2007 saw the release of the movie I Am Legend, starring Will Smith (IMDB)(Amazon). Based off the book of the same name by Richard Matheson, it tells the tale of the last man surviving after a plague has changed the rest of the human populace into vampire-like creatures. Neville, the last man, spends his days hunting the creatures and trying to find a cure, while at night he hides, barricaded inside his home.
The novel was the basis for The Last Man on Earth (IMDB)(Amazon) the 1964 thriller starring Vincent Price (scared the crap out of me when I saw it on TV when I was eight) and The Omega Man (IMDB)(Amazon), starring Charlton Heston, released in 1971 (which I saw sometime in my late teens and I thought it was much cooler).
Upon seeing the 2007 version my Muse started running around with ideas for a TV series based on that version of the tale.
Spoiler alert! Really, the tale has been out there so long this shouldn’t be necessary but in the event you haven’t seen (any version of) the movie here’s the ending.
At the end of the film, Neville has found a cure for the plague-ridden victims and can change them back to humans. He has found another survivor (Anna) who knows of a compound of remaining humans and she urges Neville to go there with her. He has one last test to run on his serum, but night is falling and the creatures are out hunting. They find Neville’s compound and breach his defenses. Neville and Anna hide in the lab in the basement as the creatures pour in. Neville has an isolation chamber in the lab and stuffs Anna into a smaller vacuum chamber giving her the only vial of the cure. As the creatures are about to break into the isolation chamber, Neville sets off an explosive charge that floods the place with fire and kills himself and the creatures. Anna makes it to the human compound and turns over the serum.
My Muse decided there was more to the story. It would go something like this:
Season One
Anna and the humans in the compound spend their time defending the compound, and hunting the creatures. When they find one, they capture it and inject it with the cure. The creatures don’t become human again, but they do become intelligent and less murder-y. They remain misshapen and stronger than the humans and better adapted to the cold weather. Several of the ‘Changed’ remain with the humans in the compound while the rest go off into the world. The season ends as the humans discover the Changed who have gone off on their own are forming their own community, have grown in numbers, and hold some sort of sway over the more feral Changed that haven’t been given the cure. They are gathering to wage war on the humans.
Season Two
The humans and the few Changed that remain loyal to them must abandon their compound and flee before the Changed army attacks. The humans have contacted the remains of a military base that has weapons and soldiers. They must make it there for their own safety as well as bolstering the defenses of the military base. It is a running battle between the humans and the Changed army that is hunting them. In the season finale, the humans are just about to make it to the military base when the Changed Army catches up to them.
Season Three
This season focuses on the uneasy truce between the last remaining humans at the military base and the Changed. The soldiers arrived in time to save many (not all) of the humans fleeing the Changed army. The world is entering a new Ice Age. The Changed seem well-suited to it, whereas the humans struggle. The Changed see it as they are the next evolutionary step while it is time for the humans to die out. The humans fight a war of attrition but don’t win. The series ends as the last human dies and the Changed restart civilization.
Anyway, I doubt Hollywood will ever make this series but if they do, hopefully they will call me in as a consultant and I can make some bank off this.
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