There’s anything thrilling about watching a lone protagonist take on a post-apocalyptic globe, specially from the comfort of our personal properties. One such action thriller was the 2007 function I Am Legend, which starred none other than Will Smith as Dr. Robert Neville, the supposed final man on Earth. Fans of I Am Legend might keep in mind Neville’s adventures in a post-apocalyptic New York City, as he operates endlessly to come across a remedy for a virus that wiped out the vast majority of Earth’s population. But people might also keep in mind how the film, at least one particular version of it, tragically ends. Turns out, I Am Legend has an alternate ending, and it is nicely worth the watch.

Despite getting released in 2007, the I Am Legend story extends back to the 1950s when horror writer Richard Matheson penned the novel of the identical name. His story, which became a pioneer in vampire and zombie literature, was quickly adapted for the screen through 1964’s The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price playing Neville (renamed Dr. Robert Morgan). Less than a decade later, the book would be brought to the screen once more, this time as The Omega Man, featuring Charlton Heston in the major part with his surname returned to Neville. Even George A. Romero was inspired by Matheson’s novel, which led him to construct his personal original masterpiece, Night of the Living Dead.

I Am Legend

Release Date

December 12, 2007

Runtime

101

Main Genre

Drama

Writers

Mark Protosevich , Akiva Goldsman , Richard Matheson , John William Corrington , Joyce Hooper Corrington

Studio

Warner Bros. Pictures

Tagline

My name is Robert Neville. I am a survivor living in New York. If there is anyone out there…anyone. Please. You are not alone.

How Does ‘I Am Legend’ End?

After spending years functioning inside a post-apocalyptic New York City (which he deems “ground zero”), virologist Dr. Robert Neville captures a Darkseeker for his experiments to come across a remedy. The Darkseekers (alternatively referred to as Hemocytes in the subtitles) are humans infected by the identical virus that killed most of the world’s population, but rather of killing them, they mutate into albino, vampiric creatures. Given that, Neville is secure for the duration of the day considering that their skin burns in the sunlight, but at evening he’s stalked mercilessly by the Alpha Male (Dash Mihok) and his minions. Tragically, they even kill his dog. But quickly Neville learns he’s not alone.

Having heard his signal, which he broadcasts frequently, a lady named Anna (Alice Braga) and a young boy named Ethan (Charlie Tahan) save Neville’s life. As he gradually accepts he’s not alone, and that there may possibly be other individuals out there, Neville comes out of his shell and starts to reside like a typical human getting once more. (Well, except for that time, he quoted an complete scene in Shrek verbatim. That was weird.) But then the Darkseekers attack, so never consider as well really hard about it. It turns out, Neville had captured the Alpha Female (Joanna Numata), and her mate desires her back. The Darkseekers wage war on Neville’s dwelling and the trio are forced to lock themselves in his basement lab for security.

Naturally, it does not take extended for the Darkseekers to arrive, and they gradually encroach on our heroes’ position. Seeing that his remedy has lastly worked, Neville hands it more than to Anna ahead of locking her and Ethan safely away. He then faces the Darkseekers and blows himself up to defeat them, as a result providing Anna and Ethan (and the remedy) a possibility at having out. The film ends with Anna and Ethan arriving at a survivor’s camp in Bethel, Vermont, exactly where they hand more than the remedy. By the finish of the film, Neville is certainly observed as a hero, but also as a legend amongst these who survived the plague.

What Is ‘I Am Legend’s Alternate Ending?

But that is only one particular side of the story when it comes to I Am Legend. Since the action thriller was released on dwelling video, the alternate ending has been the preferred ending for a lot of. Sticking closer to the original novel, most of the events of the film take place the identical way, but rather of sacrificing himself to save Anna and Ethan, Neville also survives. Though the alternate ending was greater received following the DVD release, test audiences weren’t as well fond of it initially, major to the ending getting reworked into what we know from the theatrical reduce.

Instead of blowing himself up to save the remedy, I Am Legend‘s alternate ending cuts out the remedy completely. Instead, as Neville, Anna, and Ethan are cornered in the lab, Neville notes a butterfly tattoo on the Alpha Female. This revelation is juxtaposed with the Alpha Male’s cracks in the glass, which type a makeshift butterfly. Here, Neville sees that the Alpha Male is just attempting to be reunited with his mate, anything he cannot ever do. It’s then that Neville sees himself the way the Darkseekers see him, as a monster who experiments on them.

Deciding to hand her back to her persons, Neville tends to make peace with the Alpha Male, provides up his quest for a remedy, and escapes with Anna and Ethan to come across other survivors outdoors of New York City. Though the reveal that Neville’s actions have been inhumane is a bit darker than him heroically sacrificing himself to save the day, the alternate ending to I Am Legend (which some may possibly take into consideration the original or accurate ending) definitely brings Neville’s arc complete circle, permitting him to see a further day. Yes, even devoid of a remedy.

Will Smith’s Neville Gets a Second Chance in the Alternate Ending

One of the most compelling themes in I Am Legend is Neville’s struggle to sustain a sense of normalcy in a globe that is practically nothing of the sort. He sets up mannequins in video shops to sustain a casual conversation, talks regularly to his canine companion, and regularly reflects on the evening he lost his wife and daughter. But, when he’s confronted by Anna and Ethan (actual flesh-and-blood human beings) he hardly knows how to react. He’s been alone for so extended that he’s gradually begun to drop his thoughts, totally consumed in his perform. No wonder he ran unethical experiments on the Darkseekers.

The theatrical ending of I Am Legend makes it possible for Neville to sacrifice himself for the result in and die a martyr’s death for the sake of mankind. At the finish of the day, that is what Neville desires. He desires to save the globe, but he does not want to reside in it. He does not really feel like he can devoid of his loved ones, and it is their memory that drives him to save a planet he feels he no longer belongs to. But that is not what Neville demands. The alternate ending provides a substantially additional fleshed-out image of our hero’s mental state, and as he recognizes the unrecognizable monster he’s turn into, he sees his accurate need to have to embrace humanity. Here it is the monsters that challenge Neville to reside once more as a man, a challenge he learns to accept.

Given that the alternate ending is a tiny additional open-ended (and a lot additional controversial), Neville’s journey to come across himself once more is only just starting. He might never ever be the man he was ahead of the pandemic, but he may possibly nevertheless come across a life, a objective, beyond the walls of his New York City dwelling. Thankfully, he has pals who can assistance and a fresh viewpoint on what it implies to be human. In a way, deciding upon to reside tends to make Neville a bit additional heroic as it forces him to confront his actions and redeem himself moving forward.

Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan Are Set for a Sequel

Those who have only observed the theatrical reduce of I Am Legend have been most likely shocked to study that a sequel, with Will Smith returning as Dr. Robert Neville, is presently in improvement. I Am Legend screenwriter Akiva Goldsman is returning to pen the sequel, which will also star Michael B. Jordan opposite Smith. “We trace back to the original Matheson book, and the alternate ending as opposed to the released ending in the original film,” Goldsman told Deadline in February 2023. “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.”

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“Put the gun down and get me a pack of tropical fruit bubbalicious.”

While we never know substantially else about the upcoming sequel, we know that, like The Last of Us, it’ll take location a decade or two right after the early years of the viral outbreak. Additionally, Goldsman’s comment that the film will stick to the novel additional closely is an exciting one particular, specially offered that, even though the film took location in New York, the book is set in Los Angeles. Sure, he nevertheless mentions New York, but that does not imply LA will not be somehow involved.

Nevertheless, revisiting Neville so far right after the events of the initial film will be fascinating. Hopefully, we’ll encounter a man who has been in a position to return to the rest of the globe and move previous the trauma and tragedy that turned him into a monster. If he’s to be the accurate Omega Man, he’ll have to embrace his humanity and prove that, right after all these years, he is nevertheless legendary.

I Am Legend is offered to rent on Prime Video in the U.S.

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