Elijah Wood has tossed his name into the ring in hopes that it could land him a starring role in the upcoming TV adaptation of Y: The Last Man. Various attempts have been made over the years to bring the renowned Vertigo comic series to the screen, with the project being in some stage of development for nearly a decade now. Rumors of a film adaptation from New Line Cinema date back to 2009, when director DJ Caruso and Shia LaBeouf were reportedly attached to the project. The screen rights reverted back to series creators Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra in 2014 after New Line failed to get cameras rolling in time, and a reimagined TV adaptation entered development over on FX the following year. Nearly two years after that, Vaughan confirmed in an interview with CBR that the pilot episode was already written, and that fans should be expecting “some very cool news” in the near future.
While we haven’t heard much about the project in the months since, interest in the potential TV show certainly hasn’t died down, and when Screen Rant sat down with Dirk Gently star Elijah Wood at New York Comic Con, he confirmed as much. When asked what his dream comic book/superhero role would be, he didn’t hesitate:
Y: The Last Man. When is that going to get made? It’s such a great comic series. Amazing.
With the three time Eisner Award winning comic series soon set to break out of development hell (we hope), the time to cast the role of Yorick Brown could be right around the corner. Believed to be the last living man on Earth following a mysterious mass extinction event, Yorick and his pet Capuchin monkey Ampersand traverse the globe in search of answers, hoping to bring humanity back from the brink. It’s a tale many believed to be better fit for television than film, and with American Gods showrunner Michael Green set to lead the way for the FX series, it’s definitely an exciting time to be a Y: The Last Man fanatic.
Wood, meanwhile, has come a long way since his days traversing Middle-earth and simply walking into Mordor in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. From his unexpectedly disturbing performance in the 2012 horror flick Maniac to his fine work co-leading the hit BBC America series Dirk Gently, the man formerly known as Frodo Baggins has certainly evolved as an actor, and he may just be a perfect fit to play Yorick. He even has an established working relationship with FX, having starred in the network’s dark comedy series Wilfred for four seasons.
When the comic version of Y: The Last Man kicks off, Yorick is actually 22 years old, so the 36 year old Wood may be considered a bit old for the role by some. But honestly, if anyone in Hollywood can convincingly play a character 10 years their junior, it’s Elijah Wood.
Is the ring-bearer a good fit to portray humanity’s last hope in your eyes? Sound off in the comments.
