7. Y: The Last Man
Another Vertigo series here, this time written by Brian K. Vaughan and drawn by Pia Guerra. Y follows the life of Yorick Brown, a seemingly average guy who suddenly takes on unexpected significance when everything else on the planet with a Y Chromosome is wiped out by something, all except Yorick and his pet monkey Ampersand. After travelling to Washington to meet us Congresswoman mother, Yorick meets the new President who assigns Agent 355 to keep him safe and transport him to the lab of a renowned geneticist Dr Mann. The hope being that Mann can tinker with Yoricks DNA and try to somehow repopulate the world. When the lab is deliberately sabotaged however, the trio of Yorick, Agent 255 and Dr Mann must make their way across the dystopian wasteland of America to a back up lab in California. They face a fight to keep Yorick alive and must try and figure out what caused the devastating plague and how they can start to rebuild mankind. The Y the Last Man series is divided into various distinct adventures but also continues a wider over-arching story. As with any comic-series adaptation, there is an inherent problem for any prospective filmmaker in that, should they wish to wrap up the story all in one movie, there is going to be a lot of material to condense. Y the Last Man would definitely benefit from being spread out over several movies as it would allow Vaughans wonderfully crafted characters to all have time to fully develop.
How Close Is It To Being Made?- A movie adaptation would appear to be in the pipeline at New Line Cinema who have had the rights to the comics since around 2007, but definitely dont hold your breath just yet. Originally, Disturbia director Danial Caruso was attached to direct, but after various re-writes and debates with the studio over whether it could be a stand alone movie, Caurso parted ways and is now signed on to remake another Vertigo comics series Preacher. In March of this year however, Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia were recruited to begin penning New Lines take on the Y story, but with no director or star attached and no word yet on whether the movie would be a stand alone or the first of a series, its clearly quite some way off yet. Still, its in progress, thats for sure.
Casting: Gosling would be ideal for the role of Yorick if the film was made about 5 years ago, but the man is just too darn manly now. You cant imagine him feeling intimidated or flustered by a world fall of women somehow. Id for some someone a little younger and a little more naïve in the ways of the world and Emile Hirsch would be perfect for this. Good looking without being too good looking, charming and funny without being cocky, hes ideal for an everyman like Yorick. Gina Carano would be perfect as ass-kicker extraordinaire Agent 355 after her no-nonsense role in Haywire this year. Zhang Ziyi ideal as tough cookie geneticist Doctor Mann (who we know is of mixed Japanese/Chinese heritage), and Kristen Bell can definitely play the role of a girlfriend worth hunting for in Beth.
Suggested by Robert Keeling