I Am Legend 2 Can Fix The First Movie’s Title Meaning Change

2007’s I Am Legend changed the source novel’s twist ending and in the process rendered the title meaningless, something that the upcoming I Am Legend 2 can fix. A troubled production from start to finish, 2007’s I Am Legend was met with mixed reviews upon release. Originally conceived as a vehicle for Terminator franchise star Arnold Schwarzenegger, I Am Legend ended up becoming a dark post-apocalyptic thriller starring Will Smith.

While Smith’s performance as one of few humans left in a deserted New York City received well-earned praise, I Am Legend was widely criticized for abandoning the ending of horror author Richard Matheson’s source novel of the same name. The novel version of I Am Legend features a twist ending that explains its title but the movie jettisoned this revelation. However, the sequel I Am Legend 2 can rectify this error.

Assuming, judging by Smith’s return, that I Am Legend 2 follows on from the alternate ending of I Am Legend, the sequel can show that Smith’s character is a monstrous villain in the eyes of New York’s vampiric inhabitants the Darkseekers. Like the Mad Max movies, both the novel and movie of I Am Legend portray their antihero as a hardened and unhinged, but ultimately good-hearted, lone drifter who seeks human contact in a world ravaged by an apocalyptic event. However, in the movie version of I Am Legend, Smith’s character becomes a “legend” among human survivors because he finds a cure for the illness that creates Darkseekers, whereas the novel and the alternate ending of I Am Legend’s movie adaptation offer a very different explanation of the title. A simple fix to this meaning change, however, would be to embue the first movie’s mindless antagonists with a genuine sense of empathy and pathos. By making them more than monsters, Smith’s Robert Neville becomes a much more nuanced presence in the narrative.

I Am Legend 2’s Will Smith Return Can Undo The Original’s Biggest Mistake

The movie version of I Am Legend infamously undid the source novel’s big twist ending—the revelation that the Darkseekers are thinking, feeling, empathetic beings who view Smith’s lone protagonist as a monstrous murderer. Much like Mad Max’s ultra-violent protagonist, Smith’s character is only a hero when his story is viewed from his perspective. The creepy-looking Darkseekers see him as a bloodthirsty villain who hunts them for sport, prompting I Am Legend’s title to take on a double meaning as Smith’s character realizes he is a nightmarish boogeyman from their perspective, rather than a hard-done-by hero.

Instead of this thoughtful, poignant ending, 2007’s I Am Legend went with the more traditional “blow up anything that doesn’t look like you” action movie ending, with Smith killing a horde of the monsters rather than the movie forcing its hero to realize he’s been the monster all along. In doing so, I Am Legend’s adaptation negated the original novel’s message, something that that Smith’s return in the sequel can fix. Turning the vampires into inhuman monsters proved Smith’s character was correct to kill them with impunity, whereas depicting them as sentient beings would allow I Am Legend 2 to show the consequences of his actions and render the protagonist a more morally complicated figure. In doing so, I Am Legend 2 can not only bring back one of sci-fi horror’s best twists but also make I Am Legend a more thought-provoking movie in the process.

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Cathal Gunning
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Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies and TV online since 2020. His obsessions include The Simpsons, Stephen King, the Scream series, and the horror genre in general. He has spent more time thinking about Stranger Things than the writers of Stranger Things, and he has never seen a Star War.

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