SPOILERS: More from the Secret Watchmen Screening

SPOILERS: More from the Secret Watchmen Screening

Non-Disclosure Agreements Be Damned! Find out what they saw in Portland last Thursday! DO NOT READ IF YOU HATE SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

By ComicBookMovie - Oct 17, 2008 02:10 PM EST
Filed Under: Watchmen

Some spoilers who were at the blind audience screening have started posting on the boards at IMDB, but you'll have to hurry. They are getting deleted as fast as they go up.

We were able to catch some of the big spoilers though, and here's the biggest surprise. The ending...

"There was no squid... He and Dr Manhattan built a machine to mimic the powers of Dr Manhattan, under the guise of "free energy" to solve the energy crisis. Unbeknown to Manhattan, he used the machine to set off an atomic bomb like thing in various large cities around the world."

and another guy confirms...

"No squid. Manhattan and Ozy build a device that mimics Manhattan's power and Ozy uses it to blow up a bunch of cities and frames Manhattan. Manhattan realizes that this is best for the world and so when Rorschach storms out... well we know what happens to him. Dan's scream in the snow is a reaction to that. After that it wasn't too clear on the final shots. They did not mention a kid going for a journal or disguised Dan and Laurie visiting Silk Spectre I."

and from another posting...

"I just was a part of the first crowd in the world to see the movie Watchmen here in Portland. You had to go through so much security to get in, have ID, online registration, sign a disclosure agreement to tell no one about the movie. I even had to go back to my car and put my cell phone away because it had a camera in it. This movie is probably one of the best super hero movies I've ever seen. The characters are great. Dude named Rorschach, after the ink blot tests but the spelling is different I think, he owns everyone. Has this one line after he throws hot grease on this prisoners face, "I'm not locked up in here with you, your locked in here with me". He whoops everyone in this movie. Also Dr. Manhattan is this blue god like character that can teleport and screws his GF at the same time as working on this machine. Anyway, sorry to babble but this movie is worth seeing. I feel lucky to have seen it already. It's unfinished because they need to add in some CGI and green screen effects but when it's done I'm going to go pay to see it. The movie is 2 hours and 30 minutes long, there is so much to talk about one little scene won't spoil it. This movie is absolutely rated R. There is sex scenes, nipples showing, you can see Dr. Manhattans d*ck. There's scenes where a a guy gets his arms chopped off, an ax put into his skull, people being blown up in war. This movie is hardcore. One of the super heros kills a woman for cutting his face in a bar."

and another...

"Last week WB reps or theater staff (not sure which) gave out invitations for an unknown movie to people standing in line at that particular theater. To redeem the pass they had to register online. When they arrived at the theater they had to show their ticket, have their name on the list and show their IDs. If anyone went to the viral marketing screenings of The Dark Knight you might have an idea of how this went down."

and another...

I must be one the few "hardcore old-school" fans who doesn't care a bit about the squid and might actually prefer it be left out, provided the spirit of a "uniting threat" (which is the really important part, as far as the theme and plot go) is left in. But was there really, truly any indication that the New Frontiersman possibly publishing Rorschach's journal, thereby undoing everything that Veidt has worked so hard to accomplish is getting left out, too? This last thing is a major deal breaker for me. The "cliffhanger" ending is, IMO, one of the greatest endings to any story/piece of literature. It was really powerful for me to be left eternally hanging, not knowing what might happen. I could have sworn that there was earlier confirmation that this was in. Also, why include the journal at all (I've seen it in shots from the movie} if you're not going to do this? Does anyone have any idea what the deal is with this?

and another...

The more we are learning the more skeptical I become. Now we open with a major fight where the victim didn't fight back in the book and we have a new ending with a contemporary twist involving renewable energy and a frame up... I don't even mind that the squid isn't in it but this framing Manhattan thing is weird to me. Makes the "Smartest Man in the World" look a bit stupid.

and another...

You may notice the guy claims the movie ends at Karnak, without the pivotal scene of Rorschach's journal at the New Frontiersman. This has people very distressed. However, I'm hearing this scene was in the movie and the guy just forgot to mention it or thought it wasn't important. Secondly, the exclusion of the squid goes against several months of rumors and inside information. Some are speculating Zack Snyder took a page from Ozymandias's book and is one step ahead of us and tested a fake ending, knowing it would reach the Internet. So we should remain cautious about this.

We're expecting more to come in from CBM readers in Oregon. So keep checking back...

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OriginalPhysco
OriginalPhysco - 10/17/2008, 5:43 PM
wow
Noa
Noa - 10/17/2008, 6:43 PM
How is that 'ruining the ending'?

The giant squid was always a huge stretch, and I think that Snyder managed to capture the idea that made the ending work in the first place. Uniting the world against a threat more powerful, so much so that the countries put aside their wars to face it.

And whether it's a squid, or Dr. Manhattan, it still accomplished its ultimate goal.

And besides.

Come on guys.

...Squid?
SGA
SGA - 10/17/2008, 8:44 PM
The squid would only make sense if you had the Black Freighter in the movie. Which it doesn't in the theatrical release. So maybe on the DVD there's an alternate ending w/ the Squid, cuz the Black Freighter is gonna be part of the extended DVD version.
Powergirl
Powergirl - 10/18/2008, 12:41 PM
good point.
yellowtiger
yellowtiger - 10/18/2008, 5:12 PM
I must've missed this when I read the graphic novel only one time through, but what's the connection between the squid and the Black Freighter?
SGA
SGA - 10/19/2008, 2:24 AM
ok, well, as we all know, there's a kid at the newspaper stand who reads the Black Freighter. During one of the "Story within a story" sections, it explains the author's work on the Black Freighter. It goes on to say that he mysteriously vanishes. Well, he's the one who drew the picture of the Squid, and then Ozymandias is the one who brings that drawing to life.

so you wouldn't really get why the Squid has significance or is even related to the author and Black Freighter.
shiverman20
shiverman20 - 10/19/2008, 3:45 AM
I think we all know that the Black Freighter would be a stretch for a mainstream audience, which ofcourse is what theyre targeting and so like SGA says, the squid would just be random and probably silly to most people. They seem to have been really faithful but only certain things are going to adapt well to screen and sadly the Black Freighter and Squid probably wouldnt be. What youve also got to remember is this is just another artists interpretation of the story, so changes should be allowed
WarriorsDawn
WarriorsDawn - 10/19/2008, 10:28 PM
Actually, the author, Max Shea is also brought up, in the newspaper office, when the kid asks "Are we gonna do the follow-up to that missing author story?"
SGA
SGA - 10/19/2008, 11:23 PM
well, Shea was first introduced in the "story within a story" about his carrer and how he has gone missing and this is where you kind of first get his view of the world and how it compares to Ozymandias. You can't just have a random missing author, who shows up for one scene w/o SOME sort of introduction other than "Are we gonna do the follow-up to that missing author story?"

He needs to be known about deeply, so we can connect him to Ozy and why he draws the picture for Ozy in the first place.
jurgensj
jurgensj - 10/20/2008, 1:33 AM
Damn it!

I was ALMOST in that audience. I, like a lot of others, heard about the test screening on-line. I drove two hours to get to Portland, just on the off-chance that I might be able to get in (rumors were circulating that WB would be recruiting people at the theater that night.) Alas, I was quickly targeted by theater employees, and told to leave. They wouldn't even let me use the bathroom inside for fear (justified, to be sure) that I'd try and sneak in.

It killed me, watching the sun go down, knowing that there were people just a hundred feet or so away from me seeing Watchmen, and probably not even appreciating it.

KILLED me. Bastards.

As for the "new" ending, I'll reserve judgment until I see it in context. I have nothing but faith in this adaptation, and fully expect to be blown away. In (sigh) six months. Also, I wouldn't put it past Snyder to screen a fake ending. Not one bit. Hopefully, if that's the case, they'll include it on the DVD as a bonus feature/alternate cut - for those of us NOT lucky enough to get handed a ticket to the biggest, boldest comic book adaptation ever undertaken while waiting in line for Beverly Hills Chihuhua.

F*** you, Warner Brothers - how about doing some free test screenings for the fans! (sorry - I'm still a little bitter)

pedestrian28
pedestrian28 - 10/20/2008, 7:38 PM
First of all, the author wasn't the one who came up with the squid, it was the Indian artist, Hira Mannish. Moreover, who these people are isn't as important as what they are doing on the island where the squid is being bred. This island where the creature is bred is what the Comedian discovers and why he is killed.

Second, I think the last bit in this article, which postulates that this ending may be a fake one, meant to mislead audiences might be accurate, because contradictory information HAS been released in the past few months. Patrick Wilson (the actor who plays Nite Owl II) has said that the ending is entirely faithful to the book, so there actually be a giant squid in this film after all.

And finally, the squid is essential to the plot point of an extraterrestrial threat that unites the USA and the USSR and abates the impending nuclear holocaust. This "energy crisis" bs is exactly that: BS! Especially since one of the elements of the world of Watchmen is that electric cars have replaced gas-powered ones, thereby eliminating the need for oil.
pedestrian28
pedestrian28 - 10/20/2008, 7:40 PM
One more thing: Ozymandias destroying various cities all over the world using ATOMIC ENERGY goes against his goal of PREVENTING nuclear holocaust. This ending sounds like a fake-out in my opinion.
lexid523
lexid523 - 10/21/2008, 7:55 AM
But, if it looks like Manhattan's doing, the US would be blamed for it, and WWIII would break out anyway. And that's just the most obvious problem with this ending...
SGA
SGA - 10/21/2008, 1:57 PM
ok, well sorry for getting my facts wrong pedestrian28.

I only read Watchmen one time and that was about 2 months ago. i was simply going off memory, no need to let your panties ride up.
Lucien17
Lucien17 - 10/27/2008, 12:17 PM
I think the important thing here is Dr. Manhattan was in no way implicated in the attack on New York. This gives more poignance to his leaving at the end, because humanity is flawed and he is just too different. If he were implicated in the attack that would completely change his reasons for leaving Earth. I also agree that it contradicts Ozy's reason for the attack, and that it would be problematic for why the Comedian was killed, although they could just change what he saw on the island, or what he may have learned. He might not be crazy if what he saw was a machine though, so that would change quite a lot.
I'm hoping that this is just a fake ending to keep people on their toes, especially since no matter what confidentiality statement you have someone sign, the fans will still talk.
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 11/25/2008, 8:37 AM
what a tool
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