A sequel that no one was expecting was just announced for the post apocalyptic thriller
I am Legend.
The film was a smash hit at the box office and in my opinion presents one of Will Smith’s
best performances.
Despite its critical and financial success this unexpected announcement comes as a bit
of a head scratcher for fans.
In this video I’d like to talk about the history of I am Legend and what we know so
far about this upcoming sequel.
Spoiler Warning as I will be talking about crucial details regarding the plot of I am
Legend.
The Will Smith led I am Legend premiered in 2007.
The film was directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay written by Akiva Goldsman
and Mark Protosevich which was loosely based on the 1954 novel of the same name written
by Richard Matheson.
This film was the third adaptation of the source material preceded by The Last Man on
Earth released in 1964 and The Omega Man in 1971.
The novel follows Robert Neville, a sole survivor of a pandemic that has wiped out most of humanity
and has subsequently given the remaining survivors vampiric traits of folklore.
The story revolves around Neville’s life as he attempts to comprehend this mysterious
disease with the hope that his research could lead to a cure.
The concept of this sort of apocalyptic event resulting from disease would go on to heavily
influence the vampire and zombie genre.
The 2007 film follows Dr. Robert Neville US Army virologist 3 years after a cure for cancer
became a lethal virus, infecting 99% of the world’s population and turning the infected
survivors into violent vampiric mutants called Darkseekers who are extremely vulnerable to
sunlight and viscously prey upon anyone left unaffected.
Neville is the apparent sole survivor and spends his days wandering the desert ruins
of Manhattan for supplies, waiting for any other survivors to respond to his broadcasts,
and conducting experiments to find a cure for the virus.
At night Neville barricades himself inside his heavily fortified apartment as the Darkseekers
emerge from their hideouts to wreak havoc.
Will Smith has had a long and varied career with blockbuster and critical hits as well
as major misses however this particular film in my opinion not only stands as one of my
favorite Will Smith performances, but it's compelling and thrilling story makes it one
of my favorite films period.
I have to applaud Smith’s acting chops as we follow Neville’s day to day activities
since Smith for the most part has no one to react to other than his faithful dog Sam by
his side and the various mannequins he makes conversation with as he copes with his solitary
and seemingly hopeless existence.
I feel like I have to be more specific however when I say that this film is one of my favorites
as technically it is the alternate theatrical version of I am Legend that contains an entirely
different ending which was included in the Blu-Ray/DVD release that I enjoy the most.
Yes the film has 2 vastly different endings and for those who haven’t seen the alternate
version there was some understandable confusion after this sequel was announced.
Again spoiler warning as I now will be discussing the 2 different conclusions for the I Am Legend
film.
The original theatrical version ends as Dr. Robert Neville discovers that his latest treatment
for the virus has cured a female Darkseeker that he has captured for testing.
Under attack by the remaining Darkseekers he ends up sacrificing himself to protect
the cure and the other 2 survivors who heard his radio broadcast Anna and Ethan.
They then were able to transport the cure to the survivors camp in Vermont.
Neville’s efforts to bring humanity back from the brink of extinction proved to be
his legacy, his legend.
And then there’s the alternate ending, after Neville discovers his latest treatment is
working the Darkseekers still attack as they did in the theatrical version.
However this time he realizes that the alpha male Darkseeker leading the charge is attempting
to recover his mate who Neville has taken to test his latest treatment.
Neville returns her to the alpha male who is visibly relieved and grateful at his mate's
return.
It is a tense moment as it's clear the Darkseekers want to kill him yet upon the return of the
female and Neville’s sincere apology they withdraw.
The clear display of intelligence and emotional attachment causes Neville to take stock of
his actions, considering the many Darkseekers who had perished during his attempts to find
a cure and he realizes that in their eyes he has become a monster of legend.
Next we see Neville abandon his life and work in Manhattan to join Anna and Ethan as they
all three make their way to the survivors colony as we listen to a new recorded radio
broadcast of Anna telling any survivors who heard the message where they were going and
reassuring them they were not alone.
While both of these endings offered a measure of satisfaction for the conclusion of Neville’s
story and hope for the future of the human race they are quite different and offer different
reasons for Neville's status as a legend.
In terms of how these two separate endings compare to the novel that’s where it gets
a bit tricky, as a whole the film itself is far from a direct adaptation other than basing
the story off of the initial premise there are major creative liberties taken especially
with the surviving infected.
With that in mind while the theatrical version does feature Neville’s death in keeping
with the novel the circumstances surrounding it are very different and many feel that the
alternate conclusion more closely resembles the spirit of the novel in which Neville comes
to understand that in this new age he has become the monster of myths and legends to
the society of living infected.
Whichever ending fans personally choose as their head canon, the fact that there will
be a sequel involving Will Smith at all naturally presents some questions.
In March 2022 it was revealed in an exclusive by Deadline that Warner Bros is continuing
the story of I Am Legend in the form of a sequel starring Will Smith and Michael B Jordan
from Black Panther and Creed who are both producers of the film with Akiva Goldsman
returning to pen the script.
While plot details are being kept under wraps for the time being in a recent interview with
Entertainment Tonight Will Smith revealed that it was Michael B Jordan’s story pitch
that sold him on returning for this sequel production.
Though he couldn’t reveal what that concept was, the actor did say that, it’s a really
really cool concept, that it was quote one of those ones I was gonna leave alone, and
then I heard the idea.
He told himself that might work.
I think we can do that.
And so the project is now proceeding full steam ahead.
The most obvious question is since this is a sequel and not a prequel how will the film
handle Smith’s return?
If they are indeed continuing off of the original theatrical ending then I think it’s most
likely that we’ll only see Dr. Neville in flashbacks or perhaps recovered video recordings.
If I had my way however, I’d much prefer a continuation based on the alternate version
wherein Dr. Neville lives enabling him to impart his intimate knowledge and what he’s
observed in his dealings with the dark seekers.
In this setting I feel it would totally make sense that in a post-apocalyptic world, there
would be many survivors who would want to simply eradicate those who had been infected,
seeking a more destructive solution out of a fear of what would result from the implementation
of yet another medical solution.
I think that exploring a story which sees Dr. Neville fighting to convince humanity
to see the Darkseekers as more than just mindless monsters and to take a more peaceful and humane
path forward could in effect carry on the themes and spirit of the original book.
But I’m curious to know what you think of this news of an I Am Legend sequel.
Are you interested in seeing a continuation of either the theatrical or alternate versions
of the 2007 film?
Which version do you prefer and what kind of stories do you think could be interesting
to see featured in this upcoming film?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
I hope you enjoyed this video.
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Thank you all so much for your support and as always have a very nerdy day.