28 Years Later: The Bone Temple trailer Jimmy “spoiler” isn’t what it seems

Two new trailers for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple appear to reveal what Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) is up to, but it’s not what it seems.

The fresh footage gives horror fans a better idea of what to expect from the highly anticipated sequel, as Spike (Alfie Williams) is brought into Jimmy’s tracksuit-sporting gang of teenagers who wander post-apocalyptic Britain slaughtering the infected for fun.

Not only that but the trailers appear to show Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) attempting to cure the Alpha, Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry), alongside some teases to the hulking infected’s backstory on the train. While it’s clear that The Bone Temple is following through from where 28 Years Later ended, it seems to be moving into murkier territory.

But while fans think the new trailers for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple have spoiled Jimmy’s motives, it’s clear that director Nia DaCosta and writer Alex Garland have some surprises in store for audiences.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple trailer accused of “spoiling” Jimmy’s motives

Thanks to the two new trailers from Sony, fans think Jimmy is killing survivors as part of a religious purge.

In the first trailer, Jimmy asks Kelson if he’s “Old Nick” – referring to Satan – and preaches to Kelson about the infected. “Old Nick released his demons unto the world of man, and the world of man fell before the demons,” he says.

Meanwhile, in the international trailer, Jimmy also explains, “We travel the land, we search for souls… to deliver to hell.”

This has fans on Reddit arguing that the trailers spoiler Jimmy’s motives, with one writing, “The trailers mostly overlap but the interesting thing about this trailer is that they ‘spoil’ why Jimmy is doing what he’s doing.”

“He believes that the rage virus is satan unleashing his demons on the world and that he needs to send the living to hell. He goes around killing survivors and press ganging youths into his gang,” they added.

“Full reveal of Jimmy’s motives in this trailer? Interesting,” said another, while a third wrote, “I wonder if it’s because of the negative reception surrounding the Jimmy reveal at the end of Years 1? Just speculating.”

But what if Jimmy’s simply painting himself as a righteous, holy warrior in a bid to excuse the way he tortures and murders people?

In the first film, Spike and his father Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) find an infected man hung upside down with Jimmy’s name carved into his torso, and it looked like the gang were draining his infected blood in a plastic bag tied around the man’s head.

Plus, there’s the fact that Jimmy Crystal is inspired by Jimmy Savile, an infamous UK TV personality who was later discovered to be a pedophile and sex offender. O’Connell’s villain clearly revolves around murder, pain, and suffering, and his holy crusade could just be an excuse to give himself purpose in the post-apocalyptic world.

Sony Pictures

That’s all juxtaposed against Kelson’s use of drugs to calm the infected, as it’s implied that he has come up with a version of a cure. If Kelson is able to stop the infected from running riot across Britain, that would give Jimmy’s followers a reason not to follow him on his holy crusade of slaughter.

This might be why Jimmy is really up against Kelson, because he feels threatened by having power taken away from him. But considering 28 Years Later was a huge curveball when it was released, anything could happen in The Bone Temple.

Until we learn more about Jimmy’s plans for the infected, check out the terrifying theory about baby Isla in 28 Years Later, discover when Cillian Murphy will return to 28 Years Later, and read our list of the best horror films of 2025.