“I Am Legend 2” will take place several decades after the first film. Which will impact the appearance of creatures called “Darkseekers”.
I Am Legend 2, currently in pre-production, should introduce us to very different vampiric creatures from the first film. The Darkseekers, as they are called in this story, will be completely removed from what they were in Francis Lawrence’s first opus.
Vampires, did you say vampires?
Filmmaker Akiva Goldsman, who helmed the project after co-writing I Am Legend, confirmed that the sequel would mark the return of Will Smith as Robert Neville. And he will be accompanied by Michael B. Jordan whose role is not yet known.
Other details revealed by the director also hint at important changes for the next film. In an interview given to DeadlineAkiva Goldsman explained that the sequel would follow the events of the alternate ending of the first part.
In this version, Robert Neville realized that monsters were not as stupid as he thought and that, although violent and cannibalistic, they were capable of thought and complex plans. Yet he and Anna (Alice Braga) set off with the cure he created in hopes of healing the world.
I Am Legend 2 will pick up 20-30 years after these events and the director has stated that the plot will be much closer to the novel the original film is based on. This indicates that when Will Smith returns, the world will be much different.
An evolution of creatures
I Am Legend is based on the book of the same name written by science fiction author Richard Matheson. The plot follows a man named Robert Neville, who believed himself to be the last of civilization after a pandemic of vampires (not zombies).
There are two types of infected: those who were essentially reanimated corpses (more like zombies) and those who were technically alive (more like vampires).
Neville then dedicates his life, as the only person immune, to killing both types of monsters while they sleep during the day, while capturing others alive to study in his laboratory. But this starts a kind of war between him and the vampires.
Eventually, Neville realizes that vampires have begun to organize themselves into advanced social groups. Although the ending of the book was still very different from the alternate ending of the first film, it still followed the idea that he was wrong to kill and experiment on vampires.
The vampire society
The fact that the sequel takes place several decades later suggests that the Darkseekers will have had time to evolve. However, if it turns out that the zombies don’t want to be cured and uninfected humans are in the minority, this could lead to significant conflict.
Warner Will Smith in “I Am Legend”
The story of the book only lasts a few years so how the zombie/vampire society would have evolved over time was never explored. It is therefore difficult to guess what the monsters will look like in I am legend 2.
However, if the sequel focuses on the civilized potential of this new society, we can assume that they will look a little less “savage” than before. Perhaps, as in the literary work, there will be several versions of infected humans nevertheless passing for normal people.