Final negotiations are underway to determine who will write New Line Cinema’s adaptation of Y: The Last Man. Just when I thought Hollywood couldn’t possibly be any dumber, they go and do something like this… and totally redeem themselves!
The acclaimed comic book from Vertigo is easily one of the best modern comic series of our time. Created by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Pia Guerra, Y: The Last Man follows the misadventures of Yorick Brown, an amateur magician and escape artist, along with his pet and companion, a male Capuchin monkey named Ampersand.
Following the current trending of world ending plagues, Vaughn and Guerra came up with a better idea back in 2002. A world that was half-dead. Not undead, but where half the population all died simultaneously. An incident which is referred to in the comic as the plague kills every living mammal possessing a Y chromosome, including embryos, fertilized eggs and sperm. Well, except for Yorick and his monkey. Aside from these two, the plague persists and kills anything else that pops up with a Y chromosome.
Due to the near instantaneous deaths of all men worldwide, many disasters occur. Think of a driver passing out at the wheel on the highway. Now apply that to every piece of machinery and destructive toy out there.
What’s left of society is plunged into chaos as women everywhere try to cope with the loss of men and the knowledge that unless something is done soon, humanity faces extinction.
As if Carl Jung was correct about the collective consciousness or morphic resonance, Yorick is suddenly connected to a field that is near 100% full of women. It is the only explanation I have as to why Yorick travels the world, disguised as a woman in search of his lost love and the answer to why he’s the last man on earth. Yes, the last guy on earth is a nice guy who is finishing last. I get it.
The series that began in 2002 has since ended in 2008, but left an amazing and complex story. This isn’t a surprise as Vaughan has penned some great work, ranging from work on “Lost”; I’m assuming when it was good; to his exceptional creation of the comic Ex Machina. Gives me chills just thinking that they’ll make that into a movie someday, barring the whole 9/11 thing scenario contained therein. Vaughan hasn’t let up either, having just returned to the comic world recently with another new original series, titled Saga.
Wait a tic. Since Vaughan is an awesome writer, why can’t he pen the adaptation script? With other things going on, he might have too many irons in the fire already, or he’s just worried about screwing up his work. I’m sure the creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender learned the hard way watching the live action movie.
Originally a script was written by Carl Ellsworth, with D.J. Caruso attached as director, but it has since been scrapped. It’s currently writing duo Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia whom are in final negotiations to write the adaptation. J.C. Spink, Chris Bender and David Goyer have been lined up to produce the film.
Speaking of writing, I suddenly understand why my friend Mina Kelly of Boomtron was asking me about this comic. This is what she had to say about Y: The Last Man…
“With the amount of content held in the series of Y, New Line may be looking at a franchise if the first film goes over well with audiences. Y touches on some very dark topics such as the collapse of society, cloning, and some disturbing scenes of mental and physical torture. Y takes you on a journey to save humanity where humanity is collapsing in on itself. It is reminiscent of the popular “disease” genre. Take for example zombies and how they came in to existence – usually its some biological virus that infects the human race. Much like the zombies coming after the last “live” humans, there are groups of women who want to get their hands on Yorick, either to kill him or to lock him up, take your pick, either way Yorick is a wanted man.”
“Even though this comic, and by association the film, may have dark undertones, there are some comedic moments to lighten the mood such as the instant noodles – the cheapest food in existence becomes the most wanted thing on Earth driving its price up to the price of a train ticket, and how Yorick nearly kills himself by not reading the label on canned food. Ok the last one might not be as funny unless you have a morbid sense of humor like I do.”
Here’s a bit of meta-morbidness, I think it was within the comic somewhere another comic called X: The Last Woman. Which is kind of like reading Watchmen. Just think how messed up it would be for the last woman on Earth surrounded by men. Dear Gott in Himmel! I can only hope it ends in suicide after the first few pages of the book.
Y: The Last Man is actually long and complex. I doubt it can be condensed enough to be made into one film, so a lot of awesome bits are going to be cut out. I also don’t see this being turned into a saga of movies. The novelty should wear off after the first film. Instead, I think the comic should have been adapted into a television series. Just look at AMC’s “The Walking Dead”.
