Legend Science a Little Shaky

A man-made virus has turned people into mutants and killed off the rest. Downtown New York City looks like a jungle, and the only man left on the planet is trying to reverse the plague using his immune blood. So how realistic is the premise of Will Smith’s new blockbuster I Am Legend? Surprise! Not very, experts tell Popular Mechanics.

While a wildlife expert says animals and plants would certainly settle in a post-apocalyptic NYC, one of the world’s top virologists says the virus storyline is “pretty far-fetched.” Viruses don’t mutate and become airborne, and the main character’s attempt to find a cure in his own blood “doesn’t make any sense,” he says. As for the mutants: “This is Hollywood. That’s all I can say.” (More Will Smith stories.)