According to Deadline, Smith will reprise his role as Robert Neville with Michael B. Jordan joining him in the sequel to the 2007 post-apocalyptic movie. In addition to Smith and Jordan, Akiva Goldsman will return to write the screenplay for I Am Legend 2. Unfortunately, Deadline’s report did not disclose if Francis Lawrence will return for the sequel. The biggest criticism of I Am Legend is how it deviates from the original novel. In the movie, Neville isn’t necessarily the vampire-filled world’s version of the boogeyman. Instead, he becomes one of the last few surviving humans who’s hell-bent on developing a “cure”. The multiple endings of the original movie also hint at significantly different storylines for the sequel depending on which one will be canon. Since Deadline states that Smith will “star” in the sequel, it suggests that the Fresh Prince has a substantial role as opposed to appearing in flashbacks. In this case, the follow-up could use the alternate ending that sees Neville give up his research in order to search for survivors instead along with Alica Braga’s Anna Montez. In this scenario, Jordan could theoretically play the role of a grown-up Ethan, Anna’s son, or at least someone from the settlement shown at the end of the “non-canon” ending. Having said that, the script for the I Am Legends sequel has to be quite good to bring back Smith and pull in Jordan. The former most recently starred in King Richard, where his performance garnered numerous accolades including a Best Actor nomination at the 2022 Oscars. Meanwhile, the latter will star, direct, and produce Creed III with a Black Superman project for HBO Max on the docket for the Black Panther star as well.
