As I had just given up hope on ever seeing a live-action Y: The Last Man adaptation, Hollywood Reporter recently reported that a TV show is in development at FX. Although this is no guarantee just yet, here’s hoping it is, because it’s about time this happened.

Y: The Last Man is my favourite non-superhero graphic novel, and it’s been completely frustrating reading about planned projects for the graphic novel fall through. Y: The Last Man is published under Vertigo (owned by DC Comics) and New Line previously had the rights to it.

It was only a couple of years ago that there was a director for the movie in the form of Dan Trachtenberg (our very own Wonder Woman Gal Gadot had discussions with the director presumably for the movie), but the movie of course never happened.

Apparently New Line weren’t confident enough to make it a series of films, so instead they wanted it to be one standalone film. Which is completely ridiculous considering how much happens in the sixty issue story.

But now, fingers crossed if everything goes right, we could be seeing a Y: The Last Man TV show at FX, with the creator Brian K. Vaughan helping out. So let’s break this down:

First of all I believe that a serialised TV format for the story works much better, and FX is a great channel. The way the story is structured, and the way the characters evolve is much better fitting for a TV show. These are characters that are developed and grown in a way that will make you more and more interested as each episode goes by. FX have been doing great work recently with shows like Fargo and The Americans, so FX would be a great home. Many people who have worked with the network have talked about the creative freedom the network allows for, so at least Vaughan would have a lot more breathing room compared to his work on CBS.

Second of all it’s the perfect time for this show to come out. Comic book properties are everywhere. The highest rated cable show is a comic book property (The Walking Dead), network TV is full of comic book TV shows, and Hollywood movies are being overtaken by comic book properties. The general audience have never been more interested, so they might as well capitalise on that.

Then you have the fact that people want better representation of female characters in film and TV. Y: The Last Man is full of great female characters. For those who don’t know much about the property here’s a brief rundown:

The story takes place in a world where all the men on the planet have died, except one guy (Yorick Brown) and his male pet monkey (Ampersand). To help save humanity Agent 355 and Dr. Mann team-up with Yorick (who really isn’t the hero figure in the story, the women are), to find out how he survived and how to repopulate the Earth. The antagonists include Alter, commando of the Israeli Army, and a radical group of Amazons.

I won’t discuss it any further otherwise we’ll enter spoiler territory. But what’s great about the story is how socially and politically relevant it is, whilst providing us with lots of humour and such greatly developed and complex characters. Brian K. Vaughan has always been great at creating rich, lovable and relatable characters, characters that will surely seamlessly transition to live-action.

Basically if you like comic book properties and/or great female characters, then you will probably love the TV show. Within the sixty issues are a lot of different story arcs, so I’m sure a solid mini-series could be made out of the show. However the show should be more of a character focused piece. Let’s just say some people who read the comic weren’t pleased with the ending, and didn’t really understand what the comic was aiming for. At the end of the day what caused everything to happen isn’t as important as how society and the individual characters react to it.

Anyways if I hear that this TV show doesn’t get ordered to series, I’m probably going to have a little cry. I definitely think now is the perfect time for this show to happen, so please FX don’t mess it up!

Here’s what was written on the last page of the first issue of Y: The Last Man, read this and tell me that this story wouldn’t be an interesting concept:

In the summer of 2002, a plague of unknown origin destroyed every last sperm, fetus, and fully developed mammal with a Y chromosome-with the apparent exception of one young man and his pet, a male Capuchin monkey.

This “gendercide” instantaneously exterminated 48% of the global population, or approximately 2.9 billion men. 495 of the Fortune 500 CEOs are now dead, as are 99% of the world’s landowners.

In the United States alone, more than 95% of all commercial pilots, truck drivers, and ship captains died… as did 92% of violent felons. Internationally, 99% of all mechanics, electricians, and construction workers are now deceased… though 51% of the planet’s agricultural labor force is still alive.

14 nations, including Spain and Germany, have women soldiers who have served in ground combat units. None of the United States’ nearly 200,000 female troops have ever participated in ground combat. Australia, Norway and Sweden are the only countries that have women serving on board submarines.

In Israel, all women between the ages of 18 and 26 have performed compulsory military service in the Israeli Defense Force for at least one year and nine months. Before the Plague, at least three Palestinian suicide bombers had been women.

Worldwide, 85% of all government representatives are now dead… as are 100% of all Catholic priests, Muslim imams and Orthodox Jewish rabbis.