Y: The Last Man

Three explanations are considered by the protagonists:

• Failed clandestine attack on China (propagated by Lt. General Alter): the Culper Ring created a chemical agent designed to prevent women from conceiving male children. This agent was introduced into China to cripple their economy; however, something went wrong, and the chemical agent instead killed males of all ages.
  • This is stated as the definitive cause of the plague in Brian K. Vaughan's abridged script for Y: The Last Man, penned two years after the completion of the comic book series.[3]
• Dr. Matsumori's theory:[2] viable cloning made males unnecessary, and thus mother nature destroyed them – the Y-chromosome had been "rationally self-destructing for hundreds of millions of years" and thus the birth of Dr. Matsumori's first successful human clone "triggered a time-bomb that had been ticking for millennia." In other words, the moment the Y-chromosome became obsolete "nature righted its course."[4]
  • Moreover, Doctor Matsumori had also discovered a "chemical compound that had an adverse effect on the genome of cloned mammals" which he injected into a capuchin monkey (Ampersand) in an attempt to kill his daughter's unborn clone fetus. Yet, as fate would have it, Ampersand was misdelivered to Yorick and when the plague struck, the compound ended up having the opposite effect on non-cloned mammals, shielding all three of them from "God's wrath."[4]
• Cursed amulet (propagated by ancient mysticism and the Setauket Ring): the plague struck the moment Agent 355 removed the sacred Amulet of Helene from the nation of Jordan. The amulet carried a warning that if it was ever taken from its homeland, it would create a tragedy greater than the Trojan War. It is also suggested that the wedding ring Yorick bought for Beth may have protected him and Ampersand from the effect of this curse.
  • This was the first theory for the plague's cause presented in the series, with Agent 355 being warned about the amulet's curse in the opening pages.
  • Yorick's ring was a similarly supposedly mystical Middle Eastern relic, alleged to muddle the bearer's gender in order to give a married man an aspect of his wife's femininity, and vice versa.

Other explanations put forth in the book include:

• The Earth cleansing herself of the Y chromosome, as believed by the Amazons.
• The Rapture taking all men and leaving women as a punishment for original sin, as believed by an air traffic controller.
• The remaining (female) members of Sons of Arizona were convinced that the government was responsible for the plague, and the top government leaders were lying in wait to take over the country.
• Changes in the Dreamtime affecting normal reality, as believed by some Australian aboriginals and Beth.
• One member of the "Fish & Bicycle" traveling theater troupe advanced the theory the plague was a direct response to the exclusion of women from true parity in the performing arts, thereby upsetting the natural order. In support of this theory, it was speculated the total exclusion of women from the stage in William Shakespeare's day had resulted in pandemic outbreaks of the Bubonic Plague.

The film rights to the series were acquired by New Line Cinema (a sister company to Vertigo), and in July 2007 screenwriter Carl Ellsworth and director D. J. Caruso were attached to the project with David S. Goyer as a producer.[5]

Caruso intended on finishing the script in the summer and filming during the fall of 2008. The script would be a rewrite of the original draft written by Jeff Vintar. Although Vintar's draft was faithful to the original comic book and considered by many to be a success, the higher-ups at New Line Cinema seemed unable to fully embrace the material. A subsequent draft by Vaughan himself, which departed from his own comic considerably, was even less successful in convincing the studio to proceed.[6]

Caruso maintained that the source material was too much to be told in one film and his team decided to concentrate on the best first film they could, which would end somewhere around issue 14 of the comic series. The entire comic series as a whole would be plotted into three films.[7] Actor Shia LaBeouf, who has worked with these writers for the films Disturbia and Eagle Eye, has previously stated that he is unwilling to play the role of Yorick. According to LaBeouf, the role is far too similar to the character Sam Witwicky, which he portrayed in the Transformers series.[8] In an interview conducted by collider.com, LaBeouf stated that there is still a chance that he would be starring.[9] Caruso planned to use a real monkey, and not a CGI construct, to play Ampersand.[6] Caruso also said he would like to have Alicia Keys for the part of Agent 355.[10] Zachary Levi, who played the lead in the TV series Chuck, has expressed interest in playing Yorick as he is a fan of the comic book series, even going as far as having his character Chuck Bartowski read the Y: The Last Man graphic novel in the episode "Chuck Versus the Nacho Sampler".

Caruso remained "loosely attached" to the project, but New Line refused to acquiesce on its development as a stand-alone movie as opposed to the trilogy Caruso preferred.[11] Caruso, maintaining "I didn't think that you could take Yorick's story and put it in to a two-hour movie and do it justice... I just feel like it's too much for one screenplay," ultimately walked away from the project.[12]

In March 2012, former Jericho writers Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia entered final negotiations to write New Line's adaptation of the series, following in the footsteps of Vintar, Vaughan, and Ellsworth. J.C. Spink, Chris Bender and David S. Goyer were attached to produce; Mason Novick and Jake Weiner are executive producers.[13] Reports in September 2012 suggested New Line was enthusiastic about the draft screenplay produced by Federman and Scaia, and had begun the process of meeting potential directors to hire for the project.[14]

In January 2013, it was announced that Dan Trachtenberg would direct the film.[15] In June 2013, producer David S. Goyer announced having "a script that's as close as it's ever been," and suggested the film could go into production in 2014.[16] However, in January 2014, Brian K. Vaughan stated "It's my understanding that the rights to Y: The Last Man will revert to co-creator Pia Guerra and me for the first time in a decade if the planned New Line adaptation doesn't start shooting in the next few months."[17] On September 24, Trachtenberg confirmed via Twitter the film was "Not happening. But it's in trusted hands (the creators)."[18] In a subsequent interview he noted that in fact, "The rights reverted back to Brian quite a few months ago."[19]

In 2011, a loose adaptation of the graphic novel was made in Portugal by Luís Lobo and Bruno Telésforo as an independent short feature and school film produced by Universidade Lusófona, which was premiered in the Fantasporto film festival on contest.[20]

In November 2010 French director Louis Leterrier expressed interest in adapting the series for television.[21]

In October 2015, The Hollywood Reporter reported that FX is developing a TV series of Y: The Last Man produced by Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson alongside Brian K. Vaughan, who will also be a writer for the show.[22] In an interview with Vulture in July 2016, Vaughan commented the FX series was, "very slowly coming to life. No news I can share, other than that it’s all chugging along happily."[23]

In November 2016, it was reported that Michael Green will be the showrunner for Y: The Last Man.[24][25]

On April 5, 2018, FX announced it had handed out a formal pilot order and enlisted Aida Mashaka Croal to serve as co-showrunner alongside Green, with Melina Matsoukas on board to direct.[26]

On July 11, 2018, FX confirmed the cast list for the lead characters in the TV pilot (titled "Y"), with Barry Keoghan as Yorick Brown, Diane Lane as Yorick's mother Senator Jennifer Brown, Imogen Poots as Yorick's sister Hero Brown, and Lashana Lynch as Agent 355.[27] Production commenced on August 20, 2018,[28][29] and was ordered to series on February 4, 2019.[30] In April 2019, Green and Croal exited the series due to creative differences.[31] In June 2019, it was announced that Eliza Clark would be replacing Croal and Green as the showrunner.[32] In February 2020 it was reported that Barry Keoghan has exited the role of Yorrick and the character is being recast.[33] Later that month, it was announced that Ben Schnetzer has been cast in the role of Yorick.[34]