{"id":4386,"date":"2021-09-15T10:00:46","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T08:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1347226"},"modified":"2021-09-15T10:32:09","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T08:32:09","slug":"y-the-last-man-isnt-the-show-you-think-it-is","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/y-the-last-man-isnt-the-show-you-think-it-is\/","title":{"rendered":"Y: The Last Man isn\u2019t the show you think it is"},"content":{"rendered":"

Disney\u2019s new graphic novel adaptation is better for its bleakness. <\/p>

By Huw Fullerton\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 15 September 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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As long-gestating adaptations go, you don\u2019t get much more drawn out than the development process for Y: The Last Man<\/a>. Brian K Vaughn\u2019s acclaimed comic book series was first released almost 20 years ago, and a live-action version has been attempted more than once with various actors and creative teams coming and going.<\/p>\n

Now, at last, Y: The Last Man is here. Well, more or less \u2013 it started airing on FX in the US a few days ago, and UK fans can watch on Disney Plus<\/a> from the 22nd. But what\u2019s even more striking than that slightly unusual streaming release delay (what is this, 2017?) is that Y: The Last Man is not quite the show you might be expecting.<\/p>

\u201cBut wait a minute,\u201d I metaphorically hear you cry, \u201cHow do you even know what I\u2019m expecting?\u201d And that\u2019s fair enough \u2013 though I did only say might<\/em>. Perhaps a better way to put it is that the series is brought to life differently than I expected, forgoing the quippy global sci-fi thriller model in favour of something bleaker, more apocalyptic and more political.<\/p>\n

I thought it was terrific \u2013 but again, it was different.<\/p>\n

For those at the back who\u2019ve not heard of the show before, this is probably the natural moment to give a little background to what the series (and the original comic) is about. Put simply, it imagines a world where a mystery phenomenon kills every mammal on Earth with a Y chromosome<\/a> \u2013 except for a slacker escapologist named Yorick (Ben Schnetzer) and his pet monkey, Ampersand.<\/p>\n\n

As the world falls into chaos (especially thanks to industries previously dominated by cisgender men, including nuclear power), Yorick is taken on a journey by the enigmatic Agent 355 (Ashley Romans) to find a scientist who might be able to work out why he survived \u2013 and whether that survival could be key to saving the human race.<\/p>\n

Based on that pre\u00e7is, it might be surprising that I was<\/em> surprised it was a bleak story. But the original comic has a very particular focus, following Yorick and Agent 355 on their journey for the most part and finding a lot of humour (especially from Yorick himself) that offsets the trouble they\u2019re in.<\/p>\n

The TV show, meanwhile, takes things in a slightly different direction. The live-action Y: The Last Man is explicitly an ensemble piece that follows a wealth of different characters including the new President (Diane Lane, also Yorick\u2019s mother), a Conservative commentator whose identity as a wife and mother are stripped away, an offbeat scientist, an increasingly desperate ex-Presidential aide, Yorick\u2019s sister Hero and her best friend Sam, a trans man struggling with his identity in this new world and more.<\/p>\n