HBO’s ‘Watchmen’ Series Is ‘What Fans Need,’ But ‘Not What They Want’

Before HBO’s Watchmen was ordered to series, creator Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers) noted that he has no desire to “adapt” the comic series for television — he wants to “remix” it. “Those original twelve issues are our Old Testament,” he wrote. “When the New Testament came along it did not erase what came before it… And so it will be with Watchmen.” Unlike writer Alan Moore, who’s never happy about anything (even the concept of happiness probably infuriates him), artist Dave Gibbons is pleased with Lindelof’s plan.

“The original is something that we always saw as standing alone and it never in our mind required prequels or sequels or homages or pastiches or anything like that,” he told Deadline at New York Comic-Con. “It isn’t that we thought it should be treated with great reverence, it’s just that we thought: If you’ve done something right, just leave it alone.” Gibbons added that Lindelof and HBO’s vision of Watchmen is “exciting, entertaining, and absolutely worthwhile.”

The show plans to subvert the basic idea of what it means to be a superhero, much like the original series. Gibbons believes that the fans are still going to like it, but they should temper their expectations. He says, possibly paraphrasing one of the more Watchmen-esque quotes of this generation’s superheroes, HBO’s Watchmen is going to be “what the fans need, not what they want.” (Via)

Hopefully what fans “need” has nothing to do with “Hallelujah.”

— HBO (@HBO) August 17, 2018