I Am Legend 2 is still happening. After being confirmed last year and subsequently put on hold following the entire fiasco surrounding Will Smith, we’re finally getting an update and it’s a good one.
According to the film’s producer and co-writer, Akiva Goldsman, the I Am Legend sequel will make the alternate ending canon.
Goldsman explained the rationale behind the decision to Deadline, saying:
We trace back to the original [Richard] Matheson book, and the alternate ending as opposed to the released ending in the original film. What Matheson was talking about was that man’s time on the planet as the dominant species had come to an end. That’s a really interesting thing we’re going to get to explore. There will be a little more fidelity to the original text.
Goldsman later added in the same interview that I Am Legend 2 will “start a few decades later than the first”, before citing his obsession with The Last of Us, which we can only presume has served as an inspiration for the film. Also, it appears New York will continue to serve as the setting for I Am Legend 2.
Finally, Goldsman refused to confirm what kind of role Michael B. Jordan will have in the sequel, so we’re left to speculate if he’s the child that Neville rescued in the original film or if Neville started a family after moving to Vermont.
People had already assumed that I Am Legend will make the alternate ending, which was a DVD-exclusive release, canon following the confirmation that Smith would reprise his role. However, what Goldsman just revealed gives us a clue into the direction that I Am Legend 2 could take.
Instead of the original ending that saw Smith sacrifice himself “for the greater good”, the alternate conclusion to the first I Am Legend film saw Neville come to terms that humanity was no longer the dominant species on Earth. The Darkseekers, which deviated from the more vampire-like creatures from the original novel, will likely return in the follow-up. What’s interesting is how the new film is going to bring Neville back to New York after they’d already left to pursue a different life.
Curiously enough, this I Am Legend 2 update comes soon after Will Smith and Martin Lawrence confirmed Bad Boys 4.
In the meantime, fans can look forward to watching Michael B. Jordan star in Creed III when it hits theaters on March 3. If you’re looking to scratch that post-apocalyptic itch, you can check out HBO’s The Last of Us, which returns to its original Sunday schedule on February 19.
