Following the underwhelming Season 2 finale of HBO’s hit horror TV sequence The Final of Us, Danny Boyle’s viral zombie sequel, 28 Years Later, has emerged as the perfect instance of what the favored online game adaptation might have been in 2025. With the same however extra refined and involving story of companionship, survival, and supervision, 28 Years Later met all the right storytelling markers that eluded The Final of Us 2, proving that the small-screen format is not at all times probably the most preferrred for delivering taut, hair-raising horror.
But, in accordance with author Alex Garland, 28 Years Later additionally drew inspiration from The Final of Us online game, notably the narrative involving an older character guiding a younger survivor by way of the wild and the tender bond they forge alongside the best way. In an enchanting dialogue with The Final of Us TV present creator Neil Druckmann, Garland was candid about what appealed to him within the zombie online game and the way he included parts from it into 28 Years Later, attaining superior outcomes.
28 Years Later
- Launch Date
-
June 20, 2025
- Runtime
-
126 minutes
- Director
-
Danny Boyle
Primary Similarities Between ’28 Days Later’ and ‘The Final of Us’
At their core, each 28 Days Later and The Final of Us are zombie horror tales revolving round a viral an infection. 28 Days Later, written by Alex Garland and directed by Danny Boyle over 10 years earlier than the Final of Us Half 1 online game was created, reinvigorated the style by turning gradual, ambulatory walkers into rabid, rapid-moving feral beasts with a penchant for human blood.
Within the two sequels, 28 Weeks Later and 28 Years Later, the inciting “Rage Virus” is the results of experiments at Cambridge Primate Analysis Centre, the place it was transmitted to 3 animal rights activists and quickly unfold to the inhabitants. Quickly, Europe is beneath siege from an contaminated inhabitants of hyper-aggressive, bloodthirsty monsters. Between 28 Weeks Later (2007) and 28 Years Later (2025), zombie fiction proliferated within the cultural zeitgeist, very like the viral zombie an infection itself. AMC’s The Strolling Useless resurrected the style and popularized zombie lore, turning into a small-screen mainstay for 15 years whereas spawning a number of spinoffs.
Throughout that span, Naughty Canine and Sony Interactive Leisure launched The Final of Us, a richly advanced story of survival set in opposition to a lethal zombie virus. As a substitute of a lab-made virus, The Final of Us evolves zombie mythology by way of its fungal an infection, particularly Cordyceps Mind An infection. As a substitute of the slow-moving zombies of The Strolling Useless, The Final of Us options numerous speeds among the many contaminated, together with Runners, who dash equally to these in 28 Days Later.
The purpose right here is that, as zombie fiction continued to evolve within the wake of 28 Days Later and The Strolling Useless, media creators continued to encourage one another and cross-reference one another’s work. Cue Alex Garland and Neil Druckmann’s Creators on Creators dialogue, which reveals how 28 Years Later did a simpler job at adapting The Final of Us online game than Season 2 of the HBO present.
Alex Garland Claims ‘The Final of Us’ Is Higher Than ’28 Days Later’
Throughout a 53-minute dialogue hosted by Sony, 28 Days/Weeks/Years author Alex Garland spoke with The Final of Us showrunner Neil Druckmann to speak about all issues zombie. In buying and selling effusive reward for each other, the video opens with Garland confessing that The Final of Us is superior to 28 Days Later, stating:
“Let me say this. The Final of Us is best than 28 Days. The factor about The Final of Us was, ‘I used to be like, oh, that is like a lot extra refined. It was very good for me with The Final of Us to type of really feel like somebody saying increase your recreation. It is a good feeling.”
Whereas an actual argument may be made that the online game and Season 1 of The Final of Us are certainly superior to 28 Days Later, 28 Years Later does nearly all the things higher than Season 2. HBO’s first season was timed completely, because the world was rising from the COVID-19 outbreak, offering the story with well timed and topical parallels that made it a compelling hit.
Associated
Finest Alex Garland Films, Ranked
Alex Garland’s subsequent mission is A24’s folk-horror movie Males, scheduled for launch in Might 2022. Till then, this is a take a look at his greatest motion pictures, ranked.
After the bar-setting first season, The Final of Us declined in Season 2, culminating in one of many sequence’ lowest-rated episodes (6.2 IMDb ranking). The lackluster sequence finale disenchanted many followers, who have been unhappy with Ellie’s decision. Luckily for hardened zombie followers, 28 Years Later got here out simply in time to avoid wasting the day.
How ‘The Final of Us’ Video Sport Impressed ’28 Years Later’
Talking with Druckmann, Garland defined that his subsequent draft for 28 Years Later had a Final of Us hyperlink, stating:
“I got here up with a a lot completely different story. Which, in fact, has a Final of Us connection. And this is without doubt one of the odd issues, is the diploma to which we ever exist independently of narratives that precede us. And the Final of Us had such an influence on me. I am not stunned that it is type of a reverse of it. The place you’ve a baby main their guardian throughout this panorama. So a type of inversion possibly of Final of Us.”
In flipping the fundamental conceit of The Final of Us, 28 Years Later turns into a way more gripping and efficient riff on the sport than Season 2 of the HBO present was. The heartfelt emotional bond between Joel and Ellie, established in Season 1, is paralleled by Spike’s courageous mission to enter the harmful components of the wild to get his unwell mom to a health care provider. Garland provides:
“It was only a extra fascinating narrative. That was it. It is actually a household story. It is a mother and a dad and a child. And there was one thing about that.”
Garland’s ah-ha second to reshape the script got here from noticing how emotionally touching The Final of Us was in Season 1, noting:
“It was. It was transferring. And I am not dissing 28 Days. I am very happy with it. It is a good a part of my type of life. However critically, Final of Us is one other degree. So yeah, after all I used to be influenced by it.”
Associated
’28 Years Later’ Is a Horror Masterpiece that Shatters Already Excessive Expectations
28 years after the Rage Virus apocalypse, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) takes his son (Alfie Williams) away from the security of their island refuge.
In reciprocating the sentiment, Druckmann acknowledged:
“There is a direct line between the quick contaminated and the contaminated in The Final of Us. They’re sick. They are not rising from the useless. There is a direct line between Act 3 of 28 Days Later. There is a direct line between that and David.”
In being inspired by The Final of Us to “increase his recreation,” Garland outdid the Season 2 finale in 28 Years Later. He took inspiration from the online game, raised the dramatic stakes by together with a household dynamic, and delivered a way more satisfying conclusion that units up a fourth franchise installment. Wanting forward, it is now time for Druckmann to repay the favor and make The Final of Us Season 3 as rousing and riveting as 28 Years Later. 28 Years Later is now in theaters.