I Am Legend is about a zombie-like horde wiping out much of humanity, but its confusing ending
and butterfly symbolism become a lot more clear if you understand the personal journey
of its hero.
Created by genetically altering measles, the Krippin Virus seemed like a "miracle cure."
Unfortunately, after its initial promise, the virus mutates with catastrophic results.
The virus kills 5.4 billion people, with 5% transformed into zombie- or vampire-like "Darkseekers."
One percent of the population remains immune, which includes Neville, a virologist for the
U.S. Army played by Will Smith.
Neville remains in New York City after it is placed in military quarantine.
Although Neville is nearly entirely alone in New York, he's still got his faithful dog
Sam for company.
Although Neville's world-saving quest to create an antidote gives him long-term purpose, his
nurturing and caring for Sam gives him a reason to continue in a daily basis.
Sam provides immediate meaning.
A series of flashbacks slowly reveal events before the quarantine, contextualizing Neville's
mindset.
These flashbacks depict the critical moment Neville evacuates his wife Zoe and daughter
Marley.
Then tragedy strikes when another helicopter collides with Zoe and Marley's helicopter,
killing them.
Shortly before her death, Neville had promised Marley that he would make the monsters go
away.
It becomes clear from that point that present-day Neville is seeking personal salvation in finding
the cure; not only for the future of humanity, but so his family's death won't be in vain.
The death of Zoe and Marley also explains Sam's value.
"Sam, you protect daddy, okay?"
"No, I can't take a dog."
From that moment on, Sam becomes a living remnant of Neville's old life, the only family
member he can love and care for.
Bob Marley's song "3 little birds" is intertwined with the theme of I Am Legend.
The song stands for belief in a brighter future and inspires Neville in times of need.
It also facilitates a form of cathartic escapism that guards Neville from insanity.
His daughter was named after the cultural icon, implying that long before the end-of-world
events, the original Marley was an inspiration for Neville.
A conversation at one point with fellow survivor Anna near the end of the film even suggests
that Neville chose his career as a virologist thanks to Marley.
While talking to Anna, Neville says:
"He had this idea—it was kinda a virologists idea—he believed that you could cure racism
and hate, literally cure it, by injecting music and love into people's lives."
In an act of revenge for trapping a Darkseeker for his tests, Neville falls into a trap and
is ambushed by other Darkseekers, including canines also infected with the virus.
After escaping to the safety of his home, Neville realizes his dog Sam is infected.
Unlike her owner, Sam isn't immune from the virus.
In a scene that would melt the coldest of hearts, Neville is forced to strangle his
best friend and only companion.
Sam's death alone doesn't break Neville—it's everything her death represents.
She's the tie to his past life, a daily reminder of his motivation to find redemption, and
a buffer between being alone and experiencing suffocating loneliness.
Rationality is replaced by rage when Neville embarks on a suicidal act of revenge.
Just as Neville is about to become an evening snack, a beam of light scares the Darkseekers
away.
After three years with no response to his radio broadcast, another face of humanity
has finally arrived.
However, rather than express gratitude for saving him, Neville is dismissive and struggles
to communicate.
"Every single person that you or I has ever known is dead!"
As I Am Legend reaches its climax, the situation becomes desperate when a large group of Darkseekers
invade Neville's home.
Neville, Anna, and Ethan flee to the basement laboratory for safety.
There they discover that Neville's antidote is finally working.
The Darkseekers make their way to the lab, with one taking lead and smashing himself
into the glass partition.
When the leader smashes himself into the glass, the cracks resemble a butterfly.
Taking notice of the butterfly tattoo on Anna's neck, Neville has a realization that this
might indeed be divine intervention.
This connects to a gesture from Neville's daughter Marley earlier in the film:
"Mommy, look it's a butterfly."
"Marley, enough!"
Neville understands this is no coincidence.
After a moment of realization, Neville takes action.
He draws blood containing the cure from the Darkseeker test subject and gives it to Anna
and her son.
After seeing that his efforts to make a cure weren't in vain, Neville is now comfortable
paying the ultimate hero's sacrifice to save Anna and Ethan.
After Neville's selfless final act, Anna and Ethan make it to the colony and hand over
the vial containing the cure.
Neville has become the titular legend.
In the alternate ending of I Am Legend, the themes of the story are drastically changed.
The Darkseeker alpha wipes his own blood onto the glass in the shape of a butterfly.
Neville then turns to the Darkseeker test subject on his table, the one he's cured,
and notices a butterfly tattoo on her neck.
Neville takes a leap of faith and opens the glass partition, risking his life to reunite
the Darkseekers.
Once Neville's awakened the female, the two Darkseekers embrace in a moment of surprising
humanity.
Smith's character realizes that the mutants are able to express love and are closer to
humanity than he realized.
From the Darkseekers' perspective, Neville preyed on them, kidnapping and experimenting
on their friends, family, and loved ones.
He's a legend, but for the wrong reasons—in line with the original book, he has become
the monstrous legend of a new world.
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