HBO's Watchmen TV Series - What We Know So Far

It had been nearly a decade since Zack Snyder's big budget adaptation of Watchmen hit theaters when HBO officially announced that it would be bringing the property to the small screen. This time around, there would be no Snyder — Damon Lindelof, known primarily for his writing on Lost, The Leftovers, and the 2009 Star Trek reboot, had been tapped to take the lead on the series.

The new Watchmen never had plans to be a faithful adaptation of its source material, the 1986-87 DC Comics story from writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons. HBO says it "embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel of the same name while attempting to break new ground of its own." In May 2018, Lindelof posted an open letter to Watchmen fans in which he made clear his intentions when it came to, as he said with tongue in cheek, "defiling something that [they] love." 

The approach could go one of two ways: either HBO's Watchmen will wind up being one of the most creative, visionary comic adaptations out there, or it could serve as further validation for Alan Moore's belief that the story does not belong on screen. Time will tell, so until Watchmen makes its TV debut, here's everything we do know about the new series.

Damon Lindelof has been clear since the beginning that although HBO's Watchmen will be canon with the original graphic novel, it will also be contemporary. "Some of the characters will be unknown," he wrote on Instagram. "New faces. New masks to cover them." Regina King leads the cast as Angela Abar, a Tulsa police detective who may or may not actually be a version of the comic character Hooded Justice. In addition to King, Don Johnson, Louis Gossett Jr., Tim Blake Nelson, Adelaide Clemens, Andrew Howard, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II have all been cast in various new roles.

But Lindelof has also promised "a familiar set of eyes." To that point, /Film reported in November 2018 that Jeremy Irons had been cast as an older version of Adrian Veidt, a.k.a. Ozymandias. There's also been speculation surrounding Jean Smart's character, FBI Agent Blake. Fans of the comic series will recognize Blake as the surname of the Comedian, who was also the biological father of Laurie Juspeczyk, a.k.a. Silk Spectre. It's been theorized that Smart will be playing an older version of that character.

The first teaser for HBO's Watchmen was released in May 2019 and introduced us to a group of masked vigilantes in the vein of Rorschach, who have taken it upon themselves to wage war against a local police department. It also set up the idea that superheroes are outlawed, something that is probably a direct result of the events of the comic series.

Then, in July, HBO dropped its first full-length trailer for the series, which answered a few questions but brought up even more. We know that Hooded Justice is an actual figure in this Watchmen universe, albeit perhaps only as a character in an in-world TV show. The trailer also shows Jeremy Irons' Adrian Veidt, who, although officially declared dead, appears to be very much alive and still very much interested in destruction. Mostly, though, we see a more in-depth look at the Rorschach cult, the group of masked citizens whose actions have forced the local police to now wear masks as protection. 

HBO's Watchmen may be its own separate entity, but it does still have ties to its original source material. In that regard, it's important to note at least a few things about Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' comic. Set in 1986, the 12-part series explores the relationship between the presence of superheroes in the world and the American political system. It's an alternate reality, one in which the U.S. won the Vietnam War and the president (still Nixon in these alt-'80s) works without term limitations.

Gibbons told Deadline in 2018 that having carte blanche to create characters outside of the established DC mythology allowed the two creators to explore some pretty heavy themes. "Clearly, if there was a Superman in the world — or an equivalent counterpart, like our Dr. Manhattan — the world and its history would be completely different," he said. "And in ways that were disturbing and disquieting."

Damon Lindelof told attendees at the 2019 Television Critics Association summer press tour that he held onto the comic's approach to history. By combining real history with alternate history in a sci-fi setting, the new series will feel both new and familiar to fans of the original.

Writer Alan Moore has a well-known reputation for wanting nothing to do with a Watchmen screen adaptation. In a 2010 interview with WIRED, the writer explained that he had turned down an offer to regain the rights to the comic, on the condition that he agree to "some dopey prequels and sequels." 

"...these days I don't want Watchmen back," he said. "Certainly, I don't want it back under those kinds of terms." After The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen flopped at the box office, Moore demanded his name be removed from any film adaptations of his work, a stance on which he remains firm today. Damon Lindelof confirmed as much at the 2019 Television Critics Association summer press tour.

On the other hand, artist Dave Gibbons has taken the opposite approach to the series, telling Deadline in 2018 that Lindelof's TV exploration of his work feels authentic. "The fact that Damon Lindleof has found a way to bring Watchmen into that area and do it with something I consider exciting, entertaining and absolutely worthwhile on the subject matter?" he said. "I think that's great."

Damon Lindelof has made it very clear that HBO's Watchmen will be an inclusive series. He told fans on Instagram that the show's writers room was one of the most diverse he's ever been a part of, saying, "In that room, Hetero White Men like myself are the minority and as Watchmen is (incorrectly) assumed to be solely our domain, understanding its potential through the perspectives of women, people of color and the LGBTQ community has been as eye-opening as it has been exhilarating."

So far, the list of people involved with the series is as long as it is diverse. And based on Lindelof's comments at the 2019 Television Critics Association summer press tour regarding the show's approach to current political issues, it will be interesting to see how Watchmen's behind-the-scenes diversity impacts its storytelling. The fact that the series' lead also happens to be a woman of color at least points to Lindelof being true to his word.

In 2015, Collider reported that Zack Snyder, the director responsible for bringing Watchmen to the big screen in 2009, had been meeting with HBO to talk about adapting it for television. At the time, HBO confirmed the publication's story, saying, "Preliminary discussions regarding Watchmen have occurred but we have no additional information and no deals are in place." And then it just sort of... quieted down. Between 2015 and 2018, when Lindelof posted his open letter to fans, not much was reported on the potential series, and even less on Snyder's involvement. 

Back in 2009, the director essentially said it would be impossible to adapt the comic for HBO, based solely on the cost of creating Dr. Manhattan. "There's no... HBO miniseries version of this movie where you have a Manhattan like that," he said (via Reddit). "Can't do it, I mean it's just like impractical." Snyder was, of course, referring to budget constraints per episode, which in 2009 looked a lot different for a network like HBO than they do in 2019. Not only have complex visual effects become more commonplace on TV, but HBO's got that Game of Thrones money now.