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The long-awaited adaptation of Y: The Last Man is finally coming out. The post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller is one of the most anticipated DC TV shows on the horizon and has been even before it was officially greenlit as a series. We can reveal all of the bumpy history behind that and other important facts regarding Y: The Last Man on FX in the following breakdown of everything that we know about the FX TV show so far, starting with exactly when you should set your calendar.
The Y: The Last Man Premiere Date Is Set For September 13, 2021
It was in October 2015 when FX first announced that Y: The Last Man was being developed into a TV series. The acclaimed cable network ordered the pilot, then known simply as Y, in the fall of the following year with no set release date at the time.
Due to various behind-the-scenes shake-ups, it was not until October 2020 when the series started filming and that winter, the network decided to use its full, original title instead of the one-letter abbreviation. It appears that the plans for Y: The Last Man are finally going smoothly with a current premiere date of Monday, September 13, 2021, on which the first two episodes will be available to stream exclusively on FX on Hulu.
Y: The Last Man Is Inspired By A DC Comic Of The Same Name
With the Arrow-verse happening on the CW and the live-action superhero-inspired programming coming to HBO Max, you might not expect a show based on a DC comic to wind up on FX, which was also the home of Marvel’s Legion - a twisted series set in the X-Men movies universe. However, the Hulu-exclusive lineup of programming from the “bold” cable network might be the best option for Y: The Last Man, which actually comes from the publisher’s more adult, and now defunct, Vertigo imprint.
The story, from writer Brian K. Vaughn and artist Pia Guerra, follows young Yorick Brown and his pet Capuchin monkey, Ampersand, who have mysteriously become the sole survivors of a plague that has eradicated all other male creatures on Earth. The 60-issue comic book series was published from September 2002 to March 2008 - the year it won the Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series before its Volume 10 collection was nominated for the first Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story in 2009.
Ben Schnetzer And Diane Lane Lead The Y: The Last Man Cast
Playing the part of Yorick Brown is Warcraft’s Ben Schnetzer, who filled in after Barry Keoghan dropped out to join the Eternals cast in February 2020. Considering the plot of the series, it is no surprise that the rest of the Y: The Last Man cast (outside of Paul Gross as the President of the United States and Elliott Fletcher as Sam Jordan) is predominantly female, including Academy Award nominated DC movies star Diane Lane as Yorick’s mother, Congresswoman Jennifer Brown, and Dredd actress Olivia Thirlby as his sister, Hero.
Ashley Romans (not a comic book movie vet, but from AMC’s adaptation of Joe Hill’s NOS4A2) stars as Agent 355 and Kimberly Cunningham is played by Amber Tamblyn of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants fame. Marin Ireland from 2016’s Hell or High Water, Diana Bang (known best for The Interview from 2014), and Succession’s Juliana Canfield also appear on the Y: The Last Man cast.
Eliza Clark Serves As Showrunner for Y: The Last Man
Not only is the Y: The Last Man cast made up mostly of women, but there is a large female presence behind the scenes as well. For instance, the series originally hired American Gods co-creator Michael Green and Jessica Jones and Luke Cage writer Aida Mashaka Croal to head the series together before they backed out in February 2019, leaving the spot open for Eliza Clark - a writer for The Killing and Animal Kingdom.
Eliza Clark, who wrote the first two episodes of Y: The Last Man, is also serving as executive producer with Brad Simpson, Mari Jo Winkler-Ioffreda, original creator Brian K. Vaughan, Melina Matsoukas, and Louise Friedberg, who also helmed the two-part premiere. In fact, she is one of several women in the director’s chair for the first season.
All Of Y: The Last Man Season 1 Is Directed By Women
As previously mentioned, Danish filmmaker Louise Friedberg (known for directing an episode of Netflix’s House of Cards and The Right Stuff for Disney+) is directing the first two episodes of Y: The Last Man. The rest of this premiere, 10-episode season will also be entirely helmed by female directors. Women are leading much of the production from behind the scenes, actually, including the directors of photography, the production designer, costume designer, casting director, editors, stunt coordinator, and in other departments.
Y: The Last Man Was Originally Greenlit As A Movie
Long before Y: The Last Man became one of the most anticipated DC TV shows, it was one of the most anticipated DC movies when New Line Cinema first optioned the rights in 2007 with Dark Knight trilogy story scribe David S. Goyer and filmmaker D.J. Caruso attached. The director (who originally wanted his Disturbia star Shia LaBeouf to play Yorick) would later explain that New Line’s refusal to split the story into a trilogy led to his exit in 2010.
Future 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg became attached to helm in 2013, a year after former Jericho writers Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia were brought on for a new draft and a year before Brian K. Vaughn stated the rights would revert back to him and Pia Guerra if shooting did not begin by September 2014. That is ultimately what killed Y: The Last Man’s chances at a big screen release before Vaughn, seemingly taking a cue from The Transporter and 2008’s The Incredible Hulk director Louis Lettierre, to partner with Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson to work on a television series.
That is the story of what led us to this moment as we await the forthcoming premiere of Y: The Last Man on FX on Hulu in the fall of 2021.
