I Am Legend Producers Drop New Details on Sequel Starring Will Smith, Michael B. Jordan

Ready or not, the sequel to the 2007 hit film I Am Legend is coming to a big screen near us soon. Thus far, details have been kept to a minimum. But we do know that the forthcoming film will see Will Smith back in saddle alongside Creed and Black Panther Star Michael B. Jordan. We also now have more info on what we can expect from the upcoming feature.

In a new interview with Deadline, Warner Bros. producer Akiva Goldsman talked a bit about the direction this new project would take, explaining that it would stick closer to the book it was based on (written by Richard Matheson) and lean more towards the alternate ending that was released in 2008.

“This will start a few decades later than the first,” Goldsman said. “I’m obsessed with The Last of Us, where we see the world just post-apocalypse but also after a 20-30-year lapse. You see how the earth reclaims the world, and there’s something beautiful in the question of, as man steps away from being the primary tenant, what happens? That will be especially visual in New York. I don’t know if they’ll climb up to the empire state building, but the possibilities are endless.”

He continued, “We trace back to the original 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.”

As previously reported by The Root, Smith wasn’t initially sold on returning to this particular franchise, but once he heard the premise and heard of Jordan’s involvement, he was more than swayed.

“I can’t talk about it yet. But it’s a really, really cool concept and he [Jordan] was a part of creating the idea,” he said at the time. “It was one of those ones I was gonna leave alone, and then I heard the idea,” he added, then he told himself: “‘But that might work. I think we can do that.’”

I Am Legend centers around Smith’s Robert Neville as the last man in New York City after a virus has wiped out humanity, turning them into vampire mutants. It’s unclear just how Jordan will fit in with this particular storyline, but honestly, I’m just happy to see two talented, in-demand action stars together in one film. I don’t really do vampire mutants like that but I may put on my big girl britches just to support Smith and Jordan.