Almost two decades after Robert Neville first roamed the eerily empty streets of post-apocalyptic New York City, I Am Legend is officially getting a sequel. This time around, Will Smith is teaming up with fellow Hollywood heavyweight Michael B. Jordan, and according to a new report from Collider, the highly anticipated project has just found its director: Steven Caple Jr.
Caple is no stranger to handling massive, action-heavy franchises. He recently helmed 2023’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts for Paramount. Next up on his resume is the new Netflix adaptation of the action thriller Man on Fire, which premieres later this month. Caple directed the first two episodes of the miniseries and also serves as an executive producer. Now, he’ll be bringing his blockbuster sensibilities to the infected wasteland.
Of course, if you saw the original 2007 film in theaters, you are probably asking the obvious question: How exactly is Will Smith returning? In the theatrical cut, Robert Neville perishes, sacrificing himself so that fellow survivors Anna (Alice Braga) and Ethan (Charlie Tahan) can escape with a hard-fought cure for the virus.
However, the sequel will be taking a completely different narrative route.
Writer Akiva Goldsman has confirmed that I Am Legend 2 will treat the film’s alternate ending, which was initially rejected by test audiences, as official canon. In that original conclusion, which is much truer to Richard Matheson’s classic novel, Neville survives.
Instead of going down in a blaze of glory, he comes to the chilling realization that the infected are not just mindless beasts. They have their own community and emotional bonds, and to them, he is the terrifying monster who has been hunting them in their sleep.
With Neville alive, carrying the weight of his actions, and navigating a drastically changed world, the stage is perfectly set for him to cross paths with Jordan’s currently undisclosed character.
While I Am Legend 2 is actively in development, an official release date has yet to be announced.
