Alternative ending

It's interesting to note how films often tear apart the books they draw their plot from. This is the case with I Am Legend, a film based on Richard Matheson's book of the same name. For example,

In the book, Neville (the protagonist) is a smoker and drinks alcohol; in the film, he's politically correct;
In the book, Neville listens to Beethoven; in the film, Bob Marley;
The book offers no hope for the human race: Neville is truly the last human being.

But the biggest difference lies in the ending. In the book, there's a splendid twist: the novel ends with a "monster" father telling his "little monster" son the story of Neville, the last human who killed so many of them and was captured and executed for it. Thus, the "monsters," who in the book are real vampires and not generic zombie-like creatures, reveal themselves capable of experiencing feelings and building a social structure.

This is precisely the explanation for the title: Neville becomes a legend to the "monsters," while in the film he is one to the surviving humans who will rebuild our civilization.

There is, however, an alternative ending filmed by the director himself, which, perhaps, was his original intention, before the production demanded the more optimistic ending.

Here are the two endings:

Back