The Walking Dead and 28 Days Later are two of the biggest zombie franchises out there, but the film series has finally gotten its revenge over a decade after Robert Kirkman’s IP mimicked its opening. Although 28 Days Later‘s creator claims it isn’t a zombie movie, the film’s Infected has all the classic traits of zombies, making it one of the most influential projects in the subgenre. Its creativity and horror elements helped inspire plenty of other zombie media, including The Walking Dead, as the show’s opening episode seems extremely reminiscent of Danny Boyle’s cinematic masterpiece.

With the comic series starting in 2003 and the televised adaptation arriving in 2010, The Walking Dead has become one of the most recognizable zombie franchises around and remains relevant today. During its peak, it was one of the biggest shows on TV, and it has since spawned a variety of spinoffs and games that have left a remarkable legacy. However, while The Walking Dead‘s best episodes were full of drama and originality, there’s no denying its iconic pilot has plenty of similarities to 28 Days Later‘s introduction, but the latter is finally getting a small form of revenge.

The Walking Dead Closely Followed 28 Days Later’s Opening

Both Projects Start With Similar Opening Sequences

Custom Image by Max Ruscinski

While the two openings aren’t identical, The Walking Dead‘s start heavily resembles elements of 28 Days Later‘s initial sequence. Each franchise provides some context before the apocalypse, before having their protagonists awake from a coma in an abandoned hospital, who proceed to explore the apocalyptic world on their own. Their backgrounds and the context of their comas may be different, but Rick Grimes and Jim have almost identical starts in their zombie-infested worlds. As a result, it’s hard not to assume Robert Kirkman drew inspiration from 28 Days Later, but The Walking Dead creator says this isn’t the case.

Based on one of the most successful and popular comic books of all time, AMC’s The Walking Dead captures the ongoing human drama following a zombie apocalypse. The series, developed for television by Frank Darabont, follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), who are traveling in search of a safe and secure home. However, instead of the zombies, it is the living who remain that truly become the walking dead. The Walking Dead lasted for eleven seasons and spawned several spinoff shows, such as Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: World Beyond.

Kirkman acknowledged the similarities between The Walking Dead and 28 Days Later‘s openings, but he claims he hadn’t seen Boyle’s movie until after writing TWD‘s first chapter. Assuming he’s telling the truth, it’s a huge coincidence that the franchises have such close introductions, but this only makes their legacies even better. Both IPs have launched incredibly creative universes with unique concepts that highlight the originality of Kirkman and Boyle’s take on humans becoming infected, and with 28 Years Later on the horizon, it looks like the movie franchise may be dipping into The Walking Dead‘s bag of tricks.

28 Years Later Now Feels Weirdly Like The Walking Dead

The Longevity Of The Apocalypse Draws Parallels Between The Franchises

28 Years Later‘s trailer has been highly praised for bringing a unique dynamic and hyping up the franchise’s return after an 18-year hiatus, but the film looks to be borrowing some elements from The Walking Dead. The first two films are set relatively early into the apocalypse, meaning everyone is still learning how to adapt and survive in the new world, but with 28 Years Later coming nearly three decades after the outbreak began, everything has changed. The teaser indicates there are cult-like factions, communities with designated roles, and extreme survival tactics, which are staples of The Walking Dead.

28 Days Later properly focusing on survivors who have learned to adapt to this world suggests it will be more like Kirkman’s franchise than the previous two movies.

It may not be the only zombie franchise to adopt these elements, but The Walking Dead certainly popularized many of these traits. Therefore, 28 Days Later properly focusing on survivors who have learned to adapt to this world suggests it will be more like Kirkman’s franchise than the previous two movies. Thanks to its subtle trailer, 28 Years Later‘s story still remains relatively unknown as of now, but with hostile groups clearly a part of the narrative, it seems likely the project will at least draw minor comparisons to The Walking Dead, despite it inevitably providing plenty of fresh ideas.

28 Years Later’s Similarities To The Walking Dead Show How Crowded The Zombie Subgenre Has Become Since 28 Days Later

Zombie Media Has Come A Long Way In The Past Few Decades

Although 28 Years Later and The Walking Dead are destined to have many crucial differences, the parallels between them are a reminder of how competitive the zombie subgenre has become. Neither project was the first mainstream IP involving an apocalypse full of infected humans, but zombie stories certainly were nowhere near as popular as they are now when 28 Days Later and The Walking Dead first started. However, these franchises were undoubtedly key to the explosion of the subgenre in the 21st century, leading to plenty of movies, shows, and even video games focusing on a similar premise.

The Last of Us, Left 4 Dead, Resident Evil, and Call of Duty Zombies have all taken over the video game industry throughout the years, making the undead a pivotal part of gaming heritage. Likewise, Shaun of the Dead, The Last of Us, World War Z, and All of Us Are Dead all followed in the footsteps of The Walking Dead and 28 Days Later to become massive hits. As a result, it’s hard to do anything truly unique with zombies these days, but Kirkman and Boyle’s projects were pioneers and continue to reinvent the wheel years after their inception.