Y: The Last Man Showrunner Weighs in on the Origins of the Plague in the TV Adaptation

In the case of some stories about the apocalypse, a driving component of the narrative is to find the explanation for why such an event occurred, while other storylines know that the igniting incident isn’t what’s fascinating, as the ways in which characters cope with the situation is what makes a story compelling. For Y: The Last Man showrunner Eliza Clark, she feels that her series falls more into the latter category, mirroring how the gendered plague in the original comic book is never fully addressed. Y: The Last Man premieres on FX on Hulu on Monday, September 13th.

“I think what’s so great about the book is that it’s not the mystery of what happened. It’s how people in how people create belief systems around what they think happened,” Clark explained to ComicBook.com. “So I’m very interested in explanations for what happened, but I’m not that interested really in what the answer is, because, ultimately, the answer is science fiction. I think that this show and the book are about what happens to people when something like this happens. What do they believe and how does their belief inform the way they create a community? The way they think about themselves, the way they think about the world, and the way they behave? And I think the same is true for the series.”

In both the book and TV series, a mysterious plague sweeps across the entire planet within an instant, killing off all mammals with a Y chromosome, with Yorick Brown and the capuchin monkey he is training as a helper animal seemingly being the only exceptions. The creators of the comic, Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra, have confirmed that the “answer” for the plague is contained within the 60-issue series, even if the explanation is never explicit.

One of the prevailing theories is that, when a scientist uncovered the secret of cloning, men were rendered useless and, whether it was an act of nature or an act of “God,” the planet corrected the issue by killing off the men. 

As proven by 11 seasons of The Walking Dead, it’s clear that even a popular TV series never has to detail the cause of an apocalypse to still entertain the masses. Unlike AMC’s zombie series, however, Clark doesn’t see her adaptation running quite as long. 

Clark confirmed, “In terms of how long [it could run], I mean listen, it’s the most fun the fun I’ve ever had. I love this world, I don’t want it to end. I feel like, generally speaking, television shows are best around five or six seasons, and I’ll leave it at that.”

Y: The Last Man premieres on FX on Hulu on Monday, September 13th.

Are you looking forward to the new series? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!