Y: The Last Man has been a very popular comic book series. Even though publication for the series has ended, fans are still eager to see the story become a feature film. We’ve been teased and teased, but this week, New Line Cinema is saying the adaptation is fueled up and ready to drive.
Yes, we’ve been hearing that the movie would happen for years now, which makes it very difficult to break into song and dance over this latest update, but perhaps the details will warm the cockles of your comic book movie loving heart. The good word is that former Jericho writers Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia are narrowing down their choices for director as we speak.
If I had to nominate a director off the top of my head, I’d choose someone like Jason Reitman, of Juno and Thank You For Smoking, or Doug Liman of The Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Jumper.
Y: The Last Man tells the quirky tale of Yorick Brown, the last human male on Earth. That’s right. In fact, he and his pet monkey, called Ampersand, seem to be the lone survivors of he only survivors of a mysterious phenomenon which suddenly kills every male mammal on the planet. The near future plague relentlessly attacks the Y chromosome. The thriller has humor, as well as political, scientific and action fueled drama.
At one time Disturbia director DJ Caruso was attached to the adaptation, but that has since changed.
Other characters in the series include Agent 355, a female character who becomes Yorick’s bodyguard; Doctor Allison Mann, a key geneticist; Beth Deville, Yorick’s girlfriend; Hero Brown, Yorick’s older sister; Rose Copen, an Australian spy; and Alter Tse’elon, a central villain.
Y: The Last Man writer Brian K. Vaughan won the Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series for the comic. Y was a Vertigo comic and New Line Cinema is a sister company to Vertigo. Pencillers for the comic series include Pia Guerra, Goran Sudžuka and Paul Chadwick, while primary inking duties were on Jose Marzan Jr.
I, for one, can’t wait until this picture becomes a reality. I think it’ll be a lot of fun for fans and newbies alike. This scenario is one, which will keep audiences really in suspense as to how Yorkick’s situation all pans out. I imagine being the last man on earth has its perks.
Rumor has is it, actor Shia Labeouf is uninterested in acting the part of Yorik and that Zachary Levi, also known as TV’s Chuck, has said he’d be interested in the role. I think Levi would be a nice choice, but more star power may be required. Then again, even if a relative unknown lands the lead, he could be insulated by a supporting cast of better known stars and probably still draw audiences.
Brian K. Vaughan has also worked on Marvel Comics, including Wolverine, Ultimate X-Men and Runaways. On the DC Comics side of the fence he has written for Batman, Young Justice and Green Lantern. for Veritgo he wrote for Swamp Thing.
He’s also the author of the wonderful graphic novel, Pride of Baghdad, a read which I highly recommend.