A cult classic comic series may be finally headed to TV and two black women are at the helm!
FX Networks has ordered a pilot for Y based on the acclaimed post-apocalyptic science fiction comic book series Y: The Last Man.
Melina Matsoukas will direct the pilot, which will be produced by FX Productions.
Michael Green (American Gods, Blade Runner 2049, Logan) and Aïda Mashaka Croal (Luke Cage, Turn) will serve as Co-Showrunners and will Executive Produce along with Matsoukas (Insecure, Master of None), Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson of Color Force (American Crime Story, Pose, The Hunger Games) and Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man, Marvel’s Runaways, Saga), who have been working together to develop the series.
Here’s FX’s description: “All of the men are dead. But one. Based on the DC comic book series by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra, Y traverses a world of women — exploring gender, race, class and survival.”
Y: The Last Man is a 60-issue science fiction comic book series published beginning in 2002. It received three Eisner Awards, and received the first Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story for Y: The Last Man, Volume 10.
Croal writing on Marvel’s Jessica Jones on Netflix, where she is also a supervising producer. She was a writer and producer on Marvel’s Luke Cage as well.
Famed music director Matsoukas has recently transitioned to TV, directing for shows like Insecure and Master of None. She’s directing the film City of Saints & Thieves at Universal, produced by Kerry Washington and Will Packer. She’s also adapting A Brief History of Seven Killings at Amazon.
Green was the co-creator and showrunner for Starz’s American Gods, recently stepping down with co-creator Bryan Fuller.
For some more context, this is a project that has been in the works since at least 2008, and it was at once a priority for New Line Cinema. Later, Vaughn, who create the comic, would say the project was dead.
In 2016, FX announced that a project was in development there from Green.
In the “Y: The Last Man” comic book series, Yorick Brown, a young amateur escape artist, and his monkey, Ampersand, suddenly become the last two male beings on earth after something mysterious wipes out every mammal on the planet possessing a Y chromosome – including embryos, fertilized eggs, and even sperm. Society is plunged into chaos as infrastructures collapse and the surviving women everywhere try to cope with the loss of the men.
Yorick goes on a mission to find his girlfriend Beth, who is supposed to be on vacation in Australia, and is accompanied by a bodyguard named Agent 355.
Though the central character is a white man, Agent 335, a major character, is a black woman.
Way back in 2008, Alicia Keys was the then producer’s choice to play Agent 355, who is an employee of a secretive US government agency, described in brief as a bad-ass who kicks butt and confidently handles a variety of weapons.
Keys was the producer’s first choice for what was to initially be a film adaptation, but he also mentioned Zoe Saldana, adding that, by the time the film was to be released, Star Trek will be out and she’ll be huge”; obviously hoping to capitalize on any added popularity Saldana was expected to gain after Star Trek‘s release.
And while Star Trek was released, and was relatively huge for Saldana, no “Y: The Last Man” film adaptation ever materialized. Rosario Dawson was another name that was mentioned at that time.
But there’s a huge role here for a young black actress to play, assuming FX doesn’t make any adjustments to the characters as written.
Who would you all like to see play Agent 355? Prior posts on S&A saw fans mentioning Nicole Beharie (who was listed ina report as a favorite for this year’s pilot season but hast yet to be cast). Other names that come to mind could be Jurnee Smollett-Bell (another alleged pilot season favorite this year), Tracie Thoms or Kellee Stewart.
