Just a few days ago, word swarmed the internet that Shia LaBeouf had decided to step away from the long-rumored Y: The Last Man adaptation (Read: Shia LaBeouf Takes Himself Out Of The “˜Y: The Last Man’ Equation), where he was set to play the lead Yorick Brown behind director D.J. Caruso. LaBeouf had apparently come to the conclusion that the character of Yorick was far too similar to his Transformers character, Sam Witwicky, and that wasn’t a good thing for him.

Many loved this news because, well, Yorick Brown is a hell of a lot more complicated than Sam Witwicky, for one; but if LaBeouf did play the part in Y, he would definitely seem like Sam Witwicky just by default, and this was bad. Unfortunately for those who had become elated with this recent development, it has now quickly been clarified.

Shia LaBeouf sat down with Frosty from Collider and let it all pour out. He explained that Y: The Last Man is his absolute favorite comic book, and it’s D.J. Caruso’s favorite as well, so they still really want to do it. He also clarified that right now, right this moment, the script is nowhere near ready. But because of the similarity of Witwicky and Yorick Brown, he wants to do something else now, but doesn’t want to completely walk away from Y: The Last Man either. This means that LaBeouf is looking to do a couple of other projects over the next few years first, and then, when things are more prepared, he would be willing to look at this project again.

Here’s what Shia had to say when asked about the possibility of doing Y in a few years when the script is complete.

As much as I was happy to think that this particular project could be moving for hands, I’m actually not angry hearing this. As said in the original article about Shia’s departure, I definitely think he could be a good Yorick — I just wish it wasn’t someone as well-known as he has become. Again, my main concern was the fear of the source material becoming watered-down cinematic slop, made strictly to make money off the popular comic book title.

If there is anything hopeful to latch on to, it’s both the passion of LaBeouf and Caruso, as well as the genius Y: The Last Man creator Brian K. Vaughan‘s apparent full blessing. While we may be severely skeptical of the names currently involved, their admittance of Y being their favorite comic is a good thing; we want people who love and respect this material. Secondly, if Vaughan is as into these cats making a movie based on his books as Shia says he is, then that is indeed enough for me to approach cautiously at least. I can’t even begin to imagine that he would let any single person create something that wasn’t of absolute faithfulness.

With all of this, we again move forward with no real idea of what is going on, and the likelihood of another two to three years of waiting.