The story of the upcoming TV show will not be adapted from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's original comic series.
- May 23, 2018
AceShowbiz - The iconic and limited comic series, "Watchmen", which tells a story about a group of retired American superheroes investigating a murder of one of their kind, will be adapted into live-action TV series on HBO by Damon Lindelof. Lindelof, who is also well known as the screenwriter of "Star Trek" (2009), gave an update about the TV adaptation in an open letter posted on Instagram on Tuesday, May 22.
In the five-page open letter addressed to his fans, Lindelof said he and his team would not adapt Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's version of the story. "We have no desire to 'adapt' the twelve issues Mr. Moore and Mr. Gibbons created thirty years ago," Lindelof stated.
As an attempt to calm the possibly-raging diehard comic fans, Lindelof said that he would "remix" his own original story with the original material instead. The 45-year-old screenwriter explained further in his letter why he did not have any desire to adapt the original story. "Those issues are sacred ground and they will not be retread, nor recreated, nor reproduced, nor rebooted," he said.
According to Lindelof, the old issues are The Old Testament. Therefore, what comes after The Old Testament will not erase what has been there before and this goes for HBO's "Watchmen" series too. In his letter, Lindelof also admitted that he has an immense amount of respect towards Alan Moore, whom he thinks is a person who has an extraordinary talent of mythic proportion.
Furthermore, he added that the TV series would not be a sequel to the live-action movie "Watchmen" (2009). The new original story will be unpredictable with its own tectonic plates. "It must ask new questions and explore the world through a fresh lens. More importantly, it must be contemporary," Lindelof said.
It is also revealed from the letter that there will be new characters. "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," Lindelof wrote.
Zack Snyder directed the "Watchmen" movie. It grossed $185.2 million worldwide.
