FX’s TV adaptation of Brian K. Vaughan’s Y: The Last Man took another step closer to a more extent form of not existing today, with Deadline reporting that Ben Schnetzer has stepped into the titular role of the planet’s last living male human. Schnetzer’s hiring comes after actor Barry Keoghan—long-rumored to be starring in the show—bailed on the project earlier this month, presumably after being warned off by a blind soothsayer while he was on his way to set.
The long and storied history of Y: The Last Man adaptations not being made has been well-documented at this point, from the earliest days of Hollywood interest in Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s tale of a global pandemic that kills off the planet’s men (except for one guy and his monkey), up through its various roadblocks, and the eventual decision to take it and its whole The Man Who Killed Don Quixote vibe to TV.
Schnetzer is a less instantly recognizable face than Keoghan—and not just because he spent his most recent high-profile movie, Duncan Jones’ Warcraft, in orc makeup. He’s probably most famous as the guy who wasn’t Nick Jonas in 2016 fraternity hazing drama Goat, although he’s also set to co-star in The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair, on Epix. He joins a cast of female performers who honestly deserve to be seen in something that’s actually going to get filmed, so hey, fingers-crossed; his co-stars on Y include Diane Lane, Imogen Poots, and Lashana Lynch.