It’s been over 13 years since Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s Y: The Last Man — which imagines a world in which almost all men perish in a sudden outbreak, with a few notable exceptions, including main character Yorick and his pet monkey — ended its run at DC Comics. Hollywood’s been nosing around an adaptation for what feels like 100 years, and after some fumbles along the way, including several casting shake-ups, a show based on the series is really and truly almost upon us.
Ahead of Y: The Last Man’s much-anticipated debut next month (yes, it’s really happening!), and after a few teases that really showed us… not a lot, FX on Hulu has finally given us our first good look at the show.
The official logline: “Based on DC Comics’ acclaimed series by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra, Y: The Last Man traverses a post-apocalyptic world in which a cataclysmic event decimates every mammal with a Y chromosome but for one cisgender man and his pet monkey. The series follows the survivors in this new world as they struggle with their efforts to restore what was lost and the opportunity to build something better.”
With playwright Eliza Clark as showrunner, Y: The Last Man’s cast includes Ben Schnetzer (Warcraft) as Yorick Brown, Ashley Romans (NOS4A2) as Agent 355, Olivia Thirlby (Dredd) as Yorick’s sister Hero Brown, and Diane Lane (Justice League) as President Jennifer Brown (who happens to be Yorick and Hero’s mother). Louise Friedberg will direct the first two episodes, and the entire first season will be helmed by women directors. In fact, as Variety noted in a story timed to the series’ start of production back in October 2020, “FX notes that all episodes of season one will be directed by women, while the show’s department heads are also mostly female, including both DPs, the production designer, costume designer, casting director, editors and stunt coordinator.”
Though we won’t fully believe it until we’re actually watching it, Y: The Last Man arrives September 13 on FX on Hulu in the U.S. Stay tuned for an Australian release date.