Who are the Alphas in 28 Years Later? All about the new addition to the franchise

Danny Boyle returns with the third movie in the 28 Days Later franchise, titled 28 Years Later. The horror-thriller follows the events that take place almost three decades after the deadly rage virus outbreak. The plot revolves around survivors who go on a quest to the mainland to find medication but run into multiple infected and flesh-eating monsters.

Among these infected individuals are the Alphas, who have been infected with the rage virus for a long time. Apart from the usual symptoms displayed by the infected, Alphas appear to have elevated characteristics in speed, strength, and intellect.

Chi-Lewis Parry plays Samson, the king of the Alphas in 28 Years Later. In an interview with Variety on June 22, 2025, Parry expressed his opinions on the mutated Alphas and the importance of his character's role in the film.

"I suppose you could don him as the "King of the Infected," especially how I played him. There are things that didn’t make the cut, but he’s very much in charge of everything. You get to see that with the interactions that the other infected have when they’re around him. They’re like hyenas, and he’s the lion," he stated.

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Who are the Alphas in 28 Years Later?

In 28 Years Later, the rage virus that caused an apocalypse in Great Britain almost thirty years prior takes shape in the form of Alphas. They are mutated versions of infected individuals with sharper intellect and incredible resilience. The reason for their heightened abilities is due to the steroid-like effect the rage virus has on them.

Alphas cannot be killed by regular arrows and display actions of considerable strength. Samson, the main antagonist of the movie, is shown ripping off a human's head from its body with the spine still intact. Their higher cognitive function enables them to hunt survivors with more efficiency, as depicted in various scenes throughout the movie.

In one of the scenes from 28 Years Later, the main protagonists, Spike and Isla, are chased by an Alpha after realizing they cannot easily kill it. The movie also introduces viewers to another variant of the infected, dubbed the 'Slow Lows'. These mutated zombies move around by crawling on their stomachs and appear more bloated. Slow Lows survive by eating bugs on the ground and have a more pale and mottled appearance.

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Danny Boyle on the mutated variants featured in 28 Years Later

In a podcast with IndieWire posted on June 21, 2025, director Danny Boyle gave more insights into the mutation of the rage virus. He spoke about the stark contrast in evolution between the infected and survivors in 28 Years Later.

"They’ve learned how to survive, but they haven’t really evolved. They’ve kind of regressed, (going) back to a 1950s-type subsistence living. The virus, though, has evolved more creatively," he expressed.

He drew comparisons between the survival tactics of the zombies and how they've learned to adapt to their surroundings over the span of almost three decades.

"The way (the virus) manifested itself in the first film, it would literally burn itself out, (the zombies) would literally die in front of you. The fury, the frenzy, the violence that they have within them, which controls them, is using up so much energy, they would die out quite quickly of malnutrition and dehydration. Now, what they’ve learned to do is to bypass that. They’ve learn to hunt so that they can eat, so that they can survive," he explained.

Boyle also described the Slow Lows to be creatures living on the ground who "have decided not to expend energy". These mutants lower their nutritional needs and energy expenditure by choosing to feed on insects and bugs on the ground instead of hunting humans.

"They’re much more passive, but dangerous if provoked or alarmed," the director added.

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28 Years Later hit cinemas on June 20, 2025.