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Brian K. Vaughan Leaves Lost

Posted on Monday, July 6th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta

Brian K Vaughan

Comic book scribe turned screenwriter Brian K. Vaughan has certainly made his mark on the hit show Lost. But everything good must eventually come to an end. Lost producer Damon Lindelof has confirmed on the DocArzt & Friends Lost Podcast that Vaughan will not be returning for the sixth and final season of the series, and “has left for greener pastures.”

Vaughan has been with the show since mid-way through Season 3. His presence could be felt though the pop culture-infused dialogue (who would win in a race, superman or the flash? Hurley writing Empire Strikes Back. Hurley reading a foreign issue of Brian’s Y: The Last Man at the airport) and some of the series’ epic plot twists and cliffhangers. And while he wasn’t credited with a writing credit on my favorite episode of the series, and possibly of television ever, The Constant, his fingerprints can be felt all over it. Over the last two and a half years, Vaughan has produced 16 episodes, co-produced 13 more, written 7 teleplays and was credited as Executive Story Editor on another 10. For me the departure of Vaughan is huge, and it will be interesting to see how the final season progresses without him.

We’re not exactly sure where the “greener pastures” may be, but I’m assuming he’s gearing up to go full time writing some Hollywood films. His twist on the King Arthur legend Roundtable is setup at Dreamworks, Marvel is developing his comic Runwaways, Y: The Last Man is still in development but stalling over at New Line/Warner Bros, so maybe he’s going to ry to give that a kick start with a completely new draft. And his comic Ex Machina is in development over at BenderSpink. But my feeling is that Vaughan probably has some more original ideas he wants to get out, and maybe even move into producing some big screen productions.

This is all just my own speculation. Who knows, he could have a new comic book project in the works. Whatever it is, one would assume that it has to be big, or at least big enough to warrant leaving Lost in its final hours.

via: Splash

Comments

erichan22

BKV has said numerous times that his influence on the trajectory of the show is very minimal. This sentiment has gone along with most people who have worked and left the show i.e. Jeff Pinker, David Fury, Drew Goddard, etc. (all who left the show for 'greener pasteurs' as well. This means that most, if not all, of the major plot points have been worked out, leaving very little room for BKV to add anything substantial to the overall plot. However, what BKV did contribute (and why he was so valuable) was the way he plotted the narrative. The way he writes is very much to his style (i.e. the pacing is usually quite fast; leaving the audience in a sense of urgency). His first few episodes (Catch 22, Confirmed Dead and The Shape of Things to Come) are all wonderful representations of how much he has grown into a visual storyteller; it's almost as if he implictly controls the director by the way he writes a scene. That being said, BKV's unique style somewhat conformed to what the narrative had to reveal. If you watch his recent episodes, it morphed into the general tone that all Lost episodes have come to adopt (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). The direction of Lost, like all other great shows, is purely dictated by its showrunners (Darlton). Deadwood had David Milch, The Wire had Ed Burns and David Simon, Six Feet Under had Alan Ball, Sopranos had David Chase and so on. These are the people who come up with the concept and then hire very smart people to help them shape it out.

bigmansmallmouth

No! No! FUCK! Godddamnit. This is some of the most heartbreaking news all day. 1) I started watching Lost because I knew he was involved 2) His episodes' scripts are so amazing 3)....(more cursing frustration).

Well we can at least hope that his adaptations come up sometime in the near NEAR future.

Merciful_budah

Wasn't his Runaways comic optioned at one point too? That's a marvel story that's just begging for a big screen adaptation. Probably hit production hell when they started working on the Joan Jett Runaways movie with Kirsten Stewert and Dakota Fanning (nope not joking... wish I was... REALLY wish I was...)

GORT

By the way this is slightly offtopic but since Peter and a couple of commentors mentioned The Constant being the best episode of the series I will say that anyone who says 'The Constant' is the best episode of the show is not a true fan of Lost. They don't get the show. Constant was an entertaining episode... even a good episode but it is noway near the best. Heck, it is not even in the top 10 or even the top 15. Episodes like Through the looking Glass, The Man behind the curtain, Walkabout, Deux Ex Machina, This place is death, There is no place like home and The Incident are what Lost is. To call The Constant the best episode of the series is an insult to the show.

quatrecents

Damn thee almighty true fan, putting us mere mortals in our place.

nate

I feel like LOST has nothing but good writers on staff. The show will be fine for its last season. Hopefully...

fex

You really can't find a greener pasture than " Lost".

Elissa_Mac

Took the words right out of my mouth!

James Van Fleet

From what I understand, the writers have had the last run of episodes figured out for quite a while. So this shouldn't be a big deal. Cool on Vaughan for working on the show during some of its best times.

Why So Serial?

Yeah I would think this would be obvious to almost anyone. The show has had an ending since it was pitched, Vaughn helped get it to that point. Its sad to see him go but the people reading too much into this are laughable. Chill the fuck out.

Delta Assault

We need more Brian K. Vaughns writing in Hollywood and far fewer Orci/Kurtzmans.

Jon Lavallee

That sucks! I love all of his comics, and Lost is my favorite show. Hopefully he left a big enough footprint that will trickle into the final season. I'm sure he's one of the few that know the overall outcome and has put his ideas in before moving on. One can only hope!

nelson

make an ex machina movie with Jason Bateman as the lead

Chris

I really don't think his departure will ahve a massive effect on the show.

The next season is pretty locked down and has been well mapped out for the last couple of years. He will have had an input in those creative meetings and the overall 'reveal season' will have bits of him in there.

Can't wait till the next season hits -- and what that final image is???

x

almostinfocus

Seems strange that he's leaving before the last season. I guess those greener pastures couldn't wait a few more months and need all of his attention. Good luck to him.

jason B

oh shit...this is worrysome.

and yes, the constant, is one of the best episodes of any show ever on TV. its one of those things that i remember exactly where i was and how i felt when i first saw it.

DRF

Better than Jose Chung's From Outer Space? Somehow, I don't think that's possible.

GORT

I don't his contribution was that big to begin with. Here's the list of episodes written by him from lostpedia
* "Catch-22" (with Jeff Pinkner) ----------- Mediocre to subpar episode
* "Confirmed Dead" (with Drew Goddard)------ Above average episode
* "Meet Kevin Johnson" (with Elizabeth Sarnoff)------ Mediocre episode
* "The Shape of Things to Come" (with Drew Goddard)---- Excellent episode
* "The Little Prince" (with Melinda Hsu Taylor) --- Mediocre episode
* "Namaste" (with Paul Zbyszewski)------ Terrible episode, robably the worst episode of season 5
* "Dead Is Dead" (with Elizabeth Sarnoff) ---- Excellent episode

TSoTC and Dead is Dead are the only episodes written by him that truly stand out.

Pop culture references were a part of the show well before he joined it. The Star Wars script episode was not his idea, it was Damon Lindelof's.

shane

Credits to writing an episode is based on the MAJORITY written by whom. Vaughan was part of the writing process for more than just those episodes, and as a story editor and producer he had a hand in everything with the show.

Chris

the credits awared by the WGA for television are pretty crap. They do not represent who actually wrote the episode, rather just who wrote MOST of the episode.

One writer could write the most amazing, culture jammed teaser and get nothing....

He will not be missed on the show. The show is locked and loaded. the story is mapped out. the scripts are currently being written... or at least about to begin and shooting is happening very soon.

He has had an input in the final year. I highly doubt he hasn't.

out.

x

Dave

Jumping ship before it goes down the shitter. Good call.

DRF

If it was ever out of the shitter. Regardless, I agree.

Corey J

Hey you guys sound like you're whiny b*tches.

tHE

What, because some people have perfectly viable opinions that Lost is going to end HORRIBLY and have all the twists that each and every single episode ended with turn out to just be overdramatified garbage to get the viewer audience to return even though the "Lost Bible" truely had no ending and all were going to be left with is this Jacob guy and a bunch of stupid ret-conning/God exists bullshit.

And yes, that was reference to the BSG finale.

NEONBEAR

hey, you guys sound like you like lost.

NEONBEAR

Yea really. Why not stick around for the final stretch? Must of been bad blood or something. Anyways, I hope the last season doesn't suffer from this.

Chad

Who leaves LOST in its final season?

Colonel_Kurtz

Opportunity doesn't wait for your schedule to clear.

Ben

Wow, I loved the episodes he worked on too. He will be missed.

speedracer

noooooo. i hope he's not leaving because of disagreements of how the show should end. the show's legacy relies entirely on this final chapter.

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