After more than a decade of false starts and abandoned attempts, it appeared back in 2018 that the long-awaited screen adaptation of Brian K. Vaughan’s Y: The Last Man was finally a go, with FX shooting a pilot for a TV adaptation of the comic book series before granting a full series order a few months later.
However, it was then announced that the project would not be moving ahead “in its current form”, with FX deciding to overhaul things before moving to series – including bringing in a new showrunner and having to recast the lead role of Yorick Brown following the exit of Dunkirk and Eternals actor Barry Keoghan.
Well, one retooling and a pandemic later, and FX has announced that production is officially underway on the Y: The Last Man series, with filming currently taking place in Toronto, Canada under director Melina Matsoukas (Queen and Slim).
The previously announced Ben Schnetzer (Warcraft) is now portraying Yorick, who – who along with his pet monkey Ampersand – are the last two remaining males after a global androcide. Diane Lane (Justice League), Marin Ireland (Hell or High Water), Amber Tamblyn (127 Hours) all return from the first pilot, while Ashley Romans (NOS4A2) and Olivia Thirlby (Dredd) have replaced Lashana Lynch (Captain Marvel) and Imogen Poots (Vivarium) respectively.
Meanwhile, in one other change from the original pilot, Yorick’s companion Ampersand is now set to be a CG-creation, with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) announcing the following:
“For over two years, PETA has been urging the Y: The Last Man team not to prop up a cruel industry that tears baby monkeys away from their mothers and forces them to endure a miserable life stuck inside cages and in front of cameras. The decision to switch to computer-generated imagery is the only ethical option for depicting animals on screen and is welcome news for primates who suffer in the entertainment industry.”
Y: The Last Man is expected to premiere on FX on Hulu at some point in 2021.
