10 Movie Heroes Who Didn’t Know They Were The Villains
7. Robert Neville - I Am Legend (Alternate Ending)
The dumbest change to the film adaptation of I Am Legend also happened to be the most controversial;
The post-apocalyptic film follows Robert Neville (Will Smith) as he survives the New York wasteland; battling mutated humans (Darkseekers) who behave not too dissimilar to vampires. After capturing one of the mutants, Robert attempts to experiment and treat the Darkseeker in order to find a cure.
In the original cut a horde of the Darkseekers invades his home and Robert pulls the pin on a grenade, sacrificing himself and killing the invading horde. In the alternate ending, which is not too different from the book, Robert realizes that the Alpha Darkseeker just wants to rescue the patient he abducted.
It's a move that catches audiences (and readers) off guard because it is at this moment that Robert realizes HE is the monster everyone fears- hence "I Am Legend"
If you were to imagine the film's events through the eyes of the Darkseekers, Robert Neville is a predatory force that hunts, traps and kills their kind and those that do survive, he experiments on.
Robert's discovery that he is the monster after all, is a somber moment made even better by the terrified anger in Alpha's eyes.