Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s acclaimed post-apocalyptic comic series Y: The Last Man is finally coming to the small screen on FX on Hulu.
After some abandoned film projects, production delays and years of rumors, the Y: The Last Man series is ready for launch.
Read on to see everything we know, from where to watch who’s involved, to what to expect when the show hits Disney’s own streamer.
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What is the Y: The Last Man series about?
Based on the comic book series from DC’s Vertigo Comics, Y: The Last Man has a pretty intriguing premise.
When an apocalyptic event kills every living mammal with the Y chromosome, suddenly the world is dominated by women. In the comic strip, the existence of transgender identities was recognized, but the premise was widely portrayed as an event that killed the men of the world.
The series, on the other hand, will have transch characters. They can be male, female, or non-binary characters, according to showrunner Eliza Clark, who spoke to a Television Critics Association press panel earlier this year discussing the show’s treatment of gender and identity. What the survivors have in common is that none of them carry a Y chromosome.
Y: The Last Man will affirm trans identities.
But a cisgender man mysteriously remains alive, the Y chromosome is intact.
Why was Yorick (and his male ape Ampersand) spared the cruel fate of so many? How did this global tragedy come about? What does the world look like with anyone with a Y chromosome?
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It’s no secret that cis-men have benefited greatly from systemic inequality. From CEOs to soldiers to doctors and truck drivers to airline pilots – it’s a man’s world, as the soundtrack of the Y: The Last Man trailer reminds us. And the elimination of (mostly) men leads to a fascinating what-if scenario.
The series follows survivors who want to find out what happened while they work on a better way forward.
When and where can you see it?
Y: The Last Man premieres on September 13th and is expected to air 10 episodes weekly for the first season.
The show is an FX production and will be available exclusively as streaming through FX on Hulu.
With its international star print, Disney Plus will host Plus Y: The Last Man in Canada, the UK and elsewhere. The series will be streamed on the same day as its Hulu programming, which means it will also premiere in those markets on September 13th.
Who is involved
After a series of cast changes outlined in the sections below, the Y: The Last Man series plays the following actors, including some pretty big names:
- Diane Lane as Jennifer Brown
- Ashley Romans as Agent 355
- Ben Schnetzer as Yorick Brown
- Olivia Thirlby as Heroine Brown
- Amber Tamblyn as Kimberly Campbell Cunningham
- Marin Ireland as Nora Brady
- Diana Bang as Dr. Allison man
- Elliot Fletcher as Sam Jordan
- Juliana Canfield as Beth Deville
- Missi Pyle as Roxanne
- Paul Gross as President of the United States
The show was developed by showrunner Eliza Clark, who wrote the first two episodes under the direction of Louise Friedberg. Clark also acts as executive producer, along with Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Mari Jo Winkler-Ioffreda, and comic book creators Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra.
Specifically, a press release from FX states: “All episodes of the season are directed by women and the production has a significant number of female department heads, including both DPs, the production designer, costume designer, casting director, cutter, stunt coordinator and more.”
Haven’t you tried this before?
New Line Cinema tried to adapt Y: The Last Man as a film back in 2007. That was a year before the comic ended. The director of Disturbia and I Am Number Four, DJ Caruso, was brought in to direct, with Carl Ellsworth of Red Eye and Disturbia on board for filming. Shia LaBoeuf and Zachary Levi were discussed for the role of Yorick, and comic co-creator Brian K. Vaughan once wrote a script himself.
For years the project hung in the balance on various creative differences, including whether the film should be a stand-alone feature film or part of a trilogy. Finally, the rights were returned to Vaughan and Pia Guerra in 2014.
A couple of creative teams tried to get a Y: The Last Man movie off the ground before the series got the green light.
Then in 2015 FX finally got its hands on the rights to the books.
However, this iteration of Y: The Last Man also went through some revisions and changes in the creative teams. The original showrunners, who shot a pilot before ordering the series, dropped out in 2019 due to creative differences.
Eliza Clark stepped in with a plan to film the season with the same cast, though further delays and the replacement of Yorick actor Barry Keoghan with Ben Schnetzer meant the team wasn’t ready to film until early 2020.
Has COVID-19 Affected The Y: The Last Man Series?
After all of these production delays, Y: The Last Man also hit a pretty big catch with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Y: The Last Man joins a variety of shows like Apple TV Plus’ The Morning Show, HBO Max’s Gossip Girl, Hulus The Handmaid’s Tale, Netflix’s Grace & Frankie, and others that had to postpone production due to the pandemic.
Production of Y: The Last Man was scheduled to begin in March 2020, but was postponed until October when a lockdown in Toronto prevented filming. That final delay led to further rewrites, with Ashley Romans and Olivia Thirlby taking over the roles for which Lashana Lynch and Imogen Poots, respectively, were originally intended.
Filming for the first season will be completed in Toronto in July 2021.
What can you expect
People who have read the Y: The Last Man comics know to expect political intrigue, cross-border adventures, conspiracy theories galore, and most likely some modern day Amazons.
Not too much is known about the series, however.
We know from comments made by showrunner Eliza Clark that trans portrayal will be part of the Y: The Last Man series, which has been largely ignored in the comics.
“Yorick’s manhood isn’t what sets him apart in this world – it’s his Y chromosome that sets him apart,” said Clark. “The sex is diverse and chromosomes are not the same as the sex. And so in our world – in the world of television broadcasts – every living mammal with a Y chromosome dies. Tragically, this includes many women; it includes non-binary people; it includes intersex people … we’re doing a show that affirms that trans women are women, trans men are men, non-binary people are non-binary, and that’s part of the world’s riches to play with. “
Additionally, you must watch the Y: The Last Man series to find out more.
Check back on FX on Hulu starting September 13th.
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