How the Rage Virus Has Evolved ’28 Years Later’ with New Mutations [Interview]
It’s been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory in the new trilogy-starter 28 Years Later, and the infected have evolved since director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland teamed on 28 Days Later. That presents a whole new set of obstacles and intense situations when young Spike (Alfie Williams) […]
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It’s been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory in the new trilogy-starter 28 Years Later, and the infected have evolved since director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland teamed on 28 Days Later.
That presents a whole new set of obstacles and intense situations when young Spike (Alfie Williams) leaves the safety of his community and embarks on a dangerous mission. Especially considering that the infected are still human.
Despite sharing common ground, the rage virus is grounded more in reality and doesn’t transform its infected into zombies, no matter how ravenous or violent they can be.
Screenwriter Alex Garland broke down his approach to evolving the infected for 28 Days Later in a recent chat. He tells Bloody Disgusting, “I think it was the product of conversation, and essentially, it went like this: if infected are still around, how are they still around? And actually, what happens is things just get enforced by that. They’re not really inventions; they’re just logical progressions. The infected are not supernatural. They’re not reanimated dead people. They’re actually just people who are sick, but that’s all they are.”
