A disease that only affects a certain demographic is a classic post-apocalyptic scenario. Y: The Last Man, The Handmaid’s Tale, and the 2019 movie Only take this further by telling stories where only one gender is affected, creating a grim and often feminist dystopian story. But one 2022 story takes this concept even further to a bold and transgressive end: Manhunt, Gretchen Felker-Martin’s novel about an apocalyptic plague that turns everyone with abnormal levels of testosterone into feral, cannibalistic quasi-zombies. It’s, frankly, a wild premise that one can’t imagine getting turned into a TV or movie. But Manhunt is getting a series adaptation from what might be the most ideal director to bring it to life.
In a conversation with Autostraddle, Lilly Wachowski — one half of the duo who directed The Matrix — confirmed she was involved with the adaptations of a number of trans books, including historical reimagining Confessions of the Fox and a TV adaptation of post-apocalyptic horror novel Manhunt.
Manhunt author Gretchen Felker-Martin tweeted about the announcement, saying “We’re going to do our damnedest to bring this thing kicking, screaming, and queer as hell onto the screen.”
Manhunt follows two trans women in a post-apocalyptic world where a zombie plague has devastated people with high levels of testosterone. That means trans women, a portion of non-binary people, and cisgender women with hormonal abnormalities like PCOS must resort to drastic measures to synthesize their own estrogen, all while hunting down the feral men to harvest their reproductive organs. Meanwhile, a band of TERFs, trans-exclusionary radical feminists, chase down all trans women in this wasteland, spewing transphobic rhetoric and praise for J.K. Rowling.
It’s a very escalated satire on what it means to be a trans person today: having to jump through hoops to obtain basic healthcare, never feeling safe, and feeling like you have to prove your place. It also touches on aspects of gender identity that often go ignored, like how women who don’t appear as feminine as others would prefer could also suffer from the effects of transphobia.
Lilly Wachowski is the perfect choice for an adaptation like this. Many have noticed the major trans undertones in The Matrix, even though it was made before Lilly and her sister Lana transitioned. That subtext was brought into text with Sense8, which included trans representation at a time when it was relatively uncommon.
Now, with Manhunt, the trans themes have gone from a subtle parable to visible representation to the entire focus — putting trans stories right in the spotlight. That isn’t to say Manhunt is in any way realistic, as it is one of the most disturbing and vivid horror novels on bookshelves today, but it’s all a statement on what the reality is.
But this story proves that a plague that writes off half the population doesn’t have to be gender essentialist. In fact, those who exist outside the cisgender normative you often see in stories like these have a far more interesting fight for survival, and eventually, we’ll get to see them on our TV screens.
