Following the first reports that a television adaptation of the popular graphic novel Y: The Last Man would be coming to FX, the network this weekend confirmed that it’s circling the last potential writers to partner with Brian K. Vaughan as collaborators for the series.
Vaughan created the original graphic novel, along with artist Pia Guerra, which ran from 2002 through 2008 and detailed the adventures of Yorick Brown and his pet capuchin monkey Ampersand as they try to survive the fallout of an incident which appeared to have killed every male on the planet except them.
Speaking with IGN, FX CEO John Landgraf briefly mentioned the very early stages of the show’s current status, referring to a handful of writers and producers “who really want to participate” in the adaptation of the seminal comic series. Even though Landgraf was careful not to reveal too much regarding the secretive project, he suggested that news surrounding the show should begin to flow freely in the coming months as Vaughan ultimately has the say-so on who he works with on the adaptation.
Said Landgraf, “There’s a kind of a scrum of interest in that. We’ve had a number of producers and writers who really want to participate in that.”
While Landgraf wasn’t ready to reveal a writer, it sounds like we won’t have to wait much longer, as he said, “Ultimately, it’s Brian’s call who he wants to work with and I think that’ll come out soon.”
Y: The Last Man has gone through years of troubled production, going so far back as 2007 when director D.J. Caruso was attached to a feature film version of the story with Shia LaBeouf rumored to be in the lead role of Yorick Brown. More recently in 2013, Dan Trachtenberg (now revealed to be the director of 10 Cloverfield Lane) was attached to direct the film, but ultimately the rights to the project reverted back to Vaughan and Guerra for the first time in over a decade, leading to the production of the future FX series.
It’s probably unlikely that we’ll see Y: The Last Man on FX this year, but if Vaughan chooses a partner and writing staff soon, and the show begins casting and pre-production, a potential mid-season entry for early 2017 could be a possibility for the long-awaited adaptation.