Despite having a comic book foundation of the most critically-acclaimed superhero story of all time, there are plenty of fans that are incredibly apprehensive about Damon Lindelof’s upcoming HBO series, “Watchmen.” Even with a talented writer and a stellar cast, “Watchmen” still has the stigma of many people considering it “unfilmable.” Lindelof, for whatever it’s worth, thinks he’s cracked the code.
Speaking to EW, the creator and writer of “Watchmen” explained why he was willing to take a chance and do something that people have tried and failed to do before. In fact, Lindelof admits that he has been approached numerous times before now to adapt “Watchmen,” but consistently said no.
“I said no for various reasons,” explained Lindelof. “First and foremost, the timing didn’t feel right — [director Zack Snyder] had just made his [‘Watchmen’] movie. And secondly, revisiting the source material meant adapting something that I knew was so perfect. I knew the best job I could do adapting the original ‘Watchmen’ was just being a really good cover band.”
He added that he was eventually coming up with ideas for the series and felt “compelled to do it.”
“That sounds arrogant and full of hubris but when I haven’t made choices based on that feeling things haven’t turned out so well because then you’re doing it for the wrong reasons. But when you get really inspired you have to chase it even if it leads to ruin,” he said.
So, with that being said, the question that fans are dying to know is whether or not this new “Watchmen” TV series aims to alter the comic book story in any way or act as a continuation of the ‘80s story that has been so beloved for decades? Well, according to the series creator, the answer exists in a bit of a gray area.
“We treat the original 12 [‘Watchmen’] issues as canon,” Lindelof said. “They all happened. We haven’t done any revisionist history, but we can maneuver in between the cracks and crevices and find new stories there… we wanted to make sure our first episode felt like the beginning of a new story rather than a continuation of an old story. That’s what I think a sequel is — the continuation of an old story.”
Basically, HBO’s “Watchmen” is a sequel, but also not a traditional sequel. Perhaps this is Lindelof’s way of appeasing fans that are concerned that he’s going to ruin Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons classic story, or maybe it’s the only way the writer was able to find a story worth telling? No matter the reason, Lindelof has committed to continuing the world of “Watchmen” and fans will have to wait and see how it all turns out when the series premieres on October 20.