According to new reports, The Last of Us will serve as a sort of guide for the next I Am Legend sequel starring Will Smith! Hollywood has a long history of using the post-apocalypse genre to explore the worst fears and flaws of humanity.
The novel from which I Am Legend was adapted more or less concludes that the last living human is the bad guy since vampires are the dominant race on Earth, and he is attempting to eradicate them.
The concept that man is bad in a post-apocalyptic world is a prevalent one, and The Last of Us is a major TV series that is also exploring that premise at the moment.
That being said, it appears that the upcoming I Am Legend sequel, which features Michael B. Jordan and Will Smith, will draw inspiration from the cherished PlayStation story currently airing in the form of a TV series adaptation.
The sequel will apparently take place decades following the first film, according to writer Akiva Goldsman, who also confirmed that it would borrow some post-apocalyptic world-building techniques from The Last of Us.
Goldsman shared that “This will start a few decades after the first. I am obsessed with The Last of Us, where we see the world just post apocalypse but also after a 20-30 year lapse. You see just how the Earth reclaims the world, and there is something beautiful in the fact that, as man steps away from being the main tenant, what happens? That will be especially shown in New York. I do not know if they will climb up to the empire state building – the possibilities are endless.”
The Last of Us shows a world that effectively froze up when the pandemic occurred, allowing nature to reclaim it.
People who were born after the collapse of humanity may only view our present as history, viewing modern conveniences like hotels and theaters as archaic notions.
Given that Michael B. Jordan is considerably younger than Will Smith, it would not be too shocking if his character is born in this reality after the end of the world, allowing for a better exploration of a different point of view.