Since adaptations and reboots are hot in modern American filmmaking and TV production, it often doesn't take long to see a popular work hit the big or little screen. For some fans, though, that process involves starts and stops: a veritable roller coaster of production news, which can sometimes lead to no adaptation being made at all. After years of waiting and a scrapped film adaptation, fans of Eisner Award-winning comic series Y: The Last Man were thrilled to learn that a TV series was actively in development for FX. The network announced the good news over a year ago, before going silent about production plans -- until now.
The good news began in January, when FX CEO John Landgraf announced that the comics' original writer, Brian K. Vaughn, would take creative control over the series. Vaughn has had a prolific career across page and screen, penning such titles as Logan and Runaways and writing for shows like Lost and Under the Dome. Things are finally starting to pick up for the Y: The Last Man production, as Vaughn has reportedly chosen his showrunner; another creative with experience in both comics and television.
According to THR, Michael Green will serve as showrunner for Y: The Last Man, and co-write the series with Vaughn. Green is currently working as a co-showrunner on the upcoming American Gods TV series alongside Bryan Fuller and wrote the script for next year's Logan. Green has also written for DC Comics, most notably on their Superman/Batman and Supergirl titles.
Y: The Last Man follows protagonist Yorick and his pet monkey Ampersand as they navigate a world in which they are the only male mammals left standing. The comic ran for sixty issues and was widely celebrated for its intelligent writing and inventive imagery. Fans of the series have been waiting for more from the Y universe since early 2008, when the print series came to a bittersweet end.
Luckily, it looks like Michael Green has the chops to take on this showrunner role. With a hand in critically acclaimed alternate-reality titles like Heroes and Kings, Green could turn a Y TV series into the twisted, imaginative epic it should be. With its chapter-like medium, an episodic TV show could provide fans with a rather literal translation of the text, which may be all this particular work needs. It will be interesting to see how Y compares to FX's other upcoming comic book TV adaptation, Legion, which puts a darker spin on the X-Men universe.
For this series, any news is good news, as it's taken so long to get the project off the ground. That Michael Green will be the Y showrunner is really just a bonus, and we're excited to see how this production continues to evolve.
Y: The Last Man is still in early development.
Source: THR