A couple of days ago, HBO”s Watchmen series lead producer Damon Lindelof did a new interview with Entertainment Weekly’s James Hibberd and shared some big details about his series Watchmen. Damon does answered the long waited question if his series is a sequel to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons graphic novel series The Watchmen. Nothing is seriously spoiled about the show, but I will post (MINOR SPOILERS) for those who want to wait for the pilot episode/series to premiere next month.
Highlights from Damon Lindelof interview.
Damon says the premise of his series is indeed a sequel to Alan Moore’s The Watchmen graphic Novel. However the sequel takes place over thirty years later, after the events of The Watchmen story. The premise takes place in Tulsa, Oklahoma of 2019 Vigilantes are outlawed, because of their violent methods. There is no cell phones or internet access, and Robert Redford is President of the United States, and the longest president since he was re elected. In a world where Doctor Manhattan exist, people do not operate vehicles with fuel they are run by electricity or fuel cells. Police officer cannot use their guns without them being approve by their dispatchers because of the many racial justice laws are in place in the Watchmen world.
Damon says the Tulsa 1921 massacre base on true events creates a ripple racial injustice affect. The series will cover a lot of controversial topics as shown in the trailer with a radical hate group using Rorschach mask to cover their identities. The main character in the sequel is a Tulsa’s Police Detective name Angela Abar played by Regina King, who will go by Sister Night, after it is lawfully forced for Police officers to wear masks while going after the Rorschach radical group, who calls themselves the Seventh Cavalry. The Police Officers from Tulsa are force to wear masks to protect their identities, because of the many tragic incident from terrorist groups who are going after police’s families. The legislator for police officers to wear masks is called the Defense of Police Act.
The series will feature our well known characters from the Watchmen original story such as Ozymandias played by Jeremy Irons, Doctor Manhattan, and Silk Spectre the second, played by Jean Smart who is seen in the trailers as an FBI agent. We do not know how big their roles will be as the series opens up with our favorite characters from the original story either dead or hiding.
President Robert Redford
It is unknown if the actor Robert Redford will be a special guest in the series. President Redford will have a presence in the series. He will have liberal ideals, like the actor Robert Redford. The President Redford character will not be blame for where the United States is at in this alternate world. He will try to do what he feel is best for the country but everything is effect by how the people in this world will react.
Here is Damon Lindelof’s response from Mr. James Hibberd questions from Entertainment Weekly
You’ve said that the project is not a sequel and not a remake but a “remix” and I think some are confused by that. Can we accept that what happened in the comic/film happened in the past of your world? That if we re-read the graphic novel or watch Snyder’s movie that we have a firm handle on what occurred 30 years ago in this story?
Damon Lindelof – “Yes. Look, [the new series] certainly fits into the “sequel” box, and definitely doesn’t fit into the “reboot” box. We treat the original 12 issues as canon. 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. But for all the reasons you just articulated, 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. “
Can you tell us more about this alternative world beyond the lack of cell phones or Internet — which, of course, are also helpful to eliminate from a screenwriting perspective when telling dramatic stories?
Damon Lindelof – “Yes. We’re living in a world where fossil fuels have been eliminated as a power source. All the cars are zero emissions and run on electricity or fuel cells — largely thanks to the innovations of Dr. Mahattan decades earlier. There’s also this legislation that’s passed, Victims OF Racial Violence Legislation, which is a form of reparations that are colloquially known as “Redford-ations.” It’s a lifetime tax exemption for victims of, and the direct descendants of, designated areas of racial injustice throughout America’s history, the most important of which, as it relates to our show, is the Tulsa massacre of 1921. That legislation had a ripple effect into another piece of legalization, DoPA, the Defense of Police Act, which allows police to hide their face behind masks because they were being targeted by terrorist organizations for protecting the victims of the initial act. So … good luck sound biting that! “
Readers can read more from his interview with Entrainment weekly from the link below. It is a great interview. https://ew.com/tv/2019/09/18/damon-lindelof-watchmen-interview/
My Overall Opinion
I am glad we got some great answers from Damon Lindelof, because even though there was rumors the series was a continuation from the original story. I was worried the series was going to be a re-imagining of the Watchmen story with a modern twist. Thankfully that is not the case. My excitement for the series is much bigger then it was before, because the series has been very secretive, and crazy rumors are all out there. Who knows what surprises the continuation of the Watchmen in theTV series will introduce or surprised fans from the graphic novel. HBO’s Watchmen is definitely a must watch show next month knowing what the series will present. HBO’s Watchmen will premiere on October 20th 2019. Only three episodes have revealed so far.
My Comic Book Opinion 