After years of attempts to adapt it to the big screen, Brian K. Vaughan’s ‘Y: The Last Man’ is steadily working its way to television via FX. Michael Green had been appointed showrunner, in late 2016, but due to his commitment to Starz’s ‘American Gods’, he was unable to focus on ‘Y’. Now that he’s stepped down from running ‘American Gods’, however, FX’s CEO John Landgraf is excited at the prospect that Green may finally get down to business on their project.
“[We feel] pretty optimistic, not quite at a final decision point. But we got a script I really like, a draft we really like recently. Michael is available, because he’s not involved in American Gods [anymore].”
Green and fellow showrunner Bryan Fuller stepped down from their posts at ‘American Gods’ in late November due to creative and financial disagreements with production company FremantleMedia. Starz president Chris Albrecht insists that Green and Fuller will still be involved in some capacity with ‘American Gods’ whenever it goes back into production, but at this point, when that is is unknown.
So ‘American Gods” loss may be ‘Y”s gain. Vaughan discussed Green’s take on the adaptation just a few months ago, saying:
“Wow, can that guy write. I wanted to find someone who loved the source material, but didn’t feel so indebted to it that they would be afraid to change it. When he first pitched his take on it to Nina Jacobson, our producer, and me a long time ago, he came in saying he wanted to do something about toxic masculinity. It felt very relevant, and unfortunately I think it’s only become more relevant with each passing day. His take on it was really brave and very different, but exciting as well. I really admire how audacious he’s been with his translation.”
The idea of toxic masculinity was further fueled by the 2016 Presidential election, as Green recalls:
“It would have been a very different show, and very different development process, had the election not been as horrifying as it was. I had to put the script down for a couple months and really reassess it tonally, because it became a different creature, it became violent protest. It couldn’t not be political, and I had to embrace it, and I had to find my way in, and I had to find a way to channel my own dismay, disappointment and rage into it, while still keeping it what it is. For a minute there I almost walked away.”
From the sound of things, however, it sounds like it will still be some time before ‘Y: The Last Man’ actually comes to life on the small screen, but hopefully it will be worth the wait.
Are you a fan of the comic book series? Are you excited that it will be brought to life on FX?
Source: TV Guide
