Ralph Fiennes Faces New Horrors in Trailer for ’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’

An absence of humanity transcends the living dead in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.

Sony Pictures Entertainment released the first trailer for the Nia DaCosta-directed sequel to this summer’s 28 Years Later, which sees audiences once again face to face with Ralph Fiennes as he battles unimaginable horrors within the still-infected British Isles.

“In a continuation of the epic story, Dr. Kelson (Fiennes, 62) finds himself in a shocking new relationship — with consequences that could change the world as they know it — and Spike’s (Alfie Williams) encounter with Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) becomes a nightmare he can’t escape,” reads an official synopsis for the film.

It continues, “In the world of The Bone Temple, the infected are no longer the greatest threat to survival — the inhumanity of the survivors can be stranger and more terrifying.”

Aside from Fiennes, Williams, 14, and O’Connell, 35, the cast of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple also includes Erin Kellyman and Chi Lewis-Parry, per an official release.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.

28 Years Later director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland, who returned once again to pen the newest screenplay, are among the producing team, while original star Cillian Murphy is listed as executive producer on the project.

As Dr. Ian Kelson, Fiennes survived 28 Years Later after coming into contact with Spike and his doomed mother Isla (Jodie Comer). Kelson has an interesting collection: one of bones, stacked up high to memorialize those who’ve met their fate since the outbreak almost three decades previous.

Of his “unusual” character, Fiennes told Entertainment Weekly in June that despite his intimidating appearance, “There’s a warmth to him. … He’s very pleased to see people who are not infected.”

He also teased the film, telling the outlet while he “can’t give away,” he “can say that the themes that we touched on in the scene on the train, the moment of labor, the humanity — it is a critical moment in the life of a mother and child.”

“The ultimate human moment is an infected woman who is giving birth to a baby who is not infected,” Fiennes continued. “The theme of innate humanity — is it still alive in the soul, in the heart, in the mind of an infected person? Are they completely corrupted? Are they only rabid? Or is there the possibility of something? Something human, it’s still there.”

While Murphy, 49, is not shown in the trailer for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, the Oscar winner will also appear as his character Jim, for the first time since 2002’s 28 Days Later.

“He is in the second one. I shouldn’t give away too much. I’ll get killed,” joked Boyle, 68, in an interview with IGN published in June.

Speaking with IndieWire around the same time, the filmmaker added that Murphy will have a “significant role” by the third film, which has yet to be greenlit.

“It doesn’t take a genius to work out there’s going to be a big role for Cillian Murphy in it. Yeah, a significant role. All I can say, because I know the idea of the story, which has been mapped out, it is clever. It is a very smart use of him,” Boyle said. “There is a very satisfying introduction of him in the second film, and when I saw it, the way [Nia had] done it, I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s pretty good.’ ”

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is in theaters Jan. 16, 2026.