Watchmen [TV series: HBO]

[DocM]

Wow....

http://www.superherohype.com/news/354317-hbo-considering-a-watchmen-series-with-zack-snyder

 

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HBO Considering a Watchmen Series with Zack Snyder

Update: HBO has confirmed earlier reports with the following statement: “Preliminary discussions regarding Watchmen have occurred but we have no additional information and no deals are in place.” The original story follows.

Meetings have reportedly taken place between fan-favorite premium cable outlet HBO and director Zack Snyder about developing a Watchmen series, says Collider. What remains unclear is if the TV series would be a prequel to the film, a retelling of the original source material, or a sequel to the movie. Check back here for any updates as we learn them.

Snyder’s feature adaptation of Watchmen was released in 2009 and brought in just $185 million at the worldwide box office at the time. The long-awaited adaptation of the Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons series starred Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Carla Gugino, and Patrick Wilson. Adaptations of the series had been attempted by director Terry Gilliam and writer David Hayter, though neither ever went past the development stage.

Since the film’s release, DC Comics released an extensive “Before Watchmen” comic line, telling stories from the past of the heroes at the center which could serve as the basis for a television series.

Should the Watchmen series move forward, it’s unclear how much involvement Snyder would have in it as he’s currently editing Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and is beginning prep work on two Justice League films that will debut in 2017 and 2019.

[Syanide]

OMG YES

I didn't bother with Before Watchmen and I don't care about the prequel series, but I'd give my left nut for a 12-hour mini-series adaptation of the original comic... Done by someone other than Zack Snyder preferably.

[Zathras5]

It should have been done in mini-series form to begin with. And yeah, no Snyder please, he botched up a lot of bits with the movie imo.

[DocM]

Or they could forego the flashbacks and start with the Minutemen, working forward to the Watchmen as the last season.

[Syanide]

Part of what's great about the comic is that it's often non linear and you get the glimpses of the past as you move through the present day storyline, and how it related to each other. Doing it chronologically would hurt that. Dr. Manhattan for instance, what made learning his backstory so interesting is the mystery that surrounds him at first.

In my perfect world, it would just be a 12 hour mini-series, no more, no less, and made by someone who'd focus on substance as much as on style. But I always have the comic book to go back to, and the movie was good, given the limitations, so I won't be heartbroken either way.

Hopefully someone responsible is aware that if they're into making a franchise, this is definitely NOT the comic book to go after. Plenty of other material better suited for long term storytelling and exploitation.

[George P Global Moderator]

 

[Zathras5]

 

[Dick Montage]

So having seen the trailer - when is this set (if it is) in relation to the film?

[Steven P. Administrators]

Hello, looks good!

[George P Global Moderator]

On 7/21/2019 at 9:05 PM, Human.Online said:

So having seen the trailer - when is this set (if it is) in relation to the film?

It should be after the film, there's a point in the trailer where they state that Dr. Manhattan is on Mars. 

[Zathras5]

I think It's being considered more of a sequel to the comic series that the movie was an adaptation of.

 

I'm not sure why it says Zack Snyder in the thread title... I don't believe he's involved in this, is he?

[Nick H. Supervisor]

 

I'll order the thread when I have a moment, but this looks awesome. Can't wait.

[trag3dy]

As a not really big fan of the comic books I have no idea how this fits into them or the movie but it still looks okay, I guess?

[George P Global Moderator]

Pretty sure this takes place some time after the events of the movie/comic book.  It should be mostly, if not all, original.  I might be wrong though.

[Emn1ty]

So what are people thoughts?

[-_MSD_-]

Seemed a bit basic to be fair....Police fighting the 7th Calvary....I'm assuming it will expand more...Action was good though and as a big NIN fan, the score KICKED ASS! 

[Steven P. Administrators]

1 hour ago, -_MSD_- said:

Seemed a bit basic to be fair....Police fighting the 7th Calvary....I'm assuming it will expand more...Action was good though and as a big NIN fan, the score KICKED ASS! 

AHHHH spoilers  have not seen it yet bro.

[Zathras5]

It wasn't bad, I'm definitely anxious to see where it goes.

 

Spoiler

So, is Louis Gossett, Jr. playing an old Hooded Justice?

 

I was also surprised to learn that the opening scene was an actual event that really happened... I thought it was just made up for the show. That was nuts.

[Emn1ty]

Spoiler

I really don't understand it, at all. Maybe the coming episodes will explain what in the hell is going on but it seems to me the writers of this show have completely lost the whole point of Watchmen.

 

To make the people inspired by Rorschach white supremacists makes literally zero sense. He was arguably the only true hero, the one man among all of them unwilling to compromise his principles even when it would tear the world apart. And yet, his symbol is being abused by such a horrible group. Anarchists maybe, but not white supremacists.

 

It feels like a very lame excuse to make race the headline of this show, and that is not something Watchmen was ever about nor what I'd want out of anything associated with Watchmen. It was about the grey areas everyone existed in. How there's often no justice in the world, and that everyone has their dark side and their flaws. And most importantly even the best of us can still fall. There were many messages in the film, most of which had something to do with the human condition.

Racism, while definitely a facet of the human condition, is a very low brow subject matter. The source material attacked topics that were far more relate-able and complex. Racism is a given, a known factor. There's nothing complex about it, and it saddens me greatly that Watchmen has been boiled down into very thoughtless renditions of a police state and white supremacist terrorism.

 

More details in the spoiler but, I was thoroughly confused by the first episode. Being both a fan of the comic and the movie... I just didn't understand what this had to do at all with Watchmen.

[Circaflex]

^^ I'm glad I am not the only one, LOL.

[-_MSD_-]

On 10/24/2019 at 5:12 PM, Steven P. said:

AHHHH spoilers  have not seen it yet bro.

Not really, it was in the trailer...as other people have said, not really sure what it has to do with Watchmen....yet..

[Syanide]

I love the show so far. It really found its footing in the last episode. I think it's too early to jump on any particular plot point and criticize it, as it's both Watchmen and Lindelof after all, it's gonna need to be unpacked fully to be judged and appreciated. I really don't think it's going to be 'just' the race thing, but it's funny how many people got up in arms about it.

 

Emnity, you couldn't have gotten Rorschach more wrong. He was a nutjob who saw the world in simplified moral terms (literally black and white like his mask), and his very cut and dry worldview is exactly something radical groups would latch on to.

[Emn1ty]

On 11/12/2019 at 6:07 AM, Syanide said:

Emnity, you couldn't have gotten Rorschach more wrong. He was a nutjob who saw the world in simplified moral terms (literally black and white like his mask), and his very cut and dry worldview is exactly something radical groups would latch on to.

He is the uncompromising hero. I never said anything about his black and white view of Justice. And for this reason he died.

 

Edit: DeletingThe rest because I can't do the spoiler tags on my phone.

[Syanide]

Who cares about spoilers, I'd argue that a couple of days after the episode has aired you should be entering these topics at your own risk. And we're discussing a 30 year old comic.

 

Anyway, Rorschach is uncompromising alright, but he's anything but a hero. He's basically what Moore felt like what real-world Batman would look like - a complete nutjob that's incompatible with the world. And a complete nutjob with an uncompromising hardon for justice (or what he perceives as justice) is exactly the type of person who would attract extremist groups. Again, I fail to see anything inconsistent about it.

 

Also, your idea that the original Watchmen was about how even the best of us can fail, errm, what? Watchmen was basically a criticism of the entire idea of superheroes existing in the real world. By the end of the comic, all of the actions done by the heroes have meant absolutely nothing, and it showed how useless they were. The one action that had long-reaching positive effects, was the result of the most heinous moral act in the comic, which was Veidt's plan. And in that world of such moral ambiguity, Rorschach was a relic and there was literally no place for him, which is why he got evaporated. It's basically Moore giving a middle finger to the idea of a "good" superhero existing in general, be it Rorschach, Batman, Superman, or whoever. It's him laughing at how obsolete superheroes in general are.

 

The TV show is taking some of these elements, and running with them, but I really do think that there's more than the surface level stuff. They've taken the metaphorical black and white idea of morality, and turned it into literal blacks and whites in the show, and you can already see that there is more behind that. Will doesn't seem like a completely positive character, so I don't think that the idea of good guys vs bad will perfectly align with racists vs non-racists.

 

It's still beyond hilarious to me how review-bombed the show got because a bunch of people got offended by the show daring to set itself up on this premise, especially when the original comic was pretty heavily political as well.

[Syanide]

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Will doesn't seem like a completely positive character,

 

I think this is pretty well fleshed out in the latest episode.

 

 

I love the whole Hooded Justice tie-in, very creatively connects it to the original comic and the original Minutemen.

But I have a feeling the whole mesmer plotline might make a comeback with Will being effectively the bad guy now. He's aligned with Lady Trieu. I didn't know that the name is a direct reference to a historic character, Lady Triệu, who resisted Chinese rule in the 3rd century. Take into account that in the Watchmen universe, America won the Vietnam war, she has enough reason to plot against Americans. So I guess the question is what exactly are they planning on doing? Killing a bunch of white people by forcing them to fight against each other? Or maybe something positive?