Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s 28 Years Later is deep in development and with Cillian Murphy attached as a producer on the project, it was assumed that he would also appear in the film.

The actor has shared on several occasions that he return to the franchise if another movie was made. Well, Sony Motion Pictures Group chairman Tom Rothman has confirmed that Cillian will indeed return, and it will be in a surprising way.

During an interview with Deadline, Rothman, who is considered one of the worst studio executives in Hollywood, was asked if Murphy would return to appear in the film.

He responded: “Yes, but in a surprising way and in a way that grows, let me put it that way.” He went on to tease, “It’s ’28 Years Later,’ but not in any way a literal sequel.”

I guess we’ll eventually find out what that means. The film also stars Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O’Connell, and Ralph Fiennes to its cast.

The original movie centered on a bicycle courier (Cillian Murphy) who wakes from a coma to discover the world had been overrun with zombies following the outbreak of a virus.

There are still no plot details to share, but Garland previously offered some insight on the theme of the film. He shared: “It’s to do with the passage of time, and thinking about what effect the passage of time would have.”

He added: “Is it what you would traditionally call a post-apocalyptic state? Or has something else begun to manifest? Time is really at the core of the engine of the film.”

When previously teasing the third movie, Garland said: “I have got a really cool idea for it, but it’s a much bigger movie, and one of the things about 28 Days Later is that it was small and punk and this idea is less small and punk.”

Boyle is set to direct the first film in the trilogy and The Marvels director Nia DaCosta is in talks to helm the second one.