''Watchmen'' is an American
superhero
A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
limited series Limited series may refer to:
*Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series
*Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered
*Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...
based on the 1986
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
series
of the same title created by
Alan Moore
Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and ''From Hell' ...
and
Dave Gibbons
David Chester Gibbons (born 14 April 1949) is an English comics artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries ''Watchmen'' and the Superman story "For the Man ...
. The TV series was created for
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
by
Damon Lindelof
Damon Laurence Lindelof (born April 24, 1973) is an American screenwriter, comic book writer, and producer. Among his accolades, he received three Primetime Emmy Awards, from twelve nominations. In 2010, ''Time'' magazine named him one of the ...
, who also served as an executive producer and writer. Its
ensemble cast
In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17
Structure
In contrast to ...
includes
Regina King
Regina Rene King (born January 15, 1971) is an American actress and director. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2019, ''Time'' magazine named her one ...
,
Don Johnson
Donnie Wayne Johnson (born December 15, 1949) is an American actor, producer and singer. He played the role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s television series ''Miami Vice'', for which he won a Golden Globe, and received a Primetime Em ...
,
Tim Blake Nelson
Timothy Blake Nelson (born May 11, 1964) is an American actor and playwright.
Described as a "modern character actor", his roles include Delmar O'Donnell in ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' (2000), Gideon in ''Minority Report'' (2002), Dr. Pendan ...
,
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (; born July 15, 1986) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Black Manta in the superhero films ''Aquaman'' (2018) and ''Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom'' (2023), Bobby Seale in the Netflix historical legal drama ' ...
,
Andrew Howard
Andrew Howard (born June 12, 1969, in Cardiff, Wales) is a Welsh theatre, television and film actor.
Training
Howard trained at Cygnet Training Theatre in Exeter in the late 1980s, touring in productions of ''A Christmas Carol'', ''Twelfth Night ...
, Jacob Ming-Trent,
Tom Mison
Thomas James Mison (born 23 July 1982)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005''. Ancestry.com; accessed 6 February 2014. is an English film, television, and theatre actor, voice artist, and writer. He has had leading ...
,
Sara Vickers
Sara Louise Vickers (born 1985) is a Scottish theatre, television and film actress best known for playing List of Endeavour characters#Thursday's Family, Joan Thursday in the British television detective drama series ''Endeavour (TV series), End ...
, Dylan Schombing,
Louis Gossett Jr.
Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (born May 27, 1936) is an American actor. Born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, He had his stage debut at the age of 17, in a school production of '' You Can't Take It with You.'' Shortly after he successfully ...
and
Jeremy Irons
Jeremy John Irons (; born 19 September 1948) is an English actor and activist. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969 and has appeared in many West End theatre ...
.
Jean Smart
Jean Elizabeth Smart (born September 13, 1951) is an American actress. After beginning her career in regional theater in the Pacific Northwest, she appeared on Broadway in 1981 as Marlene Dietrich in the biographical play '' Piaf''. Smart was l ...
and
Hong Chau
Hong Chau (born June 25, 1979) is an American actress who gained recognition for her supporting role in the 2017 film '' Downsizing'', in which she played the character Ngoc Lan Tran. For her performance, she was nominated for several supporting ...
joined the cast in later episodes.
Lindelof likened the television series to a "
remix
A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...
" of the original comic series. While the series is technically a sequel that takes place 34 years after the events of the comics within the same alternate reality, Lindelof wanted to introduce new characters and conflicts which created a new story within the ''Watchmen'' continuity, rather than creating a
reboot
In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...
. The series focuses on events surrounding racist violence in present-day
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
. A
white supremacist
White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other Race (human classification), races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any Power (social and polit ...
group called the Seventh Kavalry has taken up arms against the
Tulsa Police Department because of perceived racial injustices, causing the police to conceal their identities with masks to prevent the Seventh Kavalry from targeting them in their homes following the "White Night". Angela Abar (King), a detective known as Sister Night, investigates the murder of her friend and the chief of the police, Judd Crawford (Johnson), and discovers secrets regarding the situations around
vigilantism
Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority.
A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...
.
The series, promoted by HBO as an ongoing drama series, premiered on October 20, 2019, before concluding its nine-episode run on December 15. Lindelof left his role as showrunner after the first season, stating that he had completed his intended story. HBO subsequently confirmed there are no further plans for the show to continue without Lindelof returning in some capacity, and reclassified the work as a limited series with possible future installments.
''Watchmen'' received widespread critical acclaim for its performances, writing, visuals, score, and expansion of the source material, as well as commendation for highlighting the 1921
Tulsa race massacre
The Tulsa race massacre, also known as the Tulsa race riot or the Black Wall Street massacre, was a two-day-long massacre that took place between May 31 – June 1, 1921, when mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as deput ...
. The series received several awards, including 26 nominations and 11 wins at the
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
, including
Best Limited Series; King for
Best Actress for a Limited Series; and Abdul-Mateen for
Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series — the
most for any show in 2020.
Premise
The series takes place 34 years after the events of
the comic series. In the comic's
alternate history
Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...
of the 20th century,
vigilantes
Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority.
A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a person who ...
, once seen as heroes, were outlawed due to their violent methods. In 1985, Adrian Veidt, formerly known as the vigilante
Ozymandias
"Ozymandias" ( ) is a sonnet written by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822). It was first published in the 11 January 1818 issue of '' The Examiner'' of London.
The poem was included the following year in Shelley's co ...
, launched a
false flag
A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misr ...
attack on
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
by creating an
alien-looking squid monster which resulted in millions in the New York area being killed; this forced the nations to work together against a common threat, averting world war and a
nuclear holocaust
A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear Armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes globally widespread destruction and radioactive fallout. Such a scenar ...
. Veidt's actions horrified his former companions, with
Rorschach Rorschach may refer to:
* Hermann Rorschach, a Swiss psychiatrist
** Rorschach test, his psychological evaluation method involving inkblots
* Rorschach (character), a character from the comics ''Watchmen''
* Rorschach (comic book), a 2020 comic
* ...
planning to tell the world what really happened before being vaporized by
Doctor Manhattan
Doctor Manhattan (Dr. Jonathan Osterman), often shortened to Dr. Manhattan or simply Manhattan is a fictional character who appears in comics published by DC Comics. He debuted in the graphic novel limited series ''Watchmen''. Doctor Manhattan ...
, who then left the planet. Unbeknownst to Manhattan, Rorschach had already sent his journal detailing the events to the local newspaper.
The series is set in 2019
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
. The Seventh Kavalry, a
white supremacist
White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other Race (human classification), races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any Power (social and polit ...
group inspired by Rorschach's writings and masked image (having misinterpreted his journal as a racist manifesto), wages violent war against minorities and the police that enforce special
reparations
Reparation(s) may refer to:
Christianity
* Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation
* Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin
History
*War reparations
**World War I reparations, made from G ...
for victims of racial injustice. On Christmas Eve 2016, during an event that came to be known as the "White Night", the Kavalry attacked the homes of 40
police officer
A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...
s working for the
Tulsa Police Department. Of those who survived, only two stayed with the force: Detective Angela Abar and Police Chief Judd Crawford. As the police force was rebuilt, laws were passed that required police to not disclose their profession and to protect their identities while on the job by wearing masks, which included allowing for costumed police officers. As Crawford's police force attempts to crack down on the Seventh Kavalry, Abar finds herself at the center of two competing plots to kidnap Doctor Manhattan, who has been working with Hooded Justice, the original masked hero and survivor of the
Tulsa massacre.
Cast and characters
Main
*
Regina King
Regina Rene King (born January 15, 1971) is an American actress and director. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2019, ''Time'' magazine named her one ...
as Angela Abar / Sister Night, a Tulsa Police
detective
A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...
who wears a nun's habit and a
balaclava.
Faithe Herman
Faithe Herman (born December 27, 2007) is an American actress, best known for her work in ''This Is Us'' (2016) and '' Shazam!'' (2019).
Career
After appearing as Annie Pearson in the 2016 television show ''This Is Us'', Herman landed her firs ...
portrays a young Angela Abar.
*
Don Johnson
Donnie Wayne Johnson (born December 15, 1949) is an American actor, producer and singer. He played the role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s television series ''Miami Vice'', for which he won a Golden Globe, and received a Primetime Em ...
as Judd Crawford, the chief of the Tulsa Police who is a member of the Seventh Kavalry.
*
Tim Blake Nelson
Timothy Blake Nelson (born May 11, 1964) is an American actor and playwright.
Described as a "modern character actor", his roles include Delmar O'Donnell in ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' (2000), Gideon in ''Minority Report'' (2002), Dr. Pendan ...
as Wade Tillman / Looking Glass, a Tulsa Police detective who wears a reflective mask. Phil Labes portrays a teenage Wade.
*
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (; born July 15, 1986) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Black Manta in the superhero films ''Aquaman'' (2018) and ''Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom'' (2023), Bobby Seale in the Netflix historical legal drama ' ...
as Cal Abar, Angela's husband who is revealed to be a form of
Jonathan Osterman / Doctor Manhattan. Darrell Snedeger portrays Manhattan's original form in a portrait at Laurie Blake's apartment and Zak Rothera-Oxley portrays a young Jon Osterman.
*
Andrew Howard
Andrew Howard (born June 12, 1969, in Cardiff, Wales) is a Welsh theatre, television and film actor.
Training
Howard trained at Cygnet Training Theatre in Exeter in the late 1980s, touring in productions of ''A Christmas Carol'', ''Twelfth Night ...
as Red Scare, a Tulsa Police detective who wears a predominantly red outfit and speaks with a Russian accent.
* Jacob Ming-Trent as Panda, a Tulsa Police detective who wears a full giant panda mask.
*
Tom Mison
Thomas James Mison (born 23 July 1982)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005''. Ancestry.com; accessed 6 February 2014. is an English film, television, and theatre actor, voice artist, and writer. He has had leading ...
as Mr. Phillips, a series of male clones of the original Mr. Phillips, created by Doctor Manhattan to serve as Veidt's servants.
** Mison also portrays the Game Warden, a mysterious and powerful clone of the original Mr. Phillips who keeps Veidt in line and serves as his archenemy.
*
Sara Vickers
Sara Louise Vickers (born 1985) is a Scottish theatre, television and film actress best known for playing List of Endeavour characters#Thursday's Family, Joan Thursday in the British television detective drama series ''Endeavour (TV series), End ...
as Ms. Crookshanks, a series of female clones of the original Mrs. Crookshanks created by Doctor Manhattan to serve as Veidt's servants.
* Dylan Schombing as Topher Abar,
Angela's and Cal's adopted son whose biological parents, the Doyles, were killed on the White Night.
*
Louis Gossett Jr.
Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (born May 27, 1936) is an American actor. Born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, He had his stage debut at the age of 17, in a school production of '' You Can't Take It with You.'' Shortly after he successfully ...
as Will Reeves, Angela's grandfather, formerly known as
Hooded Justice, the first masked hero who inspired the
Minutemen
Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Mi ...
.
Jovan Adepo
Jovan Adepo (born September 6, 1988) is a British-American actor. He is known for his role as Cory Maxson in the film adaptation of ''Fences'' (2016), and also had starring roles in the 2018 film ''Overlord'' and as Lionel Jefferson in CBS' '' ...
portrays a young Will Reeves.
*
Jeremy Irons
Jeremy John Irons (; born 19 September 1948) is an English actor and activist. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969 and has appeared in many West End theatre ...
as
Adrian Veidt
Ozymandias ( ; real name Adrian Alexander Veidt) is a fictional character, fictional anti-villain in the graphic novel Limited series (comics), limited series ''Watchmen'', published by DC Comics. Created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, named "O ...
, a former businessman and the vigilante Ozymandias, the "smartest man in the world". He is now living as an aristocratic lord of a country manor that is revealed to be on
Europa
Europa may refer to:
Places
* Europe
* Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace
* Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro
* Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development
* Europa Cliff ...
.
*
Jean Smart
Jean Elizabeth Smart (born September 13, 1951) is an American actress. After beginning her career in regional theater in the Pacific Northwest, she appeared on Broadway in 1981 as Marlene Dietrich in the biographical play '' Piaf''. Smart was l ...
as
Laurie Blake,
formerly the second Silk Spectre, who has since become an
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
agent and member of the Anti-Vigilante Task Force.
*
Hong Chau
Hong Chau (born June 25, 1979) is an American actress who gained recognition for her supporting role in the 2017 film '' Downsizing'', in which she played the character Ngoc Lan Tran. For her performance, she was nominated for several supporting ...
as Lady Trieu, the owner of Trieu Industries, a corporation that bought out Veidt Enterprises following news of his death, and later revealed to be Veidt's daughter by artificial insemination. Trieu's name is inspired by Vietnamese historical legend
Lady Triệu
Lady Triệu ( vi, Bà Triệu, , Chữ Nôm: 226 - 248) or Triệu Ẩu (, Chữ Hán: ); was a warrior in 3rd century Vietnam who managed, for a time, to resist the rule of the Chinese Eastern Wu dynasty. She is also called , although her ac ...
.
Recurring
*
James Wolk
James Wolk (born March 22, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in the CBS comedy series ''The Crazy Ones'' (2013–2014), the AMC period drama series ''Mad Men'' (2013–2014), the CBS drama thriller series '' Zoo'' (201 ...
as Joe Keene Jr., a senator and leader of the Seventh Kavalry who aims to become president. His father is responsible for the Keene Act banning masked vigilantism.
*
Frances Fisher
Frances Louise Fisher (born May 11, 1952) is a British-born American actress. She began her career in theatre and later starred as record executive Suzette 'Red' Saxon in the CBS daytime soap opera ''The Guiding Light'' (1985). In film, she is ...
as Jane Crawford, Judd's wife who is a member of the Seventh Kavalry.
*
Jessica Camacho
Jessica Lisa Camacho (born November 26, 1982) is an American actress. She is known for her recurring role as Gypsy in The CW superhero series ''The Flash''. Camacho also starred on the second season of the NBC drama series '' Taken''.
Early l ...
as Pirate Jenny, a member of the Tulsa police who wears a pirate-inspired outfit
* Adelynn Spoon as Emma Abar, Angela and Cal's younger adopted daughter.
* Lily Rose Smith as Rosie Abar, Angela and Cal's older adopted daughter.
* Steven Norfleet as O. B. Williams, the late father of Will Reeves and great-grandfather of Angela Abar.
*
Alexis Louder
Alexis Louder is an American actress from Charlotte, North Carolina. She is known for 2021's ''The Tomorrow War'' and ''Copshop''.
Career
Louder graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte's College of Arts + Architecture in 20 ...
as Ruth Williams, the late mother of Will Reeves and great-grandmother of Angela Abar.
* Jolie Hoang-Rappaport as Bian, a young clone of Trieu's mother passed off as her daughter.
** Elyse Dinh portrays Trieu's mother, the original Bian as an adult.
Guest starring
*
Dustin Ingram
Dustin Kyle Ingram (born January 25, 1990) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for his role as Bert in the 2016 remake of ''Cabin Fever'', as Duane Ogilvy in Nickelodeon's ''Unfabulous'', and as Agent Petey in HBO's ''Watchmen''. ...
as Agent Dale Petey,
an FBI agent who joins Laurie in investigating a murder in Tulsa. He is secretly a vigilante known as Lube Man.
*
Cheyenne Jackson
Cheyenne David Jackson (born July 12, 1975) is an American actor and singer. His credits include leading roles in Broadway musicals and other stage roles, as well as film and television roles, concert singing, and music recordings.
After beginni ...
as an actor portraying Hooded Justice on ''American Hero Story''.
*
Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. (born September 16, 1950) is an American literary critic, professor, historian, and filmmaker, who serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African Ame ...
as himself, in the position of
Secretary of the Treasury
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
.
*
Jim Beaver
James Norman Beaver Jr. (born August 12, 1950) is an American actor, writer, and film historian. He is most familiar to worldwide audiences as Bobby Singer in ''Supernatural''. He also played Whitney Ellsworth on the HBO Western drama series '' ...
as Andy, the Doyle children's paternal grandfather.
*
Lee Tergesen
Lee Allen Tergesen (; born July 8, 1965) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in '' Weird Science'', as Tobias Beecher in HBO's prison drama '' Oz'', and as Evan Wright in '' Generation Kill,'' as well as guest starring in many othe ...
as Mister Shadow, a vigilante who is drawn out by Laurie Blake.
*
David Andrews as Deputy Director Max Farragut, Laurie Blake and Dale Petey's superior.
*
Michael Imperioli
Michael Imperioli (born March 26, 1966) is an American actor, writer, and musician. He is best known for his role as Christopher Moltisanti in the HBO crime drama ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007), which earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Out ...
as himself, appearing in an advertisement for New York City.
* Chris Whitley as an actor who portrays Captain Metropolis in ''American Hero Story''.
* Eileen Grubba as Cynthia Bennett, Wade's ex-wife.
*
Paula Malcomson
Paula Malcomson (born 1 June 1970) is a Northern Irish actress. She is sometimes credited as Paula Williams. She is known as Trixie in ''Deadwood'' (2004-2006), Maureen Ashby in ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2010), and as Abby Donovan in '' Ray Donovan' ...
as Renee, a radiologist who is a member of the Seventh Kavalry.
*
Jake McDorman
John Allen McDorman IV (born July 8, 1986) is an American actor. On television, he headlined the CBS comedy-drama ''Limitless (TV series), Limitless'' (2015–2016) and was the male lead of the sitcoms ''Are You There, Chelsea?'' (2012) and ''Man ...
as
Nelson Gardner / Captain Metropolis, one of the founding members of the New Minutemen.
*
Glenn Fleshler
Glenn Fleshler (born September 5, 1968) is an American actor. On television he is noted as a recurring cast member on ''Boardwalk Empire'' who portrayed real-life bootlegger George Remus, for appearing on '' Billions'', and as Errol Childress in ...
as Fred, a racist shopkeeper who runs afoul of Will.
*
Danielle Deadwyler as June, Will's wife and Angela's grandmother who works as a reporter. Valeri Ross portrays an older June.
* Anthony Hill as Marcus Abar, the father of Angela Abar who is killed by a suicide bomber.
* Devyn A. Taylor as Elise Abar, the mother of Angela Abar who is killed by a suicide bomber.
* Ted Johnson as Joe Keene Sr., the senator who passed the Keene Act, father of Joe Keene Jr., and member of Cyclops.
Episodes
Production
Development
Rumors of a potential ''Watchmen'' television series adaptation first came about in October 2015, with
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
in preliminary discussions with
Zack Snyder
Zachary Edward Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and cinematographer. He made his feature film debut in 2004 with '' Dawn of the Dead'', a remake of the 1978 horror film of the same name. Since t ...
, director of the 2009 ''
Watchmen
''Watchmen'' is an American comic book Limited series (comics), maxiseries by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins (comics), John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 a ...
'' film. HBO later confirmed that they were seeking to develop a ''Watchmen'' series in November 2015.
![Damon Lindelof by Gage Skidmore 3 (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Damon_Lindelof_by_Gage_Skidmore_3_%28cropped%29.jpg)
By June 2017, HBO had begun negotiations with
Damon Lindelof
Damon Laurence Lindelof (born April 24, 1973) is an American screenwriter, comic book writer, and producer. Among his accolades, he received three Primetime Emmy Awards, from twelve nominations. In 2010, ''Time'' magazine named him one of the ...
, as Snyder was no longer involved with the production. According to Lindelof, he had been long interested in making a ''Watchmen'' work since he read the comic as a teenager, and had been approached to write it at least twice before, but rejected the offers as they came out shortly following Snyder's film and felt he could not improve on that. In the interim, he developed the HBO series ''
The Leftovers'' that ran from 2014 to 2017. ''The Leftovers'' was met with high acclaim, and led to yet another offer to write a ''Watchmen'' series, which Lindelof then accepted.
Writing for the series started on September 19, 2017. The following day, HBO officially greenlit the production for a pilot and additional backup scripts as well.
Nicole Kassell
Nicole Kassell (born 1972) is an American film director, film and television director who is noted for her work on films such as ''The Woodsman (2004 film), The Woodsman'' and on TV in series such as ''Vinyl (TV series), Vinyl'', ''The Leftovers ...
was announced as the director and executive producer for the Lindelof pilot on January 30, 2018.
The pilot was filmed around June 2018 in locations around Atlanta, Georgia.
On August 17, 2018, HBO greenlit a full season of ''Watchmen'', scheduling the premiere in 2019. Due to the time between filming the pilot and the remaining episodes, a new production crew had been brought on board, and Kassell remained the director for the second episode to provide necessary continuity.
The series' premiere date, October 20, 2019, was announced on September 3, 2019.
The show's credits identify the work as based on characters co-created by
Dave Gibbons
David Chester Gibbons (born 14 April 1949) is an English comics artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries ''Watchmen'' and the Superman story "For the Man ...
, who along with
Alan Moore
Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and ''From Hell' ...
created the ''Watchmen'' comic. Due to multiple disputes with
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
and the producers of previous films, Moore has asked for his name to be no longer associated with any film production of his works from that period, including for the ''Watchmen'' film. Gibbons, however, was an active contributor to the show, providing illustrations in the same style as the original comic series. Lindelof tried to reach out to Moore to get his blessing for the show, but was rebuffed. In 2022, Moore claimed Lindelof had sent him a letter that he described as "neurotic rambling", including Lindelof identifying himself as "one of the bastards currently destroying ''Watchmen''". Moore said he replied with a request to not contact him as he did not wish to be associated with the adaptation.
Writing
Lindelof stated that his vision for the series was to be a "remix" of the comic series. While the show is a
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
to the comic, he wanted to make a story of his own that felt part of that universe without creating a
reboot
In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...
, and made sure that this was apparent from the first episode.
He affirmed this idea in an open letter to fans posted on May 22, 2018.
One of the first challenges for Lindelof was determining what the focus of the narrative would be. He considered that at the time the original ''Watchmen'' comic was released, it reflected on the public anxiety over the ongoing
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
. In looking for a similar anxiety for contemporary times, Lindelof determined that
racial tensions posed the same type of larger picture that would work well for the ''Watchmen'' universe, since it presented both historical and present conflicts. He also felt "to not tell a story about race in the context of a political text in 2019 almost felt borderline irresponsible".
Establishing racism as a central theme, Lindelof assembled a purposely-diverse writing staff, with half the writers being black, and half being female, to help provide proper perspective towards these issues.
![TulsaRaceRiot-1921](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/TulsaRaceRiot-1921.png)
Lindelof opted to open the pilot on the 1921
Tulsa race massacre
The Tulsa race massacre, also known as the Tulsa race riot or the Black Wall Street massacre, was a two-day-long massacre that took place between May 31 – June 1, 1921, when mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as deput ...
, an event that he became aware of after reading ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' article "
The Case for Reparations
"The Case for Reparations" is an article written by Ta-Nehisi Coates and published in ''The Atlantic'' in 2014. The article focuses on redlining and housing discrimination through the eyes of people who have experienced it and the devastating ...
" written by
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates ( ; born September 30, 1975) is an American author and journalist. He gained a wide readership during his time as national correspondent at ''The Atlantic'', where he wrote about cultural, social, and political issues, parti ...
in 2014. Lindelof, curious about the massacre, found there was very little information about it, and strove to learn more.
Many aspects of the plot center on the legacy of the graphic novel and the event. This was around the time that he had been approached again to write for the ''Watchmen'' series, and felt the massacre and its implication for the alternate reality's present would provide an equivalent factor that the
Doomsday Clock
The Doomsday Clock is a symbol that represents the likelihood of a man-made global catastrophe, in the opinion of the members of the ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists''. Maintained since 1947, the clock is a metaphor for threats to humanity ...
had been for the original comic series, and used racial conflict as a central element of the series. He believed it would also help more people learn about the 1921 event, and made sure it was represented accurately, including the representation in how aerial attacks were used to bombard the
Greenwood district.
Lindelof had conceived of Angela as the central character that everything revolves around, with the discovery that her grandfather Will, a black man, was one of the first costumed heroes, Hooded Justice, shown only in a few panels from the original comics. Hooded Justice's identity was never established in the original comic series, and Lindelof's suggestion that he was a black man created a challenge for the writers. One of the first tasks the writing staff had was to determine how Will would become Hooded Justice, effectively establishing the plot to the sixth episode "
This Extraordinary Being
"This Extraordinary Being" is the sixth episode of the HBO superhero drama miniseries ''Watchmen'', based on the 1986 DC Comics series of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. The episode was written by Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson ...
".
To further tie to the comic series, the writing staff only considered using the established characters that would best serve Angela's story so that she would remain the focus.
To that end, they had established that characters like Doctor Manhattan, Laurie Blake, and Adrian Veidt were necessary to support Angela's discovery of her legacy. They had considered including Dan Dreiberg, the second
Nite Owl
Nite Owl is the name of superhero, fictional superheroes in the graphic novel Limited series (comics), limited series ''Watchmen'', published by DC Comics. Created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, the original Nite Owl, Hollis T. Mason, was a memb ...
, as well, but Lindelof wanted to have a fair balance of old and new characters within the show, and felt that adding Dan would have tipped the balance too far away from the new characters. They did consider Dan's fate as part of the "Peteypedia" additional materials created by the show's writers, in which Dan remains in prison after he and Laurie were arrested for vigilantism in the past, and refusing to accept the FBI's offer to work with them as Laurie had done.
Lindelof used his experience from his past shows to plot out the season prior to writing, stating "What I've learned over time is you need to know the answers to the mysteries...If you don't know those, you're lost. Every time you come to an intersection, you won't know whether to turn left or right."
The writers had established some of the season's key mysteries in writing for the pilot, such as Hooded Justice being Will Reeves and Cal being Doctor Manhattan, but how these were to be revealed to the characters in the show and the audience came later in the writing process.
Ten episodes were planned for the first season. After completing the sixth episode, "
This Extraordinary Being
"This Extraordinary Being" is the sixth episode of the HBO superhero drama miniseries ''Watchmen'', based on the 1986 DC Comics series of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. The episode was written by Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson ...
", Lindelof felt the story was closer to its ending rather than as a midpoint, and that if they continued for four additional episodes, one of them would have been
filler, and instead opted to conclude the story with three episodes. The omitted episode would have likely covered more of Lady Trieu's backstory, according to Lindelof, though it would not have been exclusively devoted to that topic. Instead, some of this material was covered in conversations within the seventh episode "
An Almost Religious Awe".
A show-within-the-show, ''American Hero Story'', was used to tell the purported backstory of Hooded Justice. Writer Cord Jefferson said ''American Hero Story'' was meant to be the opposite to what they were creating for the actual show, a "cheesy" production that perpetuated the in-universe myth of Hooded Justice being a white man.
Lindelof said the show was designed to be comparable to
Ryan Murphy's series ''
American Horror Story
''American Horror Story'' is an American anthology horror television series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the cable network FX. The first installment in the '' American Story'' media franchise, each season is conceived as a ...
'' and ''
American Crime Story
''American Crime Story'' is an American anthology true crime television series developed by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, who are also executive producers, alongside Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson, Ryan Murphy, and Brad Simpson. The seri ...
'', and had even considered bringing in Murphy to play himself as the producer of ''American Hero Story''. He opted against this, but still treated ''American Hero Story'' like a Murphy work, and taking its producer to be somewhat secretive and seclusive, like Murphy.
Some media critics took the ''American Hero Story'' segments to be a parody of
Zack Snyder
Zachary Edward Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and cinematographer. He made his feature film debut in 2004 with '' Dawn of the Dead'', a remake of the 1978 horror film of the same name. Since t ...
's
2009 live-action adaptation of ''Watchmen'', but Lindelof and Kassell asserted this was not their intent. Kassell said, "I fully admire
nyderas a filmmaker so to hear that it could even be used as a negative comment feels terrible. What I was wanting to do with those (''American Hero Story'' scenes) is like, 'This is the version we could make,' and we are very concretely not making that version. We're grounding our story in a much more real kind of naturalism."
Casting
On May 23, 2018, it was announced that
Regina King
Regina Rene King (born January 15, 1971) is an American actress and director. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2019, ''Time'' magazine named her one ...
,
Don Johnson
Donnie Wayne Johnson (born December 15, 1949) is an American actor, producer and singer. He played the role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s television series ''Miami Vice'', for which he won a Golden Globe, and received a Primetime Em ...
,
Tim Blake Nelson
Timothy Blake Nelson (born May 11, 1964) is an American actor and playwright.
Described as a "modern character actor", his roles include Delmar O'Donnell in ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' (2000), Gideon in ''Minority Report'' (2002), Dr. Pendan ...
,
Louis Gossett Jr.
Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (born May 27, 1936) is an American actor. Born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, He had his stage debut at the age of 17, in a school production of '' You Can't Take It with You.'' Shortly after he successfully ...
,
Adelaide Clemens
Adelaide Clemens (born 30 November 1989) is an Australian actress. She was nominated for a Logie Award in 2008 for her role in the television series ''Love My Way''. In 2012, she played Valentine Wannop in BBC's television miniseries adaptation ...
, and
Andrew Howard
Andrew Howard (born June 12, 1969, in Cardiff, Wales) is a Welsh theatre, television and film actor.
Training
Howard trained at Cygnet Training Theatre in Exeter in the late 1980s, touring in productions of ''A Christmas Carol'', ''Twelfth Night ...
had joined the cast of the pilot. At least one of the actors was expected to have been cast in a potentially recurring role.
In June 2018, it was reported that
Jeremy Irons
Jeremy John Irons (; born 19 September 1948) is an English actor and activist. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969 and has appeared in many West End theatre ...
,
Tom Mison
Thomas James Mison (born 23 July 1982)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005''. Ancestry.com; accessed 6 February 2014. is an English film, television, and theatre actor, voice artist, and writer. He has had leading ...
,
Frances Fisher
Frances Louise Fisher (born May 11, 1952) is a British-born American actress. She began her career in theatre and later starred as record executive Suzette 'Red' Saxon in the CBS daytime soap opera ''The Guiding Light'' (1985). In film, she is ...
, Jacob Ming-Trent,
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (; born July 15, 1986) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Black Manta in the superhero films ''Aquaman'' (2018) and ''Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom'' (2023), Bobby Seale in the Netflix historical legal drama ' ...
, and
Sara Vickers
Sara Louise Vickers (born 1985) is a Scottish theatre, television and film actress best known for playing List of Endeavour characters#Thursday's Family, Joan Thursday in the British television detective drama series ''Endeavour (TV series), End ...
had been cast in the pilot. On August 7, 2018, it was announced that Dylan Schombing, Adelynn Spoon, and Lily Rose Smith had joined the pilot's cast. In November 2018, it was reported that
Jean Smart
Jean Elizabeth Smart (born September 13, 1951) is an American actress. After beginning her career in regional theater in the Pacific Northwest, she appeared on Broadway in 1981 as Marlene Dietrich in the biographical play '' Piaf''. Smart was l ...
had been cast in a starring role and that
James Wolk
James Wolk (born March 22, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in the CBS comedy series ''The Crazy Ones'' (2013–2014), the AMC period drama series ''Mad Men'' (2013–2014), the CBS drama thriller series '' Zoo'' (201 ...
would appear in a recurring capacity. Additionally, it was confirmed that Irons would portray
Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias, that Nelson would portray a newly devised character named Looking Glass, and that Vickers and Mison would join the cast.
In January 2019, it was announced that
Hong Chau
Hong Chau (born June 25, 1979) is an American actress who gained recognition for her supporting role in the 2017 film '' Downsizing'', in which she played the character Ngoc Lan Tran. For her performance, she was nominated for several supporting ...
and
Dustin Ingram
Dustin Kyle Ingram (born January 25, 1990) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for his role as Bert in the 2016 remake of ''Cabin Fever'', as Duane Ogilvy in Nickelodeon's ''Unfabulous'', and as Agent Petey in HBO's ''Watchmen''. ...
had been cast in recurring roles.
The performances of the cast during the pilot and other scenes influenced later episodes in the show's writing. When filming Irons for the pilot, Lindelof and his team found he took the character of Veidt in a comedic direction, something not suggested by the original comic series. They recognized that this was "a slightly absurd and ridiculous treatment of the character" that worked for Veidt's role within the show, and stuck with it in writing the later episodes.
While reports in July 2019 suggested that actor
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the List of awards and nominations received by Robert Redford, recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award from four nomi ...
would play a fictionalized version of himself in the series, Lindelof affirmed later that the real Redford would not be appearing in the show; the use of Redford is a tribute to the closing pages of the original comic where it is suggested that Redford was positioning himself for president, in much the same way actor
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
became president.
Music
Trent Reznor
Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, wh ...
and
Atticus Ross
Atticus Matthew Cowper Ross (born 16 January 1968) is an English musician, record producer, composer, and audio engineer. Along with Trent Reznor, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for ''The Social Network'' in 2010. In 2013, th ...
of
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...
were announced as the series' composers on September 20, 2018. In considering the series music, Lindelof had considered using Reznor and Ross as they had not composed for television before. By coincidence, when Lindelof suggested the pair to HBO, HBO reported that the two had been in contact with the network about doing the music just a few days prior, as they were big fans of ''Watchmen''.
Reznor stated he and Ross were also fans of Lindelof's previous work and thus sought to offer their services for the show.
Reznor and Ross had already prepared pieces for the pilot episode prior to filming, allowing Lindelof to better incorporate it into the pilot.
According to Reznor, their initial compositions were set for "an aggressive, sort of sleazy tone" for the show, but adapted to the series as it changed tone throughout the first season.
Reznor and Ross released three albums of music from the show on both vinyl albums and through streaming services.
The
first volume was released on November 4, the
second
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...
on November 25, and the
third
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
on December 16, 2019.
In addition to new compositions, the show employed licensed music selected by music supervisor
Liza Richardson
Liza Richardson is a music supervisor for numerous films and TV shows, and served as a DJ at KNON then KERA in Dallas, Texas, then KCRW, an eclectic music and NPR news radio station based in Santa Monica, California. She frequently publishes playl ...
. Similar to how music and lyric references were employed in the original comic series, the soundtrack's song titles and lyrics frequently tied in with narrative elements of the show. For example, several songs from the musical ''
Oklahoma!
''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical theater, musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs (play), Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of ...
'' are used, given the show's setting in Tulsa. "
A God Walks into Abar", in which the blue-skinned Doctor Manhattan is introduced, used a number of songs themed around the color blue, such as "
Rhapsody in Blue
''Rhapsody in Blue'' is a 1924 musical composition written by George Gershwin for solo piano and jazz band, which combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects. Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the work premiered i ...
" and "
The Blue Danube
"The Blue Danube" is the common English title of "An der schönen blauen Donau", Op. 314 (German for "By the Beautiful Blue Danube"), a waltz by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss II, composed in 1866. Originally performed on 15 Februa ...
". The final episode "
See How They Fly" incorporates many of the unusual phrases from
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' "
I Am the Walrus
"I Am the Walrus" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 television film ''Magical Mystery Tour''. Written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was released as the B-side to the single "Hello, Goodbye" a ...
" into its visual elements.
Filming
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
for the pilot commenced May 30, 2018, and lasted through June 2, 2018, in
Cedartown, Georgia. Filming began on the 97th anniversary of the start of the riots during the second day of the production schedule on May 31. Throughout the month, filming occurred in additional Georgia cities and towns, including
Macon,
Fayetteville,
Newnan
Newnan is a city in Metro Atlanta and the county seat of Coweta County, Georgia, about southwest of Atlanta. Its population was 42,549 at the 2020 census, up from 33,039 in 2010.
History
Newnan was established as county seat of Coweta Coun ...
,
Palmetto,
Brooks
Brooks may refer to:
Places
;Antarctica
*Cape Brooks
;Canada
*Brooks, Alberta
;United States
* Brooks, Alabama
* Brooks, Arkansas
*Brooks, California
*Brooks, Georgia
* Brooks, Iowa
* Brooks, Kentucky
* Brooks, Maine
* Brooks Township, Michigan ...
, Griffin, Georgia and
Tucker
Tucker may refer to:
Places United States
* Tucker, Arkansas
* Tucker, Georgia
* Tucker, Mississippi
* Tucker, Missouri
* Tucker, Utah, ghost town
* Tucker County, West Virginia
Outer space
* Tucker (crater), a small lunar impact crater in the s ...
.
In October 2018, filming for the remainder of the first season began in Georgia. Filming locations that month included Palmetto,
Brookhaven,
Peachtree City
Peachtree City is the largest city in Fayette County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 34,364. Peachtree City is located in South Metro Atlanta.
Peachtree City is noted for its extensive use o ...
,
Decatur, and the
MARTA station in
Chamblee
Chamblee ( ) is a city in northern DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, northeast of Atlanta. The population was 30,164 as of the 2020 census.
History
The area that would later become Chamblee was originally dairy farms. During the late nin ...
. In November 2018, shooting moved to locales such as Palmetto, Chamblee,
McDonough
McDonough is an Irish surname.
Origins and variants
The surname is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name "Mac Donnchadha", which means son of Donnchadh or son of Donough. The name itself consists of elements meaning "brown (donn)" or Donn “t ...
, and the
West Lake MARTA station. In December 2018, the production was working out of
Union City,
Newnan
Newnan is a city in Metro Atlanta and the county seat of Coweta County, Georgia, about southwest of Atlanta. Its population was 42,549 at the 2020 census, up from 33,039 in 2010.
History
Newnan was established as county seat of Coweta Coun ...
, and the
Georgia World Congress Center
The Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) is a convention center in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Enclosing some 3.9 million ft2 (360,000 m2) in exhibition space and hosting more than a million visitors each year, the GWCC is the worl ...
. Interior shooting was filmed at Atlanta Metro Studios in Union City.
Filming of the country manor scenes was treated as a separate production, similar in nature to the ''Tales of the Black Freighter'' comic narrative within the original ''Watchmen'' graphic novel. Filming of these scenes took place in September 2018 in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
at
Penrhyn Castle
Penrhyn Castle ( cy, Castell Penrhyn) is a country house in Llandygai, Bangor, Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, North Wales, North Wales, constructed in the style of a Norman architecture, Norman castle. The Penrhyn estate was founded by Ednyfed Fychan. ...
. These were completed before most of the remaining episode scripts were finished, according to actor Tom Mison. According to Lindelof, these scenes are "the idea is doing an escape story with Adrian Veidt that's more like
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical cartoon short '' Fast and Furry-ous''. In each episode, ...
than it was like ''
Escape from Alcatraz'', that felt too delicious to not do". Until the third episode, HBO did not identify Irons' character as Veidt, but only as "Lord of a Country Manor". Lindelof chose to keep Veidt's identity a secret in part to avoid having the show be considered a sequel of the comic, as well as in keeping with the storytelling mystery used by the comic, in which the identity of Rorschach is not revealed until midway through the series.
Marketing
The first teaser for the series, named "Tick Tock", first aired on May 8, 2019.
With release of each episode, HBO released additional content on a special site named "Peteypedia", a collection of files written in-universe by Dale Petey and from other excerpts. Peteypedia was developed after most of the filming was completed, with writer
Jeff Jensen
Jeff Jensen (born 1970) is an American writer and journalist.
Early life
Jensen is a native of Seattle, Washington, and a graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
Career
Jensen is a screenwriter, journalist and author based in ...
overseeing it. The writing team were aware they had developed too much information that would fit into the broadcast show and debated how to present this, including as post-credit scenes or through
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
. At the same time, HBO was working with Reznor and Ross on how to release the albums and were considering including additional
liner note
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes.
Origin
Liner notes are descen ...
s in the vinyl releases, which included the additional background material the writers had developed. This led to creating reports and clippings similar to those presented in the original ''Watchmen'' comic, and presenting this as part of Peteypedia.
Peteypedia allowed them, for example, to explain Laurie's trajectory from being the second Silk Spectre and fighting crime with Nite Owl at the end of the comic series, to becoming an FBI agent, elements of this that they had written briefly into the show but did not have broadcast time to spell out.
They also tied elements back to the original comic. Of note is the fictional novel ''Fogdancing'', written in-universe by Max Shea, one of the people who Veidt had employed to devise the alien squid attack in 1985. Jensen said that in the extra material with the graphic novel, ''Fogdancing'' had been made into a film at least twice, so the writers considered the work to be seminal to the characters in the television series, having the book appear at least twice during the show. Jensen created a whole plot summary of the work based on minimal clues from the comic, making the work to be about super-soldiers and having it tie to the idea of the ''Watchmen'' superhero culture.
Continuation
While HBO had not yet confirmed a second season following the show's broadcast, Lindelof stated that if there were, he would not likely be back for it, but instead have another producer step forward to tell another story set in this universe. Lindelof said he felt that the show was "not my story" and that "These nine episodes are sort of everything that I have to say at this point about ''Watchmen''".
Lindelof created the first season to be a complete story, in the same manner that each season of ''
Fargo'' and ''
True Detective
''True Detective'' is an American anthology crime drama television series created and written by Nic Pizzolatto. The series, broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States, premiered on January 12, 2014. Each season of the ...
'' were each self-contained stories. Following the broadcast of the season one finale, Lindelof still said that the story he told during the season was everything he could put forward about ''Watchmen'', with a definitive beginning, middle, and end. However, he agreed with HBO that ''Watchmen'' should be treated as a continuing series, and did not rule out returning, but would want to have time to develop a similar complete story before committing.
By January 2020, Lindelof stated he had passed on a second season but gave his blessing to anyone that followed him as showrunner. HBO's programming chief Casey Bloys stated with regards to a second season that "It would be hard to imagine doing it without Damon involved in some way", while not altogether dismissing the possibility of the concept of one.
Due to this, HBO reclassified ''Watchmen'' as a limited series in February 2020, with the potential for additional installments.
Broadcast and distribution
The series was first broadcast on the HBO network from October 20 through December 15, 2019. In New Zealand, ''Watchmen'' is distributed exclusively by
Neon
Neon is a chemical element with the symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is a noble gas. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with about two-thirds the density of air. It was discovered (along with krypton ...
,
Sky Television's subscription television series. In Australia, the series is distributed by
Foxtel
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...
's streaming service.
The series was released onto digital media for purchase or streaming in December 2019.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment released the series on Blu-ray under the title ''Watchmen: An HBO Limited Series'' on June 2, 2020.
Across May and June 2020, the
George Floyd protests
The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internati ...
arose as black people and others protested against police violence, and some saw ''Watchmen'' as a "predictive text for the current moment". HBO made the series available for free streaming from its website and other on demand services on the weekend of June 19, 2020, in observation of
Juneteenth
Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Deriving its name from combining "June" and "nineteenth", it is celebrated on the anniversary of General Order No. 3, i ...
, identifying the show "highlighting Black experiences, voices and storytellers" as "this timely, poignant series that explores the legacy of systemic racism in America".
Reception
Critical response
''Watchmen'' received widespread critical acclaim. On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the series has a 96 percent "certified fresh" rating based on 398 reviews, with an average rating of 8.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Bold and bristling, ''Watchmen'' isn't always easy viewing, but by adding new layers of cultural context and a host of complex characters it expertly builds on its source material to create an impressive identity of its own."
On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, it has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Rotten Tomatoes' audience score is lower than the critics' consensus, with several news outlets reporting that the site was
review bomb
A review bomb is an Internet phenomenon in which a large number of people or a few people with multiple accounts post negative user reviews online in an attempt to harm the sales or popularity of a product, a service, or a business. While a large ...
ed. ''Esquire'' writer Matt Miller alleged that "far-right trolls" artificially deflated the audience score.
These outlets agree that the chief complaint among followers of the source material is that the image of fan-favorite character Rorschach is adopted by the Seventh Kavalry, a white supremacist organization. Many fans agreed with the television series' use of Rorschach's image, citing Alan Moore's intention in the original ''Watchmen'' to comment on fascist undertones within the superhero genre. Other fans have claimed that the show fails to properly reflect the complexities of Rorschach's character.
In response, Damon Lindelof stated that the show is not intended to portray Walter Kovacs, the original Rorschach, as a racist. At the
New York Comic Con
The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006.
History
The New York Comic Con is a f ...
, he explained that Rorschach's journal had been misinterpreted by the ''New Frontiersman'' and that his image has been misappropriated by the Seventh Kavalry. "He's been dead for over 30 years," Lindelof clarified. "He doesn't get to say, 'You misunderstood me. No, I wasn't a white supremacist.' They decided what he was."
Patrick Wilson
Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor and director. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in ''The Full Monty'' (2000–2001) and ''Oklahoma ...
, who played Dan Dreiberg / Nite Owl in the 2009 film adaptation, praised the series, saying he was initially curious based on his familiarity with the source material but said he was hooked by the cast and wound up loving the series.
Ratings
Audience viewership
According to HBO, the first episode of ''Watchmen'' had more than 1.5 million viewers on its first night across television and streaming services, the strongest debut performance for the network. The first broadcast of the episode, at 9 p.m. EDT, had 800,000 viewers, making it the most viewed debut episode for any premium-cable show in 2019. The second episode dropped to about 1.3 million viewers across the first night, with 765,000 watching the first broadcast, though this was considered a strong performance as the show aired alongside Game 5 of the
2019 World Series
The 2019 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2019 season. The 115th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League champion Houston Astros and the National League ...
.
As of episode 9, HBO reported 7 million viewers to date, making it HBO's most viewed new series since ''
Big Little Lies''. HBO estimates that the Sunday night premiere viewership represents only about 10 percent of the total viewership for an episode, to the effect of word-of-mouth that has brought new viewers to the show, with the first episode having a total of 9.6 million viewers as of December 4, 2019.
Accolades
Among the various awards, ''Watchmen'' led total nominations of the main
Primetime
Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
and
Creative Arts
The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...
Emmy Awards for the 2019–20 television season with a total of 26 nominations, and won a combined 11 awards, including
Outstanding Limited Series,
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie (for Regina King),
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie (for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and
Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special (for Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson) for the episode "This Extraordinary Being".
Legacy
''Watchmen'' had been critically praised for presenting the events of the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. Until the show premiered, while historians had documented the event, few filmmakers were able to successfully acquire funding for projects that addressed the event due to its relative obscurity in American history. ''Watchmen'' served as a "catalyst" for more interest in works related to the massacre ahead of the event's 100th anniversary in 2021, according to ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' DeNeen Brown. At least four separate documentaries were produced in advance of the anniversary, and there was an increase in depictions of the event in other works, such as in HBO's ''
Lovecraft Country
Lovecraft Country is a term coined for the New England setting used by H. P. Lovecraft in many of his weird fiction stories, which combines real and fictitious locations. This setting has since been elaborated on by other writers working in the ...
''.
Notes
References
External links
*
"Peteypedia" related in-universe database collected by the character of FBI Agent Dale Petey
*
{{HBONetwork Shows
2010s American black television series
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