Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's Vertigo comic book Y: The Last Man ran for sixty issues between 2002 and 2008, and in 2007 the attempts to bring the story of Y to the screen began. After fourteen years of development hell, an adaptation has made it into production and will soon be released for the world to see. A television series based on Y: The Last Man is set to premiere on FX on Hulu in less than two months, on September 13th, and a teaser that sets up the basic concept can be seen embedded above.
Y: The Last Man traverses a post-apocalyptic world in which a cataclysmic event decimates every mammal with a Y chromosome but for one 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.
The series stars Ben Schnetzer as Yorick Brown, Diane Lane as Congresswoman Jennifer Brown, Ashley Romans as Agent 355, Diana Bang as Dr. Allison Mann, Olivia Thirlby as Hero Brown, Juliana Canfield as Beth DeVille, Marin Ireland as Nora Brady, Amber Tamblyn as Kimberly Cunningham, Paul Gross as the U.S. President, and Elliot Fletcher as Sam Jordan.
Eliza Clark is the showrunner and is executive producing the series alongside Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson of Color Force, Mari Jo Winkler-Ioffreda, Louise Friedberg, Melina Matsoukas, and Brian K. Vaughan. Coming to us from FX Productions, Y: The Last Man is produced by Nellie Reed.
I have never read an issue of Y: The Last Man, but I remember seeing reports on the adaptation throughout the year. At one point David S. Goyer was going to be producing a Y film for New Line Cinema, with D.J. Caruso being the first director attached. When Caruso dropped out, Dan Trachtenberg was the replacement. Screenplays were written, but development dragged on so long that New Line eventually lost the rights. FX obtained the rights in 2015. A few years ago, a pilot was shot that had Michael Green and Aida Mashaka Croal on board as showrunners and Barry Keoghan, Lashana Lynch, and Imogen Poots in the roles of Yorick, Agent 355, and Hero, respectively. After FX ordered Y: The Last Man to series, Green and Croal left due to creative differences, Clark became the new showrunner, and some recasting was done.