The Watchmen remains one of the most popular graphic novels of all time, and it was adapted as a feature-length film in 2009. Where The Watchmen movie received mixed reviews by both critics and audiences alike, the graphic novel is considered sacred by fans. Talks of a Watchmen HBO series have been circulating for quite some time, but the show has officially been ordered, as Variety reported. Zack Snyder directed the feature-length film, and it was rumored that he would head the HBO series, but Variety reported that writer-producer Damon Lindelof ( Lost , World War Z ) will head the new show.
The Watchmen series is based on the DC graphic novel from writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, and it is scheduled to debut in 2019. Lindelof will act as the writer and executive producer of the new HBO series, and Nicole Kassell ( Castle Rock, WestWorld ) will direct the pilot. The Watchmen HBO series features a stunning cast: Regina King, Jeremy Irons, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett, Jr., Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Adelaide Clemens, Tom Mison, Andrew Howard, Sara Vickers, Frances Fisher, Jacob Ming-Trent, Dylan Schombing, Lily Rose Smith, and Adelynn Spoon.
As Variety documented, HBO describes The Watchmen series as a show that embraces the nostalgia of the graphic novel, but it will attempt to break new ground of its own. As Damon Lindelof relayed in an in-depth letter to fans, the HBO series will not be a re-telling of the graphic novel’s story. Where the graphic novel and the movie were set in 1985, the new story takes place in the same world with new characters set in present day.
Who’s excited to see this new iteration of The Watchmen on HBO? ? pic.twitter.com/XvV8dBmTYb
— IGN (@IGN) August 17, 2018
In May, Lindelof wrote a lengthy letter to explain his concept for a Watchmen series, and to put avid fans’ minds at ease. In the letter, the filmmaker said that he does not want to touch the sacred ground of the graphic novel’s story, as Variety reported.
“We have no desire to ‘adapt’ the twelve issues Mr. Moore and Mr. Gibbons created thirty years ago. Those issues are sacred ground and will not be retread nor recreated nor reproduced nor rebooted.”
Lindelof went on to describe what fans can expect from The Watchmen HBO series.
“They will however be remixed because the bass lines in those familiar tracks are just too good and we’d be fools not to sample them. Those original twelve issues are our Old Testament. When the New Testament came along it did not erase what came before it. Creation. The Garden of Eden. Abraham and Isaac. The Flood. It all happened. And so it will be with ‘Watchmen.’ The Comedian died. Dan and Laurie fell in love. Ozymandias saved the world and Dr. Manhattan left it just after blowing Rorschach to pieces in the bitter cold of Antarctica.”
HBO has ordered The Watchmen to series. What are your hopes for the show? pic.twitter.com/oa11DUIlOa
— Last Exit To Nowhere (@LASTEXITshirts) August 18, 2018
Damon added that there will be new faces and new masks to cover them up. He also intends to revisit the past century through a familiar set of eyes, and many fans are assuming that the familiar set of eyes will be that of the seemingly all-powerful Dr. Manhattan. Damon Lindelof also confirmed that The Watchmen HBO series will be canon.
