Such a masterpiece- Watchmen

There were plenty of questions coming out about what Damon Lindelof’s next TV project would be after “The Leftovers’” series finale in the year 2017. Before “The Leftovers,” he did “Lost,” the finale of which series got (and still gets) a far different response than the loved by everyone conclusion to the latter series. Once the goodwill was earned from “The Leftovers” and its critically-acclaimed three-season run people were eager to know about the next project.

The next project was yet another ambitious one, and this was HBO’s upcoming adaptation of the “Watchmen” series of comics. Set to premiere on October 20, HBO’s “Watchmen”, IndieWire came up with a list of eight must-know things about the series.

A DC comic…

This HBO series by Damon Lindelof is, without a doubt, completely based on the DC Comics “Watchmen” graphic novel, in reality, it was published in the year 1986, this amazing 12-issue comic series has gained a lot of popularity, and viewers have given all the love to this comic series.

All the required amazing work is done by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, This well-created series depicts a contemporary alternate history where the arrival of superheroes in the ‘40s named “The Minutemen” as well as in the ‘60s that was named as “The Crimebusters” changed some of the finest historic events. The Watergate scandal never got highlighted and The United States won the Vietnam War, during 1985, the Soviet Union and the US are surely on the brink of World War III. The latter team, the Crimebusters, have been the focus of Watchmen, and it contained Captain Metropolis, The Comedian, you must have seen him in The Minutemen, Nite Owl II, and Ozymandias.

By the year 1985, all these amazing superheroes started working for the Government or were enjoying their retirement. Due to the Keene Act of 1977, “costumed adventuring” was made illegal. When The Comedian was murdered, the Crimebusters came out of retirement to do all the required investigation!

In the year 1986, the film rights were obtained by the 20th Century to “Watchmen,” and this has gone through many creative studios and teams, from Fox and Warner Bros. to Universal and Revolution, and then it came back to Warner Bros. before it finally came out of development process.

Terry Gillam was truly attached to direct, and at this point in time, the project was at Fox. He made a statement that the comic is “unfilmable”.  The statement was looking so true at some extent as the movie has gone through many ups and downs.

In the year 2005, Warner Bros. received the rights yet again and they finalized Zack Snyder (“300”) to do all the directions. It all started in the year 2007, and in the spring of 2009, Snyder’s “Watchmen” premiered. some of the stars included-

• Malin Åkerman (as Silk Spectre II)
• Billy Crudup (as Dr. Manhattan)
• Carla Gugino (as Silk Spectre)
• Patrick Wilson (as Nite Owl II)
• Jackie Earle Haley (as Rorschach)
• Matthew Goode (as Ozymandias)
• Jeffrey Dean Morgan (as The Comedian)

None of that teams in the comic was ever denoted as “Watchmen”, and hence, the film saw the Crimebusters renamed “Watchmen,” and there have been some mixed reviews.

HBO’s series is not obtained from the comic…

As compared to Zack Snyder’s movie, HBO’s “Watchmen” is something that has not been taken from the comic. The fact here is, Damon Lindelof has gone through the records time and time again, and he has always been mentioning that he’s not giving an attempt to remake the comic book for TV. In place of this, the “Watchmen” comics are canon, as the series is now coming out in a modern world whereas all the events in the comic have taken place in the past.

They are surely going to be remixed…

All those real 12 issues are our Old Testament.  As soon as the coming of New Testament, what came before it also existed. Abraham and Isaac, Creation, The Garden of Eden, The Flood, everything happened and it also happened in the ‘Watchmen.’ Laurie fell in love, The Comedian took his last breath. Dan and Ozymandias became the savior for the entire world and you can see Dr. Manhattan leaving right after blowing Rorschach to pieces, and this is taking place in the bitter cold of Antarctica.

Let’s make it pretty clear Watchmen is canon!

In the world its creators painstakingly built, the story will be all set, but it will all happen in the way the work that inspired it, the latest story needs to be real. This one must connect with the seismic unpredictability of its own tectonic plates. SOme questions needs to be asked and the world needs to be explore with fresh eyes. Needless to mention, it needs to be contemporary.

Taking The Old Testament into consideration, it was specific to the ’80s of Gorbachev and Reagan and Thatcher. The one created by us neds to comply with Trump and May and Putin and, shirtless. speaking of Horsemen the horse that he rides, The End of The World is off the table, heroes as well as villains- the two can be identified separately, are playing for different stakes as a whole.

Some easily recognizable characters of the original comic book series the ones who are sure to be seen in the television series are Dr. Manhattan (the one who is still on Mars), the former Silk Spectre (the one that was taken care by Jean Smart), and the former Ozymandias (the one taken care by Jeremy Irons).

A never expected “Leftovers” reunion

As the lead of “Watchmen,” standing front and center, is Emmy and Academy Award-winning actress named Regina King, as Detective Angela Abar who is also known as Sister Night. Lindelof and King have experienced working with each other before, when King joined “The Leftovers” during season 2. And, here is the key reason that it’s an “unexpected” reunion is, as Lindelof mentioned at the panel for “Watchmen” at New York Comic-Con (NYCC), he apparently created a rule of not doing any work with actors twice. This is one such rule that he clearly broke hard to work with King on “Watchmen.”

The fact is, he has always been so dedicated to the idea of King in the lead role and this is the reason that he had sent the script directly to his house, this also had a note telling her how important and special the project was to him and he wants to walk on this journey with her, he can’t see anyone else on this journey except her.

The bottom line

The entire story of this series is set in an alternate reality in which many recognizable historical events didn’t take place, or they took place in a completely different way. This amazing series gets its beginning with a massacre carried out by a white mob- the Tulsa race riot, this has surely been a true event. The first season of Watchmen takes care of some important topics such as racial trauma, white supremacy, police brutality, systemic racism, and there are many, the legacy of the original series ts taken forward by including political issues of its time. Watchmen is truly amazing and a must-watch.