Damon Lindelof Offers An Extensive Update On His WATCHMEN Pilot: "This New Story Must Be Original"

Damon Lindelof Offers An Extensive Update On His WATCHMEN Pilot: "This New Story Must Be Original"

Damon Lindelof has shared a lengthy letter to address some of the recent concerns about his upcoming Watchmen pilot and has confirmed that it will not be a direct adaptation of the original graphic novel.

By RohanPatel - May 23, 2018 08:05 AM EST
Filed Under: Watchmen
Source: Damon Lindelof
With showrunner Damon Lindelof strongly suggesting for months now that his upcoming Watchmen pilot wouldn't exactly be a faithful adaptation of Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons' source material, there's been quite a bit of online confusion about what to expect if/when HBO decides to movie forward with his potential series.

To quell some of the rampant online speculation, Lindelof went to Instagram yesterday to share a fairly lengthy letter to clarify that he is indeed crafting an original story, which will take place within the same universe, but during present day. In the letter, he reveals a number of interesting details about the series, including that while the events of the original graphic novel will be canon, the series will not serve as any sort of sequel. He adds that it will 
explore a number of new characters, but doesn't offer much insight on whether he also plans on introducing established characters like Rorschach, Doctor Manhattan, Nite Owl, and/or Silk Spectre.

Read an excerpt from the letter and keep scrolling for the full piece below:


We have no desire to ‘adapt’ the twelve issues [Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons] created thirty years ago. Those issues are sacred ground and they will not be retread nor recreated nor reproduced nor rebooted.

They will, however, be remixed. Because the bass lines in those familiar tracks are just too good and we’d be fools not to sample them. Those original twelve issues are our Old Testament. When the New Testament came along, it did not erase what came before it. Creation. The Garden of Eden. Abraham and Isaac. The Flood. It all happened. And so it will be with Watchmen. The Comedian died. Dan and Laurie fell in love. Ozymandias saved the world and Dr. Manhattan left it just after blowing Rorschach to pieces in the bitter cold of Antarctica.

To be clear. Watchmen is canon.

Just the way Mr. Moore wrote it, the way Mr. Gibbons drew it and the way the brilliant John Higgins colored it.

But we are not making a "sequel" either. This story will be set in the world its creators painstakingly built... but in the tradition of the work that inspired it, this new story must be original. It has to vibrate with the seismic unpredictability of its own tectonic plates. It must ask new questions and explore the world through a fresh lens. Most importantly, it must be contemporary... The tone will be fresh and nasty and electric and absurd. Many describe Watchmen as "dark," but I've always love its humor - worshipping at the altar of the genre whilst simultaneously trolling it. As such...

Some of the characters will be unknown. New faces. New masks to cover them. We also intend to revisit the past century of Costumed Adventuring through a surprising, yet familiar set of eyes… and it is here where we’ll be taking our greatest risk..."


 

Day 140.

A post shared by Damon (@damonlindelof) on

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L0RDbuckethead
L0RDbuckethead - 5/23/2018, 8:39 AM
I trust Lindelof (The Leftovers was nothing short of amazing), but this show sounds like it will be very odd. I mean, just look at this casting call for the main characters:

Angela Abraham: African-American female cop. Independent and intelligent, she's also a realist. She's married to Cal, with whom she has a daughter and is fiercely protective of them both.

Cal Abraham: African-American male who is the stay-at-home husband of Angela. While he seems at home as the king of his castle and being a loving husband and father, it's clear his past has a different story to tell.

Looking Glass: A good looking cop, the native Oklahoman isn't simple as his rural accent makes him appear to be. A top interrogator and behavioral scientist, he may also be a bit of a sociopath.

Panda: An ethnic desk cop, he's cynical and tough and puts his job first. Not a friend to many, he uses comedy to keep people at bay.

Red Scare: Mafioso, track suit wearing cop. His Russian accent lends to his abrasiveness.

Pirate Jenny: An androgynous and lustful bisexual cop, Jenny is an anarchist at heart.

Jane Crawford: The wife of the police chief, Judd, Jane is a veterinarian who's sharper than her guarded persona lets on.

Old Man: A former cop who is still an imposing figure despite his age.

Doomsday8888
Doomsday8888 - 5/23/2018, 8:41 AM
So....

You read chapter 4 and realized just how f*cking unadaptable Watchmen truly is.

L0RDbuckethead
L0RDbuckethead - 5/23/2018, 9:03 AM
@Doomsday8888 - I hope this meme never dies.
SpideyPuffsMJ
SpideyPuffsMJ - 5/23/2018, 8:44 AM
This story is sacred and should not be adapted, however we are gonna remix it and make it set in modern-day and deal with Trump/Putin and add new characters to it.

JuSt WhAt I wAnTeD fRoM a WaTcHmEn ShOw, ThAnkS DaMoN !

BillyBatson1000
BillyBatson1000 - 5/23/2018, 8:45 AM
The line-up from casting is so detached from the original Watchmen that it might as well be a completely different property. I wish him well, but hope the series doesn't end up as something 'trading' on an established name. (Oh, and watch 'The Inhumans' first - and don't do THAT.)
Forthas
Forthas - 5/23/2018, 8:48 AM
It may be good, but they are obviously using the popularity of the comic to attract viewers. First Gotham, then Krypton...all of these tangential adaptations won't be as satisfying as the real central story. This is a marketing strategy that makes no sense.
aflynn
aflynn - 5/23/2018, 8:49 AM
I am looking at the stars. They are so far away. And their light takes so long to reach us. All we see of stars are their old photographs.

It’s July, 1959, and I am in love. Her name is Janey Slater. She is a physicist like me. I am 30 years old. We were introduced by a good friend of mine from college, Wally Weaver.

It is February 12, 1981. Wally dies of cancer which they now say I am the cause.

That night, Janey and I make love for the first time. A month from now the accident awaits me.

I cross the room to the Intrinsic Field Center. I find my watch. [Door slams shuts] When I get to the door, Wally is turning white. I am terrified.

It is May 12th, 1959, when I’m introduced to Janey. She buys me a beer, the first time a woman has done this for me. As she passes me the cold, perspiring glass, our fingers touch.

I feel fear for the last time. A token funeral is held. There is nothing to bury. Janey frames the snapshot. It’s the only photograph of me anyone has.

A circulatory system is seen by the perimeter fence. A few days later, a partially muscled skeleton stands in a hallway and screams for a moment before vanishing.

They call me Dr. Manhattan. They explain the name has been chosen for the ominous associations it will raise in America’s enemies. They are shaping me into something gaudy, something lethal.

In January, 1971, President Nixon asks me to intervene in Vietnam, something that his predecessors would not ask. A week later, the conflict ends. Some of the Vietcong forces wanna surrender to me personally.

Hollis Mason, a retired costume hero, writes a book. In it, he calls my arrival the dawn of the superhero. I am not sure if I know what that means.

It is Christmas, 1963. Janey tells me she is afraid, and worried. She says I am like a god now. I tell her I don’t think there is a God, and if there is, I’m nothing like Him. I tell her I still want her and that I always will.

As I lie to her, it is September 4th, 1970. I am in a room full of people wearing disguises. A very young girl looks at me and smiles. She’s beautiful. After each long kiss, she plants a smaller, gentler one upon my lips, like a signature.

Janey accuses me of chasing jailbait. She bursts into angry tears, asking if it’s because she’s getting older. It’s true. She’s aging more noticeably every day, while I am standing still.

I prefer the stillness here. I am tired of Earth. These people. I’m tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives. They claim their labors are to build a heaven, yet their heaven is populated with horrors. Perhaps the world is not made. Perhaps nothing is made. A clock without a craftsman. It’s too late. Always has been, always will be, too late.
Kman
Kman - 5/23/2018, 8:49 AM
I'm still unsure about this (and wish HBO picked up Spawn instead) buuut the channel this show will be on, intrigues me regardless.
TomSolo
TomSolo - 5/23/2018, 4:19 PM
@Kman - Yeah... HBO has been putting out some great shows in that last few years.
Kman
Kman - 5/23/2018, 5:23 PM
@TomSolo - as far as TV goes - they're top dog for me
TomSolo
TomSolo - 5/23/2018, 8:41 PM
@Kman - They have really stepped up their game. I watch GoT, but I am glad it is going to be done soon. It was really meandering for a bit there. I just finished watching Silicon Valley, which was a lot of fun. The last 3 seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm have been amazing, and Westworld is one of the best shows I have seen in a long time.

Have you watched any of that new show with Bill Hader? And if so, how is it?
Kman
Kman - 5/24/2018, 3:27 AM
@TomSolo - no not yet - I think it's called Barry. Look's pretty interesting though. You should check out some older stuff from HBO if you haven't yet - like The Wire, Deadwood, Six Feet Under. Legendary channel.
TomSolo
TomSolo - 5/24/2018, 6:51 AM
@Kman - I tried watching 6 Feet Under and The Wire, but they just aren't my type of show. Good shows though. Never tried Deadwood. Not sure why. Maybe I'll give that a shot this summer.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 5/23/2018, 8:56 AM
Here me out...why not just make your own original story?

Forthas
Forthas - 5/23/2018, 8:56 AM
I would rather a studio develop this IP...


GhostDog
GhostDog - 5/23/2018, 8:58 AM
@Forthas - an HBO miniseries titled MASKS

Forthas
Forthas - 5/23/2018, 9:01 AM
@BlackBeltJones -


Spagett
Spagett - 5/23/2018, 8:58 AM
Who said Watchmen was just for "hetero white men"? That whole paragraph came out of nowhere...
Tymminator
Tymminator - 5/23/2018, 9:00 AM
I am interested, this could be great.
PsychoticSpaceRaccoon
PsychoticSpaceRaccoon - 5/23/2018, 9:03 AM
I really dislike Damon Lindelof. I have disliked all his projects for the last 20 years.

How this man continues to get work is beyond me.
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