After Michael B. Jordan shined in dual roles in Ryan Coogler’s vampire horror movie Sinners, my expectations for the long-awaited sequel I Am Legend 2 are even higher. Sinners has broken multiple box office records in addition to generating near-universal acclaim from critics and audiences, making it an early contender for the best movie of 2025. While the entire cast was brilliant, Michael B. Jordan delivered two incredible performances in the same movie, and truly stood out as a driving force behind the overall success of Sinners.

While no official release date has been announced, I Am Legend 2 has been confirmed to be in production, and will reportedly feature the return of Will Smith’s character from the original I Am Legend along with Michael B. Jordan in an as-yet-unknown role. The sequel takes place decades after the events of the first movie, and will pick up the story from I Am Legend‘s alternate ending, which follows the original 1954 novel of the same name by Robert Matheson. Jordan will reportedly play the leader of a colony of survivors in the wake of the devastating virus.

Sinners Has Given Michael B. Jordan A Mᴀssive Horror Hit Ahead Of I Am Legend 2

He’s Proven He Can Carry A Film In The Horror Genre

Michael B. Jordan is one of the last true Hollywood A-listers whose very involvement in a project drives box office success, regardless of genre. However, with no true horror hit in his filmography, the success of Sinners was important to prove that Jordan could carry something from the genre. Despite there being little doubt thanks to his incredible dramatic talent, it’s important that he connected with the die-hard horror audience, a segment of the overall theater-going mᴀsses that can make or break any horror/thriller at the box office.

There aren’t many details available about Jordan’s character or the overall plot of I Am Legend 2, but it seems clear that Smith and Jordan will be on relatively equal footing in terms of importance. If the character was going to play a clear second fiddle to Will Smith’s Robert Neville, they likely wouldn’t have cast a powerhouse A-lister like Jordan for it. Smith and Jordan both have dramatic and major horror credibility now, which makes them the perfect fit for a complex horror movie like I Am Legend 2.

Michael B. Jordan’s Sinners Performance Teases How I Am Legend 2 Can Be Better Than The Original

He Can Elevate The Material With His Charisma

The roles of Smoke and Stack Moore are so different in Sinners that it’s hard not to marvel at Jordan’s ability to split himself so perfectly. Stack’s smooth-talking, excitable, charismatic energy both clashes with and complements Smoke’s gruff, hard-edged, serious demeanor. The ability to do both is what sets Jordan up for success in I Am Legend 2, given the foundation of the franchise. The conditions of the world in which his character dwells will necessitate the ability to convey both fear and determination, yet as a leader of people, he should maintain the charisma.

The original I Am Legend was almost entirely dependent on the acting ability of Will Smith to carry the story, and foreshadows how Michael B. Jordan can elevate the sequel. As great as Smith was in I Am Legend, giving his character Robert Neville someone to play off on in Jordan brings an entirely new dimension to the story and to the character of Neville himself. Keeping Will Smith’s hardened, desperate demeanor from the original and setting it against Jordan’s swaggering charisma should give the franchise a completely new dynamic to work with.

I Am Legend 2 Gives Michael B. Jordan A Chance To Fight A Different Horror

He’s Done True Vampires, Now He Gets To Take On The Darkseekers

The action and supernatural elements of Sinners gave Michael B. Jordan a great canvas on which to paint; the blood and gore wrought by traditional vampires conjures a distinct subgenre of horror, and he excelled in that environment. What makes the vampires of Sinners truly terrifying though is that they are just as charismatic. Jack O’Connell’s Remmick is not a mindless monster, he’s a charming and intelligent foe with powers well beyond that of a mortal human being, and his acolytes aren’t a mindless horde, but rather a dark version of the characters the audience already knows.

However, I Am Legend 2 will pit him against the creatures known as Darkseekers, which gives him an entirely new enemy to play off of. The original novel actually made the Darkseekers vampires of a sort, but if the sequel sticks with the original movie’s depiction of the infected, then they are more like fast zombies than vampires. They’re more closely related to the infected of the 28 Days Later franchise than vampires, which gives Jordan something entirely new to work with. There will be no conversation or banter, there will only be fear and desperation to escape or kill.

I Am Legend 2 Can Still Be Great, Even If It Doesn’t Live Up To Sinners

Sinners Is A Near-Impossible Bar To Hit

Sinners is somewhat of a unicorn in modern cinema, as it’s ultra-rare for an R-rated horror movie to act as such an incredible cross-over hit. It’s equally rare for a truly original movie to generate as much hype and positive word-of-mouth as Sinners has.

The movie’s incredible blend of history, music, humor, action, and true horror elements are combined into a truly unique spectacle, and that spectacle is what not only drove audiences to rave about the film, but also helped lay the foundation for its success with outstanding early critic reviews.

On top of that, the star power of Jordan and Ryan Coogler, along with their outstanding history of collaborations, drive box office numbers on their own. However, their biggest past collaborations were entries in long-running franchises, with built-in audiences ready to support the films regardless of their quality. Of course, Coogler and Jordan elevated the IP by putting their own stamp on it, which is part of what makes Sinners so widely appealing. It may not have the power of well-known IP behind it, but it has a powerhouse combo that audiences know and appreciate.

Jordan can elevate source material once again with I Am Legend 2, which is why it can be an excellent sci-fi horror movie even if it doesn’t live up to the high standard set by Sinners. With a world already laid out by both the first movie and the original novel, I Am Legend 2 can focus almost entirely on the characters at its center played by Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan. Jordan has the chance to dominate the movie just as he did with Sinners, which should help take I Am Legend 2 above and beyond its predecessor.