All You Need to Know About The Watchmen Series on HBO

Your Watchmen series primer is right here

All You Need to Know About The Watchmen Series by HBO
Watchmen – HBO

After the smashing success of Game of Thrones, HBO has been trying its hand at everything to ensure that it remains one of the top entertainment providers in the world. The next big bet of the American channel is to adapt Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore’s Watchmen novel into the Watchmen series. Here’s all we know about the exciting series that will be released later today.

 

The Key Characters

Like any Marvel series, the Watchmen series will have its share of heroes and villains. The most prominent character is Silk Spectre, and Jean Smart plays it. During the 2019 Television Critics Association summer press tour, the showrunner Damon Lindelof confirmed her identity. Smart’s character would be an FBI agent Laurie Blake (née Juspeczyk) which makes it obvious she would be beneath the hero’s mask in the Watchmen series. Her surname, Blake suggests that she is connected to Edward Blake who was also known as the Comedian and died during the film adaption of the novel.

The role of Angela Abar has gone to Regina King. The character is a lead detective in the Tulsa Police Force and a mother of three. She is not only wearing the mask to protect herself from vigilantes; she also needs to wear a metaphorical mask while she takes care of her kids. Speculations are rife that in The Watchmen series, her persona is Hooded Justice, a mysterious male vigilante in the novel who made an appearance in the trailer wearing a red cape and a hangman’s noose around the neck.

Jeremy Irons is cast as Ozymandias in the Watchmen series. He will be “the aging and imperious lord of a British Manor.” Fans believe that he will be an older Adrian Alexander Veidt/Ozymandias. He is a billionaire genius who masterminded world peace during 2009 movie adaptation by Zack Snyder. Ozymandias will likely have grand plans for Tulsa, Oklahoma in the Watchmen series.

In the press release regarding the Watchmen series, some other cast members were introduced. Don Johnson is playing Judd Crawford, Tulsa Chief of Police, Tim Blake Nelson is playing Detective Looking Glass, and Louis Gossett Jr. is playing Will Reeves who might turn out to be Dr. Manhattan. The latter is shown twice in the trailer. First on Mars and then on Earth with a mask of his own. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is playing Cal Abar and might be related to King’s character. Tom Mison is playing Mr. Phillips, Frances Fisher is playing Jane Crawford, Sara Vickers is playing Ms. Crookshanks, and Hong Chau is playing Lady Trieu, a mysterious trillionaire. James Wolk, Andrew Howard, Dylan Schombing and Jacob Ming-Trent also appear in the Watchmen series.

 

The Trailer

The trailer of the Watchmen series begins with a person saying, “We are no one, we are everyone, and we are invisible.” It signifies that the police need to wear yellow masks to hide from several Rorschach mask-wearing vigilantes. The trailer of the Watchmen series also makes it pretty clear that the vigilantes might plan an uprising which can lead to reckoning and a war with the Tulsa Police Force. What we liked best was the chanting of “Ticktock, Ticktock,” that made us feel goose bumps (which we haven’t experienced since we watched the Chernobyl series).

 

The Plot

The plot of the Watchmen series is going to be same as the novel. It’s all about the war between a group of vigilantes, aka the 7th Cavalry and the Tulsa Police Force. All members of both groups wear masks to protect their identities. The story would likely take place after the film adaption by Snyder, and the plot will revolve around the novel only, and the bones wouldn’t be compromised. However, Lindelof might delve into characters that haven’t been portrayed on screen yet and might expand the reach of the show (Dr. Manhattan’s presence on the Mars hints at the latter).

The general description of the Watchmen series released by HBO says:

“Based on the Alan Moore graphic novel, Watchmen is set in an alternate history where ‘superheroes’ are treated as outlaws. And while Lindelof (The Leftovers) plans to embrace the nostalgia of the original ground-breaking graphic novel, the series will also attempt to break new ground of its own.”

 

The Approval

The comic artist of the graphic novel has already approved the script of the Watchmen series. Dave Gibbons said in 2018, “I found Damon’s approach to be really refreshing and exciting and unexpected.” While it’s very reverential and true to the source material (by which I mean the Watchmen graphic novel that Alan and I did), it’s not retreading the same ground, it’s not a reinterpretation of it. It approaches it in a completely unexpected way.”

 

The Details

The Watchmen series will be released on October 20, 2019, and it will contain eight episodes lasting one hour each. Composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are leading the charge of the soundtrack, and the show is directed by Nicole Kassell.

 

The Problems with the Previous Adaption

Those of you who are planning to watch the Watchmen series should know that the path hasn’t been easy for the makers of the previous adaption so it might not be easy for Lindelof too.

Several bigshots like Terry Gilliam, Darren Aronofsky, and Paul Greengrass tried to make the film before Snyder took on the project in 2005 and the film was released in 2009. The film was 3 hours and 35 minutes but was cut down to 2 hours and 43 minutes.

 

The Newness of It All

Now, Damon Lindelof is addressing the complicated narrative of the comic, and it’s a big challenge. In a five-page open letter to fans he talked about his plans for the Watchmen series and mentioned words like “original,” “contemporary” and “new faces” while emphasizing that he wouldn’t “erase what came before.” He also shared his intensions of not adapting the sacred ground but to remix it!

View this post on Instagram

Day 140.

A post shared by Damon (@damonlindelof) on

We are eager to see whether Lindelof will pull off the Watchmen series with grace or will it be another disappointment. What do you think?