WATCHMEN TV Drama Gets Series Order from HBO

Who watches the Watchmen?  HBO says you will.

Deadline has word that HBO has given a series order to Watchmen, showrunner Damon Lindelof's drama series based on the classic DC Comics maxi-series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

According to the article, Watchmen is "set in an alternate history where “superheroes” are treated as outlaws", and "embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel while attempting to break new ground of its own."  In a letter to fans, Lindelof revealed the series isn't an adaptation of the comic series, but an original story set in its fictional world.

The cast will include Regina King, Jeremy Irons, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Adelaide Clemens, Andrew Howard, Tom Mison, Frances Fisher, Jacob Ming-Trent, Sara Vickers, Dylan Schombing, Lily Rose Smith and Adelynn Spoon.  It's not yet known which characters they will be playing.

Lindelof will serve as executive producer with Nicole Kassell, who directed the pilot episode, and Tom Spezialy.  Stephen Williams will serve as director and executive producer.  Watchmen is produced for HBO by White Rabbit in association with Warner Bros Television.

HBO also released the below teaser graphic for the series, using a quote from the comic series where Doctor Manhattan tells Ozymandias, "In the end?  Nothing ends, Adrian.  Nothing ever ends."

Created in 1986 by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, Watchmen was a 12-issue maxi-series set in an alternate reality that closely mirrors the contemporary world of the 1980s, but with the presence of superheroes that has altered the outcome of real-world events.  In keeping with the realism of the series, the costumed crimefighters of Watchmen are commonly called "superheroes", but only one, Doctor Manhattan, possesses superhuman powers. The war in Vietnam ends with a U.S. victory in 1971 and Richard Nixon is still president as of October 1985.  When the story begins, the existence of Doctor Manhattan has given the U.S. a strategic advantage over the Soviet Union, which has increased tensions between the two nations. Eventually, superheroes grow unpopular among the police and the public, leading to the passage of legislation, the Keene Act, in 1977 to outlaw them.  While many of the heroes retired, Doctor Manhattan and a veteran superhero known as The Comedian operate as government-sanctioned agents.  Another, Rorschach, continues to operate outside the law as a vigilante.

In October 1985, New York City police investigate the murder of a man named Edward Blake.  With the police having no leads, Rorschach decides to probe further.  Discovering Blake to be the face behind The Comedian, Rorschach believes he has discovered a plot to terminate costumed adventurers and sets about warning four of his retired comrades -- Dan Dreiberg (formerly the second Nite Owl), the emotionally detached Doctor Manhattan and his lover Laurie Juspeczyk (the second Silk Spectre), and Adrian Veidt (once the hero Ozymandias), a successful businessman.

After Blake's funeral, Manhattan is accused on national television of being the cause of cancer in friends and former colleagues.  When the U.S. government takes the accusations seriously, Manhattan exiles himself to Mars.  As Manhattan is one of the United States' greatest military powers, his departure throws humanity into political turmoil, with the Soviet Union invading Afghanistan to capitalize on the perceived American weakness. Rorschach's concerns appear vindicated when Adrian Veidt narrowly survives an assassination attempt, and Rorschach himself is framed for murdering Moloch, a former supervillain, and imprisoned.  Nite Owl and Rorschach work to uncover the conspiracy surrounding the death of The Comedian and the accusations that drove Manhattan into exile.

Watchmen is expected to debut on HBO sometime in 2019.

HBO Orders Pilot & Backup Scripts for WATCHMEN

We're one step closer to watching the Watchmen.

Deadline has confirmed that HBO has given a formal pilot green light to the proposed Watchmen television series and has also ordered backup scripts.

Showrunner Damon Lindelof teased the news two days ago with the following Instagram post captioned "Day One".  The post featured a real-life replica of the statue that Hollis Mason, the original Nite Owl, was killed with by the Knot-Tops street gang.  The statue of himself as Nite Owl was given to Mason as an acknowledgment and reward for his service as a costumed adventurer.

Created in 1986 by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, Watchmen was a 12-issue maxi-series set in an alternate reality that closely mirrors the contemporary world of the 1980s, but with the presence of superheroes that has altered the outcome of real-world events.  In keeping with the realism of the series, the costumed crimefighters of Watchmen are commonly called "superheroes", but only one, Doctor Manhattan, possesses superhuman powers. The war in Vietnam ends with a U.S. victory in 1971 and Richard Nixon is still president as of October 1985.  When the story begins, the existence of Doctor Manhattan has given the U.S. a strategic advantage over the Soviet Union, which has increased tensions between the two nations. Eventually, superheroes grow unpopular among the police and the public, leading to the passage of legislation, the Keene Act, in 1977 to outlaw them.  While many of the heroes retired, Doctor Manhattan and a veteran superhero known as The Comedian operate as government-sanctioned agents.  Another, Rorschach, continues to operate outside the law as a vigilante.

In October 1985, New York City police investigate the murder of a man named Edward Blake.  With the police having no leads, Rorschach decides to probe further.  Discovering Blake to be the face behind The Comedian, Rorschach believes he has discovered a plot to terminate costumed adventurers and sets about warning four of his retired comrades -- Dan Dreiberg (formerly the second Nite Owl), the emotionally detached Doctor Manhattan and his lover Laurie Juspeczyk (the second Silk Spectre), and Adrian Veidt (once the hero Ozymandias), a successful businessman.

After Blake's funeral, Manhattan is accused on national television of being the cause of cancer in friends and former colleagues.  When the U.S. government takes the accusations seriously, Manhattan exiles himself to Mars.  As Manhattan is one of the United States' greatest military powers, his departure throws humanity into political turmoil, with the Soviet Union invading Afghanistan to capitalize on the perceived American weakness. Rorschach's concerns appear vindicated when Adrian Veidt narrowly survives an assassination attempt, and Rorschach himself is framed for murdering Moloch, a former supervillain, and imprisoned.  Nite Owl and Rorschach work to uncover the conspiracy surrounding the death of The Comedian and the accusations that drove Manhattan into exile.

WATCHMEN TV Series in Development at HBO

"Nothing ends, Adrian.  Nothing ever ends."
-- Doctor Manhattan to Ozymandias, Watchmen

The Hollywood Reporter stated yesterday that HBO is developing an adaptation of the critically-acclaimed DC Comics maxi-series Watchmen, with Damon Lindelof in talks to oversee the project as showrunner.

Lindelof, 44, is best known as the co-creator and showrunner of the ABC series Lost and as the co-creator of the HBO series The Leftovers.  He also served as writer and producer of the movies Star Trek Into Darkness, Prometheus, Tomorrowland, and Cowboys & Aliens.

According to the article, Lindelof originally read the comics as a kid in the 1980s and the series continues to influence his work.  "From the flashbacks to the nonlinear storytelling to the deeply flawed heroes, these are all elements that I try to put into everything I write," he told Comic Book Resources in 2009 ahead of the Watchmen film by director Zack Snyder. The article also claims that Lindelof has read Watchmen multiple times and praised Snyder's film.  "It's the most married-to-the-original-text version of Watchmen that could've been made," he told the Observer at the time.  "It's OK with me if people don't understand it because they don't deserve to understand it."

Snyder is no longer attached to the drama project from Warner Bros. Television, which was first rumored to be in preliminary discussions with HBO back in 2015.

Created in 1986 by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, Watchmen was a 12-issue maxi-series set in an alternate reality that closely mirrors the contemporary world of the 1980s, but with the presence of superheroes that has altered the outcome of real-world events.  In keeping with the realism of the series, the costumed crimefighters of Watchmen are commonly called "superheroes", but only one, Doctor Manhattan, possesses superhuman powers. The war in Vietnam ends with a U.S. victory in 1971 and Richard Nixon is still president as of October 1985.  When the story begins, the existence of Doctor Manhattan has given the U.S. a strategic advantage over the Soviet Union, which has increased tensions between the two nations. Eventually, superheroes grow unpopular among the police and the public, leading to the passage of legislation, the Keene Act, in 1977 to outlaw them.  While many of the heroes retired, Doctor Manhattan and a veteran superhero known as The Comedian operate as government-sanctioned agents.  Another, Rorschach, continues to operate outside the law as a vigilante.

In October 1985, New York City police investigate the murder of a man named Edward Blake.  With the police having no leads, Rorschach decides to probe further.  Discovering Blake to be the face behind The Comedian, Rorschach believes he has discovered a plot to terminate costumed adventurers and sets about warning four of his retired comrades -- Dan Dreiberg (formerly the second Nite Owl), the emotionally detached Doctor Manhattan and his lover Laurie Juspeczyk (the second Silk Spectre), and Adrian Veidt (once the hero Ozymandias), a successful businessman.

After Blake's funeral, Manhattan is accused on national television of being the cause of cancer in friends and former colleagues.  When the U.S. government takes the accusations seriously, Manhattan exiles himself to Mars.  As Manhattan is one of the United States' greatest military powers, his departure throws humanity into political turmoil, with the Soviet Union invading Afghanistan to capitalize on the perceived American weakness. Rorschach's concerns appear vindicated when Adrian Veidt narrowly survives an assassination attempt, and Rorschach himself is framed for murdering Moloch, a former supervillain, and imprisoned.  Nite Owl and Rorschach work to uncover the conspiracy surrounding the death of The Comedian and the accusations that drove Manhattan into exile.

DAMN Good Comics -- BEFORE WATCHMEN: MINUTEMEN #1

After twenty-five long and controversial years, we have brand-new comic stories set in the Watchmen universe created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons and yes, this first one is definitely worth your valuable time and money.

The past few months have seen comics fans pretty evenly divided over DC Comics' decision to finally give up on getting writer Alan Moore's official okey-dokey to publish several Watchmen mini-series prequels.  Those opposed to the Before Watchmen prequels raced to message boards all over the Interwebz, insulted and angered that DC would blaspheme the Holy Book of Alan by acting like a business and making the most of a potential financial and creative opportunity.  Others, meanwhile, countered with arguments that Moore had no problem writing for characters he didn't create or own, such as Superman and Swamp Thing, and seemed perfectly cool with writing "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?", which closed the door on the Superman saga before DC relaunched the character in a brand-new continuity.

Hurm.

Personally, I don't begrudge anyone that chooses to not support Before Watchmen on the grounds of respecting the creators.  That's a decision fans are well within their rights to make, although I would hope they would in turn respect others who disagree and just want to revisit the creative playground that Alan and Dave built.  So with all this fanboy drama hopefully set aside, how did the first Before Watchmen comic turn out?

Actually, pretty damn good...Imagine that.  After crafting the retro classic Justice League: The New Frontier, writer/artist Darwyn Cooke was a natural choice for the Minutemen characters that essentially serve as Watchmen's version of the Justice Society of America.  Using Hollis Mason, the first Nite Owl, as the narrator, Cooke reintroduces us to the various Minutemen characters in 1939 just before Captain Metropolis brings them together.  The expected details of Hollis' life are here, including his novel Under the Hood and the golden miniature statue of himself as Nite Owl that ends up being the object of his demise.

Overall, this first issue is mostly setup that gives us Hollis' initial takes on Hooded Justice, the first Silk Spectre, the Comedian, Mothman, Dollar Bill, the Silhouette and Captain Metropolis.  Each character is more than faithful to Moore's depictions and Cooke's clean animated style helps give the visuals the needed Golden Age feel.  And wisely, he abandons Dave Gibbons' nine-panel grid, adhering to his own artistic whims instead of trying to directly mimic what's already been done. 

All in all, this isn't a mere rehash of Moore and Gibbons, it's a tribute.  If you loved Watchmen and were on the fence about picking up some Before Watchmen comics, go ahead and try them for yourself.  If you don't worry so much about what self-important fanboys believe, or what you think Alan Moore wants you to do, you could end up enjoying some great comics by some of the top talents in the industry.  As Moore himself wrote in the final panel of Watchmen, I leave it entirely in your hands.