When I Am Legend 2 was first announced in 2022, fans immediately started spinning theories about how Michael B. Jordan would factor into the story.
Will Smith finally opened up about the sequel’s direction, and the details are starting to click into place. In a recent interview with Revolt TV, Smith shared this:
“What we were gonna do was the prequel, so we were gonna do the prequel. … And [Akiva Goldsman] was like, ‘But wait, what if we make a new version from the alternate ending, where your character is still alive and you know, Michael B. Jordan’s character currently is the head of a new settlement. … He’s not my son.”
So, Jordan isn’t playing Neville’s son, a flashback version of him, or some evolution of the virus. He’s the leader of a new settlement in a post-virus world, someone who’s survived long enough to build something.
Smith added: “Currently, Michael B.’s character is the head of a settlement. So there’s a settlement in Connecticut.”
If you remember the theatrical cut of I Am Legend, Neville sacrifices himself in a lab explosion to save Anna and Ethan, effectively ending his story. But the alternate ending, where Neville lives and realizes the Darkseekers have their own form of empathy and social structure, has clearly become canon for this sequel.
That’s a interesting creative pivot. Director Francis Lawrence had once ruled out a sequel entirely, arguing that Neville’s death made follow-ups pointless and that a prequel would feel too much like Contagion.
As for Jordan’s involvement, the guy’s a powerhouse. From Fruitvale Station to Creed, he’s shown time and again that he can bring both fire and heart. Seeing him step into a leadership role, possibly clashing with Neville’s more scientific, individualist worldview, opens the door to a fresh kind of tension.
The setup hints at a philosophical divide. Jordan represents the future with a structured, communal, maybe more militant world. Neville is the past, wounded, cautious, but enlightened by his close call with humanity’s “monsters.” There’s definitely room for power struggles, differing ideologies, and uneasy alliances.
Smith is producing the film alongside Jordan, and the mutual respect is strong. Jordan said he’s “excited” to work with someone he’s “looked up to for a really long time,” and Smith called their collaboration “solid.”
The project’s still in development, but it’s coming together and it will be interesting to see exactly how this next chapter of the story will play out.
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