‘Y: The Last Man’ Cancelled by FX-Hulu

Today in ‘this news is garbage’, FX has decided to cancel Y: The Last Man– but the team behind the show hasn’t given up hope just yet.

In an unpleasantly surprising move, FX has chosen not to order a second season of Y: The Last Man. After an awkward streaming-exclusive partnership between the cable TV network and Hulu, the show has 2 episodes left before the wrap-up of its first season.

Courtesy of giphy

The show is based on the fan-favorite comic book of the same name. Originally published in the early 2000s, the writing and directing team took great care to usher the story into the modern era. Using the near-extinction of the Y-chromosome to stage thoughtful commentary about gender, sex, and society, the show is a shining example of how fictional content can evolve with social views.

Show-runner Eliza Clark released the following statement on Twitter. While she acknowledged the loss, she also reminded fans that they’re not the only people who want the show to live on.

Spawning the hashtag #YLivesOn, the show’s team has made it clear that they intend to do whatever it takes to find another home for Y‘s second season. And after an intensely long wait for the show to go into production, the swift cancellation feels like another hurdle, but not necessarily a roadblock. Still, a very annoying hurdle; especially considering how well the show has built on its story with each passing episode. And for comic book fans, we know there’s still a whole lot of story goodness to come.

Time to light a candle and tweet at your favorite streaming service.

From its first production announcement, the promotion for the show has been a little sub-par. Even for religious viewers, the show doesn’t appear on the Hulu homepage watchlist. Some have suggested that the show’s lack of buzz is because audiences are tired of dystopian future stories (possibly because we’ve been living in one for the last two years). That may be the case, but the story and characters find creative ways to keep the viewing experience enjoyable– The Last Man certainly isn’t the kind of emotional torture-porn we see in The Handmaid’s Tale or The Walking Dead.

For queer fans, this feels like a blow reminiscent of the Sense8 cancellation. Finally, another sci-fi geeky show that thoughtfully writes about gender and queerness within a larger narrative! Oh, you enjoyed that? Well too bad, it’s gone now.

Courtesy of giphy

Other cast and crew members have spoken up about their experiences working on the show and a deep desire to keep pursuing the project. While the news of the cancellation feels like a major blow to audiences, the determination of the cast and crew to keep making The Last Man is encouraging.

Based on the first season so far, the season finale episode promises to be a real cliffhanger– and it deserves to be. It’s always heartbreaking when a genuinely good show suffers a cancellation. Hopefully Y: The Last Man won’t be on the top of a heap of great boundary-pushing series that should have been.

If you want to catch up on or catch the upcoming finale of ‘Y: The Last Man’, stream the first season on Hulu.

Author: Danni Danger

Danni is a staff writer and editor whose expertise lies in comic books, superhero movies, science fiction/fantasy, horror, and cheesy dad jokes. They spent 8 glorious years working at Austin Books & Comics, and created content for almost 15 years. They've written for the Daily Dot and made YouTube content with the Weirdlings. Danni currently does all the things for BoLS, Screen Fanatic, and TheStreet.