Watchmen HBO Eyeing ‘Watchmen’ TV Series from Damon Lindelof

[Smilodon]

Regina King as THE LEAD IN WATCHMEN? Amazing!

Carrie Coon could be awesome as a superhero, same with Theroux. I do hope Mimi Leder will also come on board after her other directing obligations are completed.

 

[nite-owl]

I can see Don Johnson as The Comedian .

 

[LoganGambit87]

I can see Don Johnson as The Comedian .

there is no comedian this is set on modern times set after the events of watchmen so comedian is already dead

 

[Smilodon]

there is no comedian this is set on modern times set after the events of watchmen so comedian is already dead

Doesn't mean we will not have flashbacks or anything. Or maybe the Comedian survived. He never died. Who knows what Lindelof is remixing or anything.

Don Johnson would make a nice Comedian.

 

[Fincher]

The thing is, Lindelof said right in the letter that The Comedian did die.

 

[Hurm...]

Lindelof's letter made me more open to the idea of this not being a direct adaptation of the comics. I think they can make this really interesting

 

[Lip]

Regina King? Damn, it already started with a very exciting casting choice.

Along with Regina King, I wonder if there's anyone else from The Leftovers that Lindelof can pull into this series.

Carrie Coon is the only one I'd want to see again from that cast (and the already cast King).

 

[David H.]

Carrie Coon is the only one I'd want to see again from that cast (and the already cast King).

Christopher Eccleston, I think, has been left out (heh) of the praise but I thought he was great in that. I wouldn’t mind seeing him pop up here.

 

[The Shape]

Lindelof's letter made me more open to the idea of this not being a direct adaptation of the comics. I think they can make this really interesting

Agreed. I'm all for it, personally.

 

[LoganGambit87]

i am not too upset about direction we already have the movie which i very much enjoy

had this been the first adaption of watchmen i think many would have a different reaction

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Let them have their opinion, Darth. You may not have liked that show (I never watched it) but whether you consider a show to be one of the best of a decade or not is strictly opinion (unless you're trying to argue it's relative popularity vs those shows, but the post in question just said they thought it was one of the best shows of the decade...so that is not the debate). You don't share their opinion, and that is perfectly fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Yes, but aren't I entitled to my opinion on that as well? Also the argument became about it being factually great (the critics said it was), as opposed to that being opinion based.

 

[Drizzle]

Doesn't mean we will not have flashbacks or anything. Or maybe the Comedian survived. He never died. Who knows what Lindelof is remixing or anything.

Don Johnson would make a nice Comedian.

As entertaining as that would be, even if The Comedian weren't dead, he'd be about 94 if the show were set today. Much older than Don Johnson.

 

[Fincher]

Even Laurie would be up there. Maybe her daughter could be Silk Spectre III.

 

[Lip]

Christopher Eccleston, I think, has been left out (heh) of the praise but I thought he was great in that. I wouldn’t mind seeing him pop up here.

I was never too invested in his character, so I've never paid too much attention to him.

Anyway, with Lindelof in charge we can certainly expect two things from this:

• Many, many Judeo-christian references
• And definitely a white male lead with daddy issues

 

[Spider-Fan]

Yes, but aren't I entitled to my opinion on that as well? Also the argument became about it being factually great (the critics said it was), as opposed to that being opinion based.

It was more the tone of your responses I was taking issue with.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

It was more the tone of your responses I was taking issue with.

Then for that, I apologize to MITS.

 

[David H.]

As entertaining as that would be, even if The Comedian weren't dead, he'd be about 94 if the show were set today. Much older than Don Johnson.

Don Johnson as older Dreiberg?

 

[Sawyer]

I never particularly disliked Snyder's movie, but I think it's possible to a stronger adaptation with more fidelity to the book.... but I also don't think that would be particularly exciting.

All my favorite comic adaptations tend to draw inspiration from more than one source rather than just being a straight adaptation of one thing (Batman Begins isn't just Batman: Year One, Civil War isn't solely based on that one comic). On the other side of it, one movie I quickly got bored with was Sin City, which lifted everything from one source. It had a certain novelty among other comic movies, but the novelty wore off and it was just like "Okay, I already have this story being told in a visual medium, I don't need the added benefit of watching Bruce Willis barely care."

Now, the first approach would be difficult to apply to Watchmen, given that (1) the story is only 12 issues long, and (2) a legion of folks would tear you to shreds for trying to insert supplemental material into the larger Watchmen narrative.

So we're left with what Lindelof is talking about (if I'm remotely understanding what it is he's talking about) which is more thematic and a response to the current cultural/political climate, just as the comic was in '85-86, rather than necessarily being literal. The whole explanation seems a bit murky (he says it's not a sequel, but then makes it sound very much like a sequel) and, I imagine, will only really start to make sense once we get character info/footage. But I get a sense that they're sort of throwing the source material in a blender and unloading it on the present day and we'll just have to see where that takes us.

I'm rather excited at the notion of Lindelof escaping the confines of full fidelity to the book. The Leftovers was already good in that first season, but it really took off when they got kept going beyond that book's ending.

Either way, Alan Moore's gonna hate it regardless of which way you go, so y'know...

 

[Doctor Jones]

I'm a lot more excited about this than I was for just another adaptation in which I was interested to see another go at it. But this is more exciting because I have no idea what they're going to do with it. Another story in this world, a remix like he said has possibilities. Even if this fails, I'd rather a failed this than yet another failed adaption because at least it might be interesting and the comic will be untouched.

 

[Brother Jack]

Lindelof's letter made me more open to the idea of this not being a direct adaptation of the comics. I think they can make this really interesting

It may or may not turn out well, but it's certainly a more interesting way of approaching it than a straight adaptation.

 

[Bruce Malone]

A straight adaption would be a mini-series or limited series. It would be painful to stretch out the exact same story over multiple seasons.

 

[squeekness]

Regina King? Damn, it already started with a very exciting casting choice.



Carrie Coon is the only one I'd want to see again from that cast (and the already cast King).

Me, too.

 

[Doctor Jones]

More Carrie Coon is always good.

I'm wondering about the cop angle... what if masks are now legal again but only to serve as a private police force?

 

[Detective Conan]

I wanted the same characters from the graphic novel but put in a modern setting and not a period piece like the Snyder film. I don’t even mind them taking liberties but I did want a new take but with the second Night Owl, Silk Spectre and Rorshach.

Not sure how to feel about this...I guess it could be interesting.

 

[quangtran65]

I'm wondering about the cop angle... what if masks are now legal again but only to serve as a private police force?

Don't be fooled by those dummy casting sheets. Those are looking for actors with certain attributes, in this case can exude the authority of a policeman that will translate to the actually role of superhero. Lost often cast evil henchmen under the guise of casting cops (like Bonnie and Greta from Lost). The casting sheets for Once Upon a Time said they were casting Sinbad and Scheherezade, when the were actually casting Aladin and Jasmine.