Next month, Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof is tackling the world of Alan Moore and David Gibbons’ classic comic, Watchmen. The upcoming HBO series is set around three decades after the original story, and it’s a brand new world. Just not necessarily a good one. During a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lindelof touched upon his themes for the series. He also noted that there’s only one superhuman in this universe: Doctor Manhattan.
“I started to think that for Watchmen maybe the more interesting point is to think about masking and authority and policing as an adjunct to superheroes,” said Lindelof. “In Watchmen, nobody has superpowers — the only super-powered individual is Dr. Manhattan and he’s not currently on the planet.”
Although casting for Dr. Manhattan has not been revealed, the Watchmen Comic-Con trailer revealed that he is in the series. He briefly appeared in news footage that placed him on the surface of Mars. There was also a shot near the end of the trailer (as seen in the image above) where Dr. Manhattan appears to be on Earth.
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While Jeremy Irons is rumored to be playing Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias, the only other confirmed character from the comic is FBI Agent Laurie Blake. Jean Smart is portraying Laurie, a former superheroine who went by the name Silk Spectre. She’s also one of the few humans left alive who truly knew and loved Dr. Manhattan before he left Earth.
However, the series will primarily follow Regina King’s Detective Angela Abar, who has her own heroic persona as Sister Night. Tim Blake Nelson is portraying Detective Looking Glass and Andrew Howard is playing Red Scare. Don Johnson is also co-starring in the series as the Tulsa Chief of Police, Judd Crawford. Additional cast members include Louis Gossett Jr., Jacob Ming-Trent, Frances Fisher, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tom Mison, Sara Vickers, Hong Chau, and James Wolk.
Watchmen will premiere on Sunday, October 20, only on HBO, HBO Now, and HBO Go.
What do you think about Lindelof’s approach to superpowers in Watchmen? What other characters do you want to see in the series? And how long do you think it will be before Dr. Manhattan shows up? Share your theories in the comment section below!
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