Who watches the Watchmen? Er, you will – if you’re into that sort of thing. Nearly ten years since Zack Snyder brought Alan Moore’s thought-to-be-unfilmable graphic novel Watchmen to the big screen, the comic’s universe is getting another screen adaptation – this time a TV series courtesy of HBO and Lost/The Leftovers showrunner Damon Lindelof. The pilot has been known to be in development for a while – and HBO must be pleased with Lindelof’s progress, because it’s just got a full season order.
HBO confirmed the news with a social media post, in a video with Watchmen’s iconic bold yellow text stating: “Nothing ever ends…” It also includes the date 2019 – so fans can expect to see something of the show within the next 18 or so months.
Word has it that this isn’t a remake of the film, or a literal adaptation of the comic – instead it’s expected to be a new story with some fresh (and some familiar) characters, set in the present-day.
In a lengthy statement releasedin May, Lindelof wrote: "Those issues are sacred ground and they will not be retread nor recreated nor reproduced nor rebooted. They will, however, be remixed […] This story will be set in the world its creators painstakingly built… but in the tradition of the work that inspired it, this new story must be original. It has to vibrate with the seismic unpredictability of its own tectonic plates. It must ask new questions and explore the world through a fresh lens. Most importantly, it must be contemporary. The Old Testament was specific to the Eighties of Reagan and Thatcher and Gorbachev. Ours needs to resonate with the frequency of Trump and May and Putin and the horse that he rides around on, shirtless. […] Some of the characters will be unknown. New faces. New masks to cover them. We also intend to revisit the past century of Costumed Adventuring through a surprising yet familiar set of eyes... And it is here we will be taking our greatest risks."
It all sounds intriguing – and alongside the Game of Thrones prequel and Joss Whedon’s new series The Nevers, it marks the cable giant’s influx of shows hoping to fill the void left by Thrones when it ends for good in the first half of 2019.
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