FX at TCA: More AHS, New Y, and No More LEGION

[featured image: Vertigo]

At the Television Critics Association winter press event, FX Networks CEO John Landgraf gave an update on the programming to be had in the next season. American Horror Story is still in, while Legion is on its way out. And there’s a new order for Y.

Although Landgraf wouldn’t reveal any details about the upcoming ninth season of AHS, he did confirm that the network is committed to continuing with the show, even though Ryan Murphy has just landed a development deal with Netflix. Landgraf said, “It’s up to how long he wants to keep going and how many years he has inspired ideas.”

Legion will have a third and final season, as Landgraf noted that series creator Noah Hawley had always envisioned the show as having a three-season arc. At the TCA panel, Marvel’s Jeph Loeb confirmed that Hawley had originally pitched the show with a definite ending, but Loeb also says that if Hawley had another idea for these characters, they’d be open to pursuing it. This show, according to Loeb, feels like a particular graphic novel that’s about to wrap up.

The network has also given a series order for Y, based on the 60-issue graphic novel Y, The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra. The story follows Yorick Brown and his Capuchin monkey, Ampersand, the last surviving males on Earth after every other mammal with a Y chromosome dies suddenly. The series won three Eisner Awards.

“Y: The Last Man is a towering achievement among graphic novel storytelling and it’s been rewarding to work with this outstanding team,” said Nick Grad, co-president of FX Networks and FX Productions. “Michael Green and Aïda Mashaka Croal have partnered with Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson to deliver a stunning new expression of this fascinating and timely story. Melina Matsoukas, who directed the pilot, did an incredible job bringing it to life with Diane Lane and this stellar cast.”

The series, simply titled Y, will star Barry Keoghan as Yorick, with Diane Lane on board as his mother, Representative Jennifer Brown, who assigns Agent 355 (Lashana Lynch) to protect Yorick. The show’s cast includes Imogen Poots (Hero Brown, Yorick’s sister), Juliana Canfield, Marin Ireland, and Amber Tamblyn as the President’s daughter.

This is not the first attempt to bring the story to filmed media. New Line Cinema had held the movie rights for a very long time, finally letting them lapse in 2014. They got as far as hiring director Dan Trachtenberg for the project, but it eventually