promised for eager film buffs, and the hopes of a huge first weekend opening at the box office is always in the air. With “28 Years Later,” we instead get an old recording of Rudyard Kipling’s war poem “Boots” read by Taylor Holmes. Holmes’ increasing the intensity of Kipling’s words makes the images thrust at us here all the more horrifying, and it makes this one of the best and most memorable movie trailers I have seen in some time.

The big question I have, however, is this; where is Cillian Murphy? After winning the Best Actor Oscar for his role in “Oppenheimer,” it was said he would be reprising his role of Jim and also be serving as an executive producer on this sequel. While actors such as James Bond front-runner Aaron Taylor Johnson, Jodie Comer and an especially beat up Ralph Fiennes dominate this trailer to where no infected person could easily upstage them, I kept waiting to see Murphy somewhere in here. Rumor is, there is a corpse which rises up from the grass that looks a lot like him, and it makes me wonder what will become of Jim this time around.

“28 Years Later” is said to be the first of a trilogy, and the next film, “28 Years Later II: The Bone Temple” is currently being shot with “Candyman” director Nia DaCosta at the helm. Boyle’s sequel, which said to have been shot mostly on an iPhone 15 Pro Max, will be released on June 20, 2025.

Please check out the trailer below.