WATCHMEN TV Drama Gets Series Order from HBO

Who watches the Watchmen?  HBO says you will.

Deadline has word that HBO has given a series order to Watchmen, showrunner Damon Lindelof's drama series based on the classic DC Comics maxi-series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

According to the article, Watchmen is "set in an alternate history where “superheroes” are treated as outlaws", and "embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel while attempting to break new ground of its own."  In a letter to fans, Lindelof revealed the series isn't an adaptation of the comic series, but an original story set in its fictional world.

The cast will include Regina King, Jeremy Irons, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Adelaide Clemens, Andrew Howard, Tom Mison, Frances Fisher, Jacob Ming-Trent, Sara Vickers, Dylan Schombing, Lily Rose Smith and Adelynn Spoon.  It's not yet known which characters they will be playing.

Lindelof will serve as executive producer with Nicole Kassell, who directed the pilot episode, and Tom Spezialy.  Stephen Williams will serve as director and executive producer.  Watchmen is produced for HBO by White Rabbit in association with Warner Bros Television.

HBO also released the below teaser graphic for the series, using a quote from the comic series where Doctor Manhattan tells Ozymandias, "In the end?  Nothing ends, Adrian.  Nothing ever ends."

Created in 1986 by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, Watchmen was a 12-issue maxi-series set in an alternate reality that closely mirrors the contemporary world of the 1980s, but with the presence of superheroes that has altered the outcome of real-world events.  In keeping with the realism of the series, the costumed crimefighters of Watchmen are commonly called "superheroes", but only one, Doctor Manhattan, possesses superhuman powers. The war in Vietnam ends with a U.S. victory in 1971 and Richard Nixon is still president as of October 1985.  When the story begins, the existence of Doctor Manhattan has given the U.S. a strategic advantage over the Soviet Union, which has increased tensions between the two nations. Eventually, superheroes grow unpopular among the police and the public, leading to the passage of legislation, the Keene Act, in 1977 to outlaw them.  While many of the heroes retired, Doctor Manhattan and a veteran superhero known as The Comedian operate as government-sanctioned agents.  Another, Rorschach, continues to operate outside the law as a vigilante.

In October 1985, New York City police investigate the murder of a man named Edward Blake.  With the police having no leads, Rorschach decides to probe further.  Discovering Blake to be the face behind The Comedian, Rorschach believes he has discovered a plot to terminate costumed adventurers and sets about warning four of his retired comrades -- Dan Dreiberg (formerly the second Nite Owl), the emotionally detached Doctor Manhattan and his lover Laurie Juspeczyk (the second Silk Spectre), and Adrian Veidt (once the hero Ozymandias), a successful businessman.

After Blake's funeral, Manhattan is accused on national television of being the cause of cancer in friends and former colleagues.  When the U.S. government takes the accusations seriously, Manhattan exiles himself to Mars.  As Manhattan is one of the United States' greatest military powers, his departure throws humanity into political turmoil, with the Soviet Union invading Afghanistan to capitalize on the perceived American weakness. Rorschach's concerns appear vindicated when Adrian Veidt narrowly survives an assassination attempt, and Rorschach himself is framed for murdering Moloch, a former supervillain, and imprisoned.  Nite Owl and Rorschach work to uncover the conspiracy surrounding the death of The Comedian and the accusations that drove Manhattan into exile.

Watchmen is expected to debut on HBO sometime in 2019.