After ordering a pilot last year, FX has finally given a series pickup to Y, the television adaptation of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s funny, grim, heartbreaking comic book series. Running from 2002-2007, the Vertigo Comics series followed Yorick Brown, the last surviving cisgender man on Earth following a plague that wipes out every organism with a Y chromosome (aside from his monkey buddy Ampersand), and the surviving women chasing him down for a dozen different reasons related to the survival of the human race.
Michael Green (American Gods, Logan, Blade Runner 2049) and Aïda Mashaka Croal (Luke Cage) will serve as showrunners and executive producers; Vaughan will also be an EP, helping to develop the adaptation from one serialized medium to another. The pickup was announced at the Television Critics Association’s winter tour today, with the added news that the series is expected to premiere on FX sometime in 2020.
Green tweeted the first image from the series, and reader, my heart skipped a beat:
DOES ANYONE HAVE A MONKEY?? NEED ONE ASAP!#Y@mashaka74 @melinamatsoukas @BarryKeoghan pic.twitter.com/3hN8EWXwwv
— Michael Green (@andmichaelgreen) February 4, 2019
That’s Barry Keoghan as Yorick, presumably from the pilot directed by Melina Matsoukas (Insecure, Master of None). The series also stars Diane Lane, Lashana Lynch, Imogen Poots, and Amber Tamblyn.
“Y: The Last Man is a towering achievement among graphic novel storytelling and it’s been rewarding to work with this outstanding team,” Nick Grad, FX president of original programming, said in the official announcement. “Michael Green and Aïda Mashaka Croal have partnered with Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson to deliver a stunning new expression of this fascinating and timely story. Melina Matsoukas, who directed the pilot, did an incredible job bringing it to life with Diane Lane and this stellar cast.”
“Brian and Pia’s exploration of a world without men is a favorite for its depth, its humor, its insights and its monkey,” Croal and Green said in a joint statement. “Adapted today it offers us a cracked mirror to look at our own very cracked world. We thank them for their trust—we thank FX for their support—and we thank the casting gods for letting us work with this incredible group of actors.”
Having to wait another year is torture, but it’s so exciting to know that Y is officially coming to TV screens. Which characters and what moments in the series are must-haves for your dream adaptation?
