Summary
ThoughI Am Legend 2is currently in development, there’s another Will Smith movie that deserves a sequel even more. Warner Bros.confirmedI Am Legend 2is in developmentin March 2024, over 16 years after the original movie was released in 2007. In the originalI Am Legend, Will Smith played Robert Neville, a scientist who was one of the few survivors of a world-ending plague that turned some people into vampire-like mutants called Darkseekers. The sequel will see Smith reprise that role, and it has also cast Michael B. Jordan as a yet-unknown character.
While it’s definitely exciting to see a sequel toI Am Legendcoming so many years after the original’s release, the sequel isn’t without its problems. Smith’s character died in the original ending ofI Am Legend, which meansI Am Legend 2had to canonize the original’s alternate ending, where Neville survived his final face off against the Darkseekers. Based onI Am Legend’s original ending, it wasn’t the most obvious choice for a sequel. It’s even more strange considering another ofWill Smith’s best action movieshad a much more straightforward and needed sequel plan.
I Am Legend 2 Cast & Character Guide: Erik Killmonger To Star In Will Smith Sequel
Will Smith is returning to the spooky post-apocalyptic wasteland for a sequel to I Am Legend. Who else will appear in the I Am Legend 2 cast?
Hancock Is One Of Will Smith’s Most Underrated Movies & (It Deserves A Sequel)
Hancockwas both one ofWill Smith’s most underrated charactersand movies, and it arguably deserves a sequel more thanI Am Legend.Hancocksaw Smith star as the titular John Hancock, a problematic superhero.Jason Bateman’s Ray offers to help Hancock repair his public image, and over the course of the movie, he discovers that Ray’s wife, Mary (Charlize Theron) was his long-lost soulmate and fellow superhero. Aside fromHancock’s star-studded cast, it also had a ton of unanswered questions, like Mary and Hancock’s past relationship and Hancock’s future in New York, that could have been addressed by a sequel that never happened.
Why Will Smith’s Hancock 2 Never Happened
Hancockwas very well-received when it first came out - it earned $629 million at the worldwide box office (viaBox Office Mojo) - and it seemed like a sequel would be soon to follow. Initially, there was some good progress being made towardsHancock 2.Writers Adam Fierro and Glen Mazzara, who worked on shows likeDexterandThe Shield, were hired to write the script for the sequel in 2009(viaThe Hollywood Reporter), but they never submitted a final draft. Director Peter Berg attributed that particular setback to creative clashes behind the scenes between Smith, his agent,Hancock’s producers, and Berg himself (viaDigital Spy).
Hancock
Cast
Hancock is a 2008 superhero film starring Will Smith as John Hancock. Despite being a superhero, Hancock could care less about the damage he causes in the city as long as he catches the criminals he’s after. But after he saves Ray (Jason Bateman) the two work together to help his public image and turn him into a real hero.
The problems in gettingHancock 2off the ground also seem to stem from the originalHancock. The original, too, went through a very troubled development.It started out as a screenplay titledTonight, He Comesin 1996, and it only saw actual development after two different directors took a stab at it and Vince Gilligan and John August rewrote the script(viaSlashFilm). The development woes of the originalHancockcould have easily transferred over to the sequel. That, combined with the creative differences of the people behindHancock 2, seems to have put the film into development deadlock.
WhileHancock 2has had more than a few setbacks, there’s still a chance it eventually sees screens. Those chances have only improved in recent years, especially considering Will Smith’s recent career choices.Since 2020, Smith has revisited some of his older classic movies: bothBad Boys for LifeandBad Boys: Ride or Diewere released over 16 years afterBad Boys IIhit theaters, andI Am Legend 2is set for a sequel after 17 years. Based on those sequels, it wouldn’t be difficult to imagine Smith joining a sequel toHancockafter at least 16 years.
Bad Boys for Life
In Bad Boys For Life, the third installment in the Bad Boys film franchise, Marcus Burnett wants to retire, but when Mike Lowrey is shot, and the assailant goes after a friend of Burnett’s, the two team up together for one last ride.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die
Bad Boys: Ride or Die continues the action-packed saga of Miami detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett. The film follows the duo as they face new threats and personal challenges, blending intense action scenes with the camaraderie fans have come to love in the Bad Boys series.
Smith’s recent sequels also serve as a sort of shift in his career strategy. Previously, Will Smith rarely returned for sequels, with notable exceptions like theMen in Blackfranchise andBad Boys.His most recent films are a great sign that Smith is more open to sequels likeHancock 2than he was previously, which may solve some of the creative differences it once suffered from. Smith isn’t the only encouraging sign aboutHancock 2either. Charlize Theron said as recently as 2020, during a press tour forThe Old Guard, that she would makeHancock 2"in a heartbeat," (viaComicbook.com).
It’s certainly far from becoming a reality, but there’s still a chance that Will Smith could return to his superhero suit forHancock 2. Its chances probably rely heavily on howI Am Legend 2turns out, though. If it proves to be a commercial hit even after nearly two decades since the original movie’s release, it could be just the positive sign needed to makeHancock 2. On the other hand, ifI Am Legend 2fails, it could be taken as a sign that such far-removed sequels aren’t profitable, and prove to be the final nail in the coffin for Will Smith’s superhero sequel.
I Am Legend
Loosely based on Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel of the same name, I Am Legend stars Will Smith as Robert Neville, a virologist who believes himself to be the last human on Earth. After a virus turns most of the world’s population into vampiric creatures known as Darkseekers, Neville finds himself immune. Believing himself to be the last man of Earth, Neville stalks through the ruins of New York, hoping to create an antidote that will save humanity.
I Am Legend 2
I Am Legend 2 is a sequel to the 2007 film that sees Will Smith reprise his role as Dr. Robert Neville. Despite the theatrical release of the original film showing Neville’s demise, the film picks up where the alternate ending left off, with Neville surviving and heading off to spread the cure.
