‘Who watches the Watchmen?’ is a question that could be answered soon as HBO is developing a Watchmen series based on the critically acclaimed graphic novel. According to Variety, Damon Lindelof, who just completed a three season run on HBO’s The Leftovers, is in talks to develop the series.
HBO previously tried to make a Watchmen series in 2014, but those plans fell through and this take is reported to be different from that attempt. Variety also states that this new series will be unrelated to Zack Snyder’s 2009 adaptation, so a direct prequel or sequel seems out of the question as well.
Written in 1986 by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, Watchmen saw a familiar, yet vastly different world thanks to the presence of costumed or ‘super’ heroes, who now face a government ban. Published as a 12-issue miniseries, it told the story of a group of superheroes coming out of retirement to investigate the death of The Comedian, one of the few active heroes left. Through their investigation, they uncover a conspiracy that has the potential to destroy the world.
Zack Snyder directed the movie adaptation, which starred Patrick Wilson, Malin Ackerman, Jackie Earle Haley, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Since then, DC Comics published Before Watchmen, a line of several stories from various writers and artists that took place before the events of the original series. Lately they’ve been bringing in elements from Watchmen into the main DC universe, culminating this fall in the series Doomsday Clock. If this HBO series is unconnected to Snyder’s film or be a remake, it could use Before Watchmen as inspiration.
An R-rated animated adaptation is also rumoured to be in development.
What do you think of a potential Watchmen series on HBO? Is that something you’d like to see or would you prefer they’d leave alone?
Originally published June 21, 2017. Updated November 30, 2022.
