Originally, the 28 Days Later franchise had ended on an alarmingly bleak note. In the sequel helmed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, the Rage Virus — which had been previously contained to the U.K., with all the Infected slowly dying of starvation — a new strain manages to activate, spreading beyond the London refugee camp where NATO forces were trying to help rebuild the country. The final shot of 28 Weeks Later shows a gang of Infected zombies racing through Paris tunnels and running at the Eiffel Tower.
For 18 years, that was the ending we had for the 28 Days Later franchise: the Rage Virus had spread to Continental Europe and threatened to take over the entire world. That is, until now. In 28 Years Later, the Rage Virus was contained back to the British mainland. But that doesn’t mean that the ending of 28 Weeks Later no longer happened, nor that the sequel, which 28 Days Later director Danny Boyle only helmed the opening sequence with Robert Carlyle, is no longer canon. Boyle, now back to direct 28 Years Later with 28 Days screenwriter Alex Garland, confirms to Inverse that the events of 28 Weeks Later did in fact happen, they just decided to go in a different direction than its ending.
