It took decades for Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen to move from its position as best-selling, seminal graphic novel to controversial (and perhaps too reverential) adaptation for the screen, courtesy of Zack Snyder. The HBO series of the same name seems to be moving a little quicker and is due to arrive soon.
The limited series stars such names as Regina King, Jeremy Irons, Don Johnson, Jean Smart, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Andrew Howard, Tom Mison, Frances Fisher, Jacob Ming-Trent, Sara Vickers, Dylan Schombing, James Wolk and Hong Chau.
Damon Lindelof has described the project as less of a reboot or re-imagining of the source-material and more of a ‘remix’, taking the ideas and themes raised. “Those original twelve issues are our Old Testament,” he said with a rather lofty benchmark for the metaphor. “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……*SPOILERS* ……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…”
The trailer, released today, certainly has some familiar iconography and symbols and the tone seems consistent (even if the editing and momentum of the trailer suggest something askew) though it’s clear that this is going to be quite different from everything that’s gone before.
The exact date for the series to begin is not yet official but expect the specifics shortly…
