There's a reason I strongly suggest that avid readers wander around an actual bookstore once in a while, if possible. As easy as it is to buy or borrow a book online, sometimes, the best way to stumble upon an interesting read is through the physical act of browsing. That's how I came across Adrian McKinty's 2019 thriller The Chain a few years back. The paperback cover art caught my attention (the blurb from Stephen King certainly helped too), but it was the premise on the back that led me to make the purchase. The set-up for this thriller honestly sounded like it'd be pure nightmare fuel for any parent.

Full disclosure, I'm not a parent, but when I read the synopsis for the book, my stomach turned, as I couldn't fathom any parent I know having to deal with such a scenario. Even having read the book, as I follow the updates on Damon Lindelof's plan to make a book-to-screen adaptation of the story as an HBO limited series, it still makes me shudder. While the plot for the story is a nightmare, the latest casting news for the adaptation is anything but. It was announced today that Jodie Comer is set to play the lead.

What The Chain Is About

McKinty's novel centers on a woman named Rachel, who learns that her daughter has been kidnapped. The people who took her also have a child who has been kidnapped. In order to get her own child back, she has to pay a ransom and kidnap someone else's child. As you'll likely surmise, the titular "chain" being orchestrated turns victimized parents into kidnappers each time.

Damon Lindelof's HBO Adaptation

In January of this year, HBO announced that it had ordered Damon Lindelof's limited series adaptation of the novel, stating the following details:

• The Chain will be 8 episodes
• Damon Lindelof (The Leftovers, Watchmen) will serve as showrunner
• Lindelof co-wrote the pilot story with Carly Wray and Michael Ellenberg
• Adrien McKinty is a co-executive producer. 
• Lindelof is planning on "expanding the mythology of McKinty's award-winning thriller." 

Jodie Comer Is Set To Star

We can now add Jodie Comer's name to the list of things we know, as Deadline reported today that Comer has signed on to play the role of Rachel in Lindelof's adaptation. This is undoubtedly a win for the upcoming show. Comer is well known on screen and stage, having won an Emmy and a BAFTA for her starring role in Killing Eve, as well as a Tony Award for her Broadway performance in Prima Facie. On the features side, she recently appeared in 28 Years Later. I can't wait to see what she brings to the role of Rachel.

Assuming Lindelof's adaptation is going to follow the same basic premise of the book, it'll be interesting to see how she tackles the part of a mother who's faced with doing the unthinkable, while simultaneously worrying about the safety of her own child, who's in the hands of parents dealing with the exact same situation. It's the kind of complex situation that requires a top-notch actor, and it sounds like they found one!

It's probably too much to hope that this series will land on the 2026 TV schedule, but now that it's found its star, it seems like things are moving right along for the series. Hopefully, we'll hear word of more cast additions and production getting started in the near future. In the meantime, you can pick up a copy of The Chain at Barnes & Noble and Amazon. Or you could try heading out to your favorite bookstore. Maybe wander around a bit and see what catches your eye while you're there!

As one of the big brains behind Lost, Damon Lindelof is something of a polarizing pop culture figure. Watchmen and The Leftovers are two of my all-time favorite TV shows, so I'm always on board with whatever he does, including the upcoming HBO series Lanterns., where he's an EP alongside the brilliant (and also subversive) DC Comics scribe Tom King. Some of Lindelof's past comments about Green Lantern sparked some recent negativity from a GL writer, and he's now aiming to clear the air.

Lindelof's comments were made on the podcast Loveitt or Leave It in 2024, long before the surprisingly sizeable backlash to the non-vibrant Lanterns trailer, which was leaked online before a hasty release by HBO (which also trolled griping audience members). But when the always brilliant comic writer Grant Morrison reacted to them online this week, particularly the "green is stupid" quote, the floodgates were reopened.

In response to the renewed criticisms, Lindelof took to Instagram to partially contextualize the comment and to justify his time and efforts on what was a dream project for him.

No hate on Grant Morrison, a lovely chap whom I've chatted up in the past, but it's pretty clear from listening to that podcast that Lindelof was speaking in jest, though I can understand that just reading the tone-less words under different circumstances makes it easier to believe they were made spitefully.

The Mrs. Davis co-creator shared a pic of himself wearing a Green Lantern shirt with some cast members from Lost, and shared that it was his wardrobe for his first Comic-Con appearance. In his words:

I totally want to see that 3rd grade questionnaire at some point. If it's noted that his favorite animal is a polar bear, it would maybe bring about a sigh of relief.

In any case, Damon Lindelof put aside all snark to make it clear that he is grateful to be part of this project, and is respectful of the source material and the fans who love it all. As he put it:

Not that any of his comments can guarantee Lanterns will be exactly what everyone is looking for, but at least everyone can breathe more eaily knowing that Lindelof doesn't actually think the color green is stupid. Because that's what should be keeping us all up at night, right? Hmmm.

Lanterns is set to debut on HBO (and via HBO Max subscription) in August, so stay tuned for more details as the ring puts them out there. And everyone who doesn't care to watch the upcoming DC show can feel free to relive Ryan Reynolds' failed venture with glee.

The DCU has gotten off to a great start under James Gunn, but 2026 will be a big year for the franchise with both the upcoming Supergirl movie and the highest-profile DC series so far, Lanterns, on HBO Max.

The series' first trailer has already been met with some backlash because we never saw the Green Lantern characters in costume. This decision may have directly led to some old comments from Lanterns writer and producer Damon Lindelof resurfacing, which has a former Green Lantern comic writer less than thrilled.

What Damon Lindelof Said About Lanterns

The resurfaced comments in question come from a September 2024 episode of the Lovett or Leave it podcast where Damon Lindelof was a guest. At that point little was being said publicly about the Lanterns series, but the name was known. When asked about the show the writer said…

While it should be pointed out that the show Damon Lindelof was on was comedy focused, and thus the Lost scribe may have been trying to be funny. But a lot of people didn’t take it that way, and the fact that the Lanterns trailer had a distinct lack of green is being read by many as evidence that Lindelof may not actually like the franchise he’s working with, and one comic writer is among that group.

How Comic Writer Grant Morrison Responded

In a recent post on his Substack, comic writer Grant Morrison took Damon Lindelof to task for his early comments. He wondered why somebody who appeared not to like the content he was working on would choose to do so, saying…

If Damon Lindelof truly doesn’t like Green Lantern, then it’s a fair question to ask. There have certainly been cases where we’ve seen adaptations of pop culture material go through significant changes. And frequently the reason for that seemed to be a feeling that the material had something wrong with it, even though the fact that the existing content was popular was exactly why it was being adapted.

One might understand a writer taking a job they didn’t love simply because it was the job that was available, but as Grant Morrison points out, Damon Lindelof likely wasn’t in that sort of a position, as he’s had plenty of success in the past, including on entirely original concepts. Morrison continued…

Damon Lindelof has worked on comic material before as the showrunner of the very popular Watchmen series. Of course, Alan Moore didn't like that either, so it seems this writer has a tendency to upset people who work in comics.

In the end, the lack of green in Lanterns likely had more to do with holding off on the reveal for marketing reasons than any actual problem with the green in Green Lantern. Still, time will tell.

Damon Lindelof has quite the impressive track record as a showrunner collaborating with the folks at HBO. In 2014, in the wake of Lost, he created The Leftovers, which earned both terrific reviews and a cult following through its three-season run, and two years after that show ended, he performed a miracle in the creation of the phenomenal limited series Watchmen. Sadly, it’s been a minute since Lindelof has personally spearheaded a new show for the premium cable channel, but that streak is now ready to end thanks to the development of his new project: The Chain.

The show was announced via press release this morning and has been given an eight-episode, straight-to-series order – so don’t get fret getting your hopes up for a production that doesn’t end up materializing. It’s part of a two-year overall deal that HBO signed with Lindlof last fall, and it will be based on the novel of the same name by author Adrian McKinty (first published in 2019). It’s unclear if it’s going to be a straight adaptation, as it’s said that the filmmaker will be “expanding the mythology” of the source material, which is something he did to great acclaim with the aforementioned Watchmen.

McKinty’s thriller pairs the idea of chain letters and hostage exchanges, as it sees parents get wrapped up in a horrible kidnapping scheme: mothers and fathers not only have to pay a ransom when their children are abducted, but they are also forced to kidnap a child themselves and keep a chain of crimes going. Damon Lindelof has written the pilot script with Carly Wray (Mad Men, The Leftovers, Westworld, Watchmen), and Adrian McKinty is part of the production as a co-executive producer.

This actually marks the second time that The Chain has been optioned for adaptation. In 2020 (per Deadline), Universal Pictures planned to develop a feature version of the story and Edgar Wright and Jane Goldman were respectively lined up to direct and pen the script. That version never ended up materializing, which opened the door for HBO to make the new series.

While The Chain will be Lindelof’s first HBO gig as a showrunner since Watchmen, he has remained active with the network recently thanks to his role in the creation of the new DC Studios series Lanterns starring Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler. The acclaimed filmmaker is credited as a co-creator on the show along with Chris Mundy and Tom King, though Mundy alone is serving as the showrunner.

Given how relatively quickly The Chain was announced following the announcement of Lindelof’s new HBO deal, it will hopefully develop quickly and we’ll start to hear more details about it soon. Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more news and updates about the intriguing project as casting gets underway and more of the vision is revealed.

To get this factoid out of the way right quick, for all the judgment it’ll earn, I’m not the biggest Green Lantern fan. Meant in the strictest sense, in that I do enjoy any time spent with magic ring-bearers, but I’m not nearly as well-versed in the intergalactic lore as other DC fans. As such, I’m not inherently predisposed to a future of obsessing over Max’s reconfigured Lanterns series. And yet somehow, studio co-boss James Gunn has convinced me this could be not just an incredible entry in DC"s upcoming television lineup, but the smartest show on TV.

Lanterns will be imperative to the overall DCU, as the mystery being investigated by John Stewart and Hal Jordan will directly tie into the “Gods and Monsters” chapter. Gunn previously revealed that Ozark creator Chris Mundy is set as showrunner for a story that shares genre space with True Detective. That’s already wildly exciting, but the show’s latest behind-the-scenes additions already make this one of the strongest creative teams imaginable. Let’s look at the two talents whom Gunn revealed co-wrote the Lanterns pilot with Mundy.

Tom King

Any modern era DC fan is likely well-versed in writer Tom King's work, award-winning and otherwise. (Not to mention his Marvel miniseries The Vision and Image's Love Everlasting.) But for those who aren't, I don't mind running down a shortlist of stellar series and stories he's penned over the last decade: Mister MIracle, Human Target, Rorschach, Strange Adventures, The Omega Men, and Danger Street.

When it comes to the Dark Knight, King wrote the first 85 issues (plus a trio of annuals) for Batman's ongoing Rebirth run, which he followed up with the Batman/Catwoman miniseries, Batman: Killing Time, Gotham City: Year One, Batman: One Bad Day - The Riddler, and stories for the anthologies Batman: Black and White and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Still not a comprehensive list.

King won the Eisner Award for Best Writer the two times he was nominated, in 2018 and 2019, and more recently penned Supergirl: World of Tomorrow, which is being adapted into a feature film within this very DCU we're discussing. He's shaping to be one of Gunn's trusted scribes in the road ahead, and it helps his cred on Lanterns that his Green Lantern story "Will You Be My God?" from Justice League: Darkseid War is considered a standout by more than just yours truly.

I'm an unabashed Tom King nerd, which wouldn't take John Stewart's detective skills to figure out, but I do genuinely think he's a fantastic creative force to have in the writers room. He tells often methodical narratives that skew more grounded than fantastical, but with crescendo beats that feel far more earned than costant mass destruction. King also likes to play with timelines and sequence, which should also make for unique and engaging television on any scale.

Damon Lindelof

The third corner of this brainy trifecta is Emmy winner and longtime TV scribe Damon Lindelof, whose career is filled with stories set in heightened realities, focusing on bonkers situations. In the annals of TV history, he'll probably always be most remembered as co-creator of the mega-hit sci-fi mystery Lost, which is as much a blessing as a curse depending on one's mileage. (I personally dug most of what Lost offered up in its first four seasons, and then less after that.)

But it's everything Lindelof has put out since Lost that has me the most excited for his creative role in Lanterns. There's the emotionally devestating roller coaster of WTF that was the three seasons of The Leftovers, which pulled off some unparalleled story beats with its incredibly human look at what happens when spirituality and togetherness get ripped away.

Most appropriate for this argument, of course, is the fact that Damon Lindelof pulled off the impossible with a quasi-adaptation follow-up of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen, which was as groundbreaking and thought-provoking as live-action comic tales get. Not to mention extremely dark and emotional.

Most recently, Lindelof co-created 2023's genre-embracing action-adventure comedy Mrs. Davis, which was on a completely different tonal wavelength than his previous efforts, but was no less densely crafted, with a labarynthian story involving God, A.I., sneakers, and unrequited (plushighly reluctant) love.

All things told, Tom King and Damon Lindelof appear to be incapable of building up boring and hacky narratives, and the sky is truly the limit for where the two and Chris Mundy will take the Lanterns murder mystery.

Other Reactions To James Gunn's Lanterns News

Amid all the fans reacting to James Gunn's post about the Lanterns pilot, there were also a few familiar faces and names who popped up to share the positivity, including Tom King's frequent artist collaborator Mitch Gerards.

• Superman & Lois' Elizabeth Tulloch: Yay @damonlindelof!!!!
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3's Randy Havens: This is gonna be amazing
• The Suicide Squad's Flula Borg: 🔥!!
• DC Comics' writer Tom Taylor: Yeah! Great to hear!
• DC Comics artist Mitch Garads: 🔥🔥🔥💚💚💚
• The Umbrella Academy director/producer Jeff King: Murderers Row ✨

Here's hoping all things go smoothly, without any giant yellow obstacles getting in the way, so that Lanterns can find its way onto the schedule for DC fans with Max subscriptions. Until then, check out everything hitting the small screen with our 2024 TV schedule.

Spoilers below for certain elements of Peacock’s new sci-fi-action-adventure-comedy Mrs. Davis, so be warned if you haven’t watched at least the first episode.

While series such as Yellowjackets and The Mandalorian keeping TV viewers busy with theories and speculation in past weeks, the new multi-genre streaming series Mrs. Davis arrived seemingly out of nowhere and laid out one of the small screen’s most complex, intriguing and impossible-to-predict narratives in years. (And I, for one, adore it.) Its humanistic approach to genre storytelling alone makes it comparable to such former TV monoliths as Lost, so it’s perhaps no surprise that both shows share a co-creator in Damon Lindelof, who helped Big Bang Theory writer/producer Tara Hernandez bring her idea for Mrs. Davis’ “A.I. run amok” storyline to life. And as viewers no doubt picked up on in the early episodes, the new streaming show features some on-the-nose nods to the flashback-filled hit.

For instance, one of Mrs. Davis’ earliest scenes involves a bearded Ben Chaplin being stranded on an island just before being rescued, as well as Jake McDornan’s Wiley introducing Betty Gilpin’s Simone/Lizzy to his clandestine H.A.T.C.H. hideaway. (To say nothing of the religion-fueled content and other thematic avenues.) When speaking to Damon Lindelof and Tara Hernandez to promote the recent four-episode premiere of Mrs. Davis (available to stream with a Peacock subscription), I asked the former for his thoughts on being at the point where he’s able to make winking Lost callbacks in new projects. He started his answer with:

If I was in that writers room, I might personally have first bugged the bejesus out of Lindelof for insights on how he might have wanted to expand his one-and-done season of HBO’s Watchmen. But then after that, the Lost floodgates would certainly open. In any case, it’s definitely a practical matter that he probably has to have a Lost-related conversation on every new project he takes part in. And that likely goes double or triple for a show like Mrs. Davis that taps into the worlds of both science and science-fiction, and one in which mysteries and twists are built into the narrative.

I have to assume there exists a shortlist of 15-20 topics and elements that Lindelof knows will automatically spark Lost comparisons and conversations. But seeing as how it’s been nearly 20 years since the show first went into production, that’s probably enough time for the co-creator to feel like it’s okay to poke fun in a somewhat reverent manner. 

It also helps that Mrs. Davis wasn’t born completely from Damon Lindelof’s brain, as its initial pitch was crafted by Tara Hernandez, who likely didn’t fill that first script up with Lost homages. To that end, Lindelof continued:

Would it have been too far for Ben Chaplin’s character to look right at the camera while saying, “Boy, I sure am lost out here,” or showing him saying that he needed to go back to the island right after being rescued? Yes, yes it would have been too far. Funny, definitely, but also too much of a stretch. 

Speaking of Chaplin’s character Arthur Schroedinger, Lindelof said the whole idea behind his rescue was jumped on by the Lost-embracing writers. In his words:

I assume at the bottom of the pile of rejected ideas was “What if he’s stuck under a polar bear and a donkey wheel?” 

With a talented cast that doesn’t have quite as many front-and-center leads as Lost, Mrs. Davis will be dropping a new episode each week on Peacock for the remainder of its season, though there are plenty of other great Peacock shows to keep viewers busy in the meantime.

There’s been a lot of intrigue about Peacock’s upcoming sci-fi series Mrs. Davis, ever since it was announced two years ago that Lost creator Damon Lindelof was teaming with The Big Bang Theory writer Tara Hernandez for “an epic battle of biblical and binary proportions.” As we’ve come to know more about Mrs. Davis and its exploration of artificial intelligence vs. free will, that intrigue has only increased. The reviews are in for the series ahead of the first batch of episodes dropping Thursday, April 20, so let’s see if they can shine some more light on this bonkers plotline and what exactly we’re in for.

Betty Gilpin (Nurse Jackie, GLOW) stars in the series as Simone, a nun who is an important part of a resistance movement to take down the all-powerful A.I. Jack McDorman (The Right Stuff, Dopesick) plays her ex-boyfriend Wiley, a major figure in the underground anti-tech movement, and they are joined by a great supporting cast that includes Margo Martindale, Andy McQueen, David Arquette and more. Samantha Nelson of IGN rates the premiere episodes a “Great” 8 out of 10, saying: 

Kelly Connolly of TV Guide watched all eight episodes of Season 1 and gives Mrs. Davis a 9.0, calling the series “gutsy” and “brilliantly silly.” The critic praises Betty Gilpin’s commitment to the role, saying: 

Devindra Hardawar of Engadget agrees, commenting that the series simply wouldn’t work without Betty Gilpin. While Mrs. Davis inspired some philosophical questions, the critic says the show is more focused on goofy shenanigans and soapy plot twists, writing: 

Jenna Scherer of the AV Club grades the series an A-, noting that it’s not afraid to shock its viewers by veering from rollicking fun to complicated reflection, and it’s hilarious to boot. Some viewers may be turned off by how overwhelming it all is, but the critic promises that the ending sticks the landing. From the review:

Alex Maidy of JoBlo is fully on board with what Mrs. Davis is bringing to the screen, and while the critic is hesitant to spoil the experience with too many details, he says this algorithm hits all the right notes, rating the series an “Amazing” 9 out of 10 and saying: 

Overall the critics seem excited about Mrs. Davis, and that’s reflected in its Rotten Tomatoes score as well. The series has an 88% Fresh rating from 16 reviews, and it will be interesting to see how that develops once more viewers have had the opportunity to experience it. 

The first four episodes of Mrs. Davis will premiere on April 20, with new episodes dropping every Thursday for Peacock subscription holders. Be sure to check out the other best shows on Peacock, and you can see what series are premiering soon on TV and streaming with our 2023 TV schedule.  

A Star Wars feature took a major step forward last fall, as it was reported that Damon Lindelof had boarded it. The writer/producer, who's best known for creating Lost, The Leftovers and Watchmen, was originally tapped to pen the script for said project. However, the SW production hit a setback when Lindelof exited and his script was scrapped. Fans have been looking for clarification on the matter since and, now, the acclaimed TV showrunner is sharing his feelings on the decision to discard his screenplay. 

Damon Lindelof recently attended the premiere of his latest streaming project, Mrs. Davis, which is set to debut on Peacock. While he spent most of his time answering questions about the offbeat, twisted series in question, he also spoke to Variety  about the Star Wars film he was originally a part of. He didn't say too much about it, though what he did offer up was quite civil:

This is a very classy response in the face of a potentially awkward situation. After his exit, a replacement was found in the form of Steven Knight, who is best known for creating Peaky Blinders. As mentioned, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is still attached to direct. The Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker is the recipient of two Academy Awards for her documentary work. She's also known for directing episodes of Disney+'s acclaimed Marvel Cinematic Universe-set series Ms. Marvel.  

Damon Lindelof wrote his original script alongside fellow TV veteran Justin Britt-Gibson. Rumors pointed to the movie being tied to the sequel trilogy, and that was confirmed during Star Wars Celebration, where it was announced that Daisy Ridley's Rey would be the lead character.

The future of the Star Wars film franchise has been hazy as of late with films from Kevin Feige and Patty Jenkins now off the docket. A flick that's in limbo is that of The Last Jedi's Rian Johnson, who's spoken about his plans possibly falling through. However, Lucasfilm did recently provide fans with some hope by announcing the exciting movie plans were revealed at the previously mentioned fan gathering. Titles from James Mangold, Dave Filoni and Taika Waititi are all in different stages of development.

While Damon Lindelof’s involvement with George Lucas' cosmic IP has come to an end (for now), his latest project, Mrs. Davis, is getting a lot of buzz. The science fiction series takes a dystopian look at a technological world in conflict with how religion operates within society. These are large, complex, abstract ideas that are grounded by an action-packed, bonkers storytelling style. Critics who have seen the series have given it positive reviews, and it stars GLOW’s Betty Gilpin and Limitless’s Jake McDorman in leading roles. Though it's great that Lindelof is excited for what's to come and is currently busy, let's hope he gets another chance to craft a story in the beloved science fiction saga.

Meanwhile, know that you can stream Star Wars shows and movies using a Disney+ subscription. Mrs. Davis will also be available for Peacock subscribers to stream starting on April 20. 

On paper, Peacock’s new series Mrs. Davis seems like the TV equivalent to Rachel’s English trifle on Friends — an unexpected mixture of genres, themes, plot points, and more — but it’s a far more delicious surprise, and was wholly intentional to boot. Created by Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof, the series is a thought-provoking epic on the scale of Arthurian legend, while also serving as a hilarious and humanist romp throughout its eight-episode run. But it only took around ten minutes for me to be unmistakably convinced that it was scientifically crafted to hit all my brain’s pleasure centers. It’s not only one of Peacock’s best originals, but it’ll instantly be one of 2023’s most memorable shows.

What Is Mrs. Davis?

To divulge too much about Mrs. Davis’ core plotline is to dampen some of the exploratory fun, but it’s certainly easier to speak to some of its more specific story details now that its Peacock premiere is imminent. The series stars G.L.O.W. and Gaslit star Betty Gilpin as Simone, a rabble-rousing nun within a convent boasting Margo Martindale as its Mother Superior. (Or at least a character portrayed by Martindale.) With a past that she’s constantly trying to avoid and ignore, Simone finds herself tasked with an age-old quest, though delivered in the most modern of ways possible: she must find the legendary (but totally real) Holy Grail, as a way to appease a highly advanced A.I. app that has been nearly universally embraced around the world. 

Simone is but one exception to that adoration, as she harbors much ill will towards the algorithmic entity and its seemingly total control over others. Another exception is her ex-boyfriend Wiley, who has a connection to others who are similarly jaded about the all-knowing program. Wiley is played with abundant glee and self-supporting machismo by Greek and The Right Stuff’s Jake McDornan, who is essentially the under-achieving second cousin of Indiana Jones, with a mustache upping his cool points total by a handful.

And while the nun vs. AI hook does indeed play into the opposing sides of religion and technology, Mrs. Davis is way too complex for such a reductive framing, and is more thoughtful than agenda-based regarding that subject matter. Because it’s also about finding togetherness with other humans both within and outside the bounds of faith and tech, while also being ridiculous, exciting, confounding, magnificent and loads of other 3-5 syllable words. Here’s one more: incomparable, even though I’m about to make even more comparisons. 

Why Mrs. Davis Is A Huge Thrill Ride From The Very Start 

It doesn’t seem inherently natural for The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon writer/producer Tara Hernandez and Lost and Watchmen’s Damon Lindelof to have created a series that so perfectly utilizes many of the elements that made their prior projects pop. And yet Mrs. Davis does just that, kicking off with an opening sequence that superbly bounces from semi-serious historical drama to Monty Python and the Holy Grail hyper-violence, with threads of vigilante bravado and almost surprisingly broad comedy strokes. (There’s an outstanding fight stunt involving a double-impaling that may go down as one of my favorite on-screen kills in all of 2023 TV.) 

From there, viewers meet all the other characters that populate this wonderfully heightened world, with Gilpin's Simone and McDornan's Wiley delivering truly excellent intro moments. Which can mostly be said for everyone else in the show, as the creative team made sure to give the noteworthy characters noteworthy arrivals. And then continued to give them noteworthy moments throughout the entire season. 

Again, without dipping into anything directly spoilery, I'll say that Mrs. Davis brings the entire gamut of small-screen entertainment to the (round) table. If you're looking for intricately choreographed motorcycle chases, you'll be pleased. If you like non-traditional "Will They? Won't They?" romantic storylines, it's here. If you like high-stakes conspiracies, dense mysteries, killer twists, wordplay, explosions, philosophical debates, creepy twins, and self-aware references to Lindelof's Lost, you have found your entertainment mecca. And I don't even have to say "If you like Silicon Valley's Chris Diamantopoulos shirtless and hollering with a masterful Australian accent," but it's obviously impossible not to like that, so no point in saying it.

There's also no point in denying the perfectly natural urge to watch the new show soon, and repeatedly. Mrs. Davis will be available to stream with a Peacock subscription starting on Thursday, April 20, with the first four episodes going live immediately. Don’t let me or the algorithm tell you what to do, but you should probably definitely watch it as soon as possible, even if it means putting aside everything else in your life that isn’t Mrs. Davis. There now. Isn’t everything better?  

Although Disney+ subscribers have been treated to numerous Star Wars TV shows over the last several years and have plenty more to look forward to, the film side of this franchise set in a galaxy far, far away has stagnated since The Rise of Skywalker’s release in late 2019. The latest setback on this front was yesterday’s news that Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson are no longer writing the Star Wars movie that Ms. Marvel’s Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is set to direct. However, word’s come in that their replacement has already been found.

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has reportedly been hired to write this particular Star Wars movie, per Variety. It’s unclear if Knight’s screenplay will borrow any elements from Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson’s work or if he’s starting with a completely clean slate, but either way, it didn’t take long for this particular project to get back on track. It’s also possible that more information about this movie, including potentially its title, could be revealed at Star Wars Celebration next month.

Along with Peaky Blinders, which ended last year after six seasons and can be streamed with a Netflix subscription, Steve Knight’s other notable credits include shows like See and the Guy Pearce-led A Christmas Carol miniseries, as well as movies like Dirty Pretty Things, Easter Promises, Allied, The Girl in the Spider’s Web and Serenity (the Matthew McConaughey one, not the Firefly continuation). Knight also reportedly wrote a treatment for Man of Steel 2, but “it “didn’t thrill Warner executives,” and now James Gunn is writing and directing a reboot called Superman: Legacy.

This changeover from Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson to Steven Knight on the writing side of things follows just a few weeks after it was reported that Patty Jenkins and Kevin Feige’s Star Wars movies are dead. Additionally, Devotion director J.D. Dillard said in November that he was no longer developing his own Star Wars movie. Along with what Knight and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy are working on, other movies that are still believed to be in the works for this franchise include one from Taika Waititi (who has previous Star Wars directing experience from The Mandalorian) and another from Free Guy and Deadpool 3’s Shawn Levy.

There was a time when Rogue Squadron, the movie Patty Jenkins was attached to direct, was supposed to come out in December 2023, but that’s obviously not happening anymore. As such, while shows like Ahsoka, Skeleton Crew and The Acolyte have loose released periods penciled in, it remains to be seen when the next cinematic Star Wars adventure will reach audiences, let alone which one. Again, with Star Wars Celebration happening in April, hopefully that will bring some much-needed updates on where the Star Wars film slate stands, and in the case of Steven Knight and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s movie, it’d be nice to learn some plot details.

While we wait for more Star Wars news to break, don’t forget you can easily watch the Star Wars movies in order on Disney+. TV-wise, catch new episodes of The Mandalorian on Wednesdays.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the future of Star Wars on the big screen is a bit hazy. While the franchise's original programming on Disney+ has been popular, it has been said that a number of in-the-works features have been put on ice (including Patty Jenkins' Rogue Squadron and the film being developed by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige). One movie has been apparently been kept safe amidst these moves is a mystery blockbuster being made by Oscar-winning documentarian Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy – but even that project is now dealing with behind-the-scenes shakeups.

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has been collaborating with screenwriters Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson on the Star Wars film, but that's apparently no longer the case. Deadline has gotten confirmation that both Lindelof and Britt-Gibson have left the project, and it's unclear who Lucasfilm will hire to replace them. The filmmakers first joined the project in October 2022, and it's still moving forward. It's expected that details about it will be revealed at Star Wars Celebration, the biennial franchise-centric convention that is scheduled to be held in London next month.  

The reason for the departure isn't clear, as neither Damon Lindelof nor Justin Britt-Gibson have made an official statement about the development, but, as noted by Deadline, there are clues to point to in a recent interview that Lindelof did with SlashFilm. Said the filmmaker:

That quote was first published less than a week ago, and it seems that perhaps Lindelof ended up being able to answer those "maybe" questions for himself in the time since then. Sometimes it's better to be an observer instead of a participant – though it is worth noting that the filmmaker has previously contributed to films and television shows based on/expanding some of the most popular franchises of all time, including Star Trek, Watchmen, and Alien. In this particular case, he evidently didn't feel that he could make the great movie he wanted to make set in the Star Wars canon, and that has led to him parting ways with the project.

In addition to the mystery film from Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Star Wars is apparently also still developing a feature that is being directed by Taika Waititi (and the most recent report said that he is aiming to play a role in the film as well). We don't know much about either blockbuster, but that may totally change after Star Wars Celebration 2023.

To stay up to date with all of the franchise projects in the works, including both film and television, scope out our Upcoming Star Wars Movies And TV guide. To learn about all of the theatrical releases that are actually coming out in the next few months, check out our 2023 Movie Release Calendar. 

There are long-running movie franchises, and then there’s Star Wars. George Lucas’ beloved space opera has been entertaining for decades, with generations brought up on the galaxy far, far away. While we’re in a bit of a drought move-wise as the property expands on the small screen, it was recently announced that Lost and Watchmen’s Damon Lindelof is working on a new film project. And apparently his Star Wars movie could end up being tied to the sequel trilogy.

Since Disney acquired Lucasfilm the House of Mouse has been consistently producing new Star Wars projects, in addition to theme park attractions. But following The Rise of Skywalker, no new movies have been filmed, with the studios’ focus instead seemingly on TV shows like The Mandalorian and Andor, the latter of which recently included the return of a Clone Wars favorite. That’s what made the news of Damon Lindelof’s developing Star Wars flick so thrilling for fans, who have countless questions. A report by THR helps to peel back the curtain on the project, and where it’ll fit in the franchise’s timeline. And apparently it’ll be set after the events of the sequel trilogy, and will even feature some characters from that period of time.

Just a few days ago it was revealed that accomplished writer/producer Damon Lindelof is developing his own Star Wars movie, with Ms. Marvel filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy on board to direct. This was a thrilling step forward, as there’s been so little real news about the movie side of the space opera. Add in Lindelof’s carer of producing fascinating projects like The Leftovers, and it sounds like he’ll be using his creative energy on crafting a story set after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

To clarify, this isn’t going to be a sequel or a story that directly connects to the events of the previous three movies. Instead, it’s going to be using the sat timeline, and will simply feature a few characters that were introduced throughout the last few movies. Unfortunately, there’s no word on exactly who Damon Lindelof is centering his mysterious story around.

This movie isn’t meant to start a new trilogy, but is a standalone movie that will reportedly offer the option for continuation if Lucasfilm so deems it. Damon Lindelof is writing the developing flick with Justin Britt-Gibson (The Strain), with the two reportedly hard at work. Although according to the same report by THR, there was a two-weeks writer’s room shortly after Star Wars Celebration, which helped to find the broad strokes of the mysterious story.

It should be interesting to see if Damon Lindelof’s movie ends up being the first post-Skywalker Saga film to hit theaters. That honor was originally going to go to Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron, which was put on hold due to creative differences. Then there’s Taika Waititi and Rian Johnson’s Star Wars movies, which are still in the earliest stage of development. 

For now the Star Wars franchise continues to grow on the small screen in shows like Andor. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. 

Since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was released in 2019, the larger Star Wars franchise has clearly had a big screen problem. While numerous projects have been announced for theatrical release from time to time, three years later, none have come out-- and the next one is at least three years away. However, following on the news that Rian Johnson’s Star Wars project is not dead, there is apparently another one that is creeping forward, and it even has a director.

Deadline is reporting that Lost producer Damon Lindelof is co-writing a Star Wars movie for Lucasfilm, and that Ms. Marvel director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has been brought on to helm the project. This is the second major theatrical project for Obaid-Chinoy in the last month. She was also recently attached to a theatrical adaptation of the novel Brilliance being produced by Will Smith.

At this point, that’s basically all we know about the project. It’s being specified that Lindelof is co-writing the script, but nobody apparently knows who he is co-writing the movie with. The script is also not yet complete, but the decision was made to bring in a director now so that the director’s vision for the project could become part of the script. 

According to the most recent list of Upcoming Disney movies from the studio, there are two Star Wars projects that have release dates. One is set to open in December 2025, and the other is set for December 2027. Both movies are untitled so we don’t know what they are. One of them is expected to be the Star Wars film being written by Taika Waititi. The other is anybody’s guess, so it could very well be this project.

Rian Johnson recently confirmed that his Star Wars movie, or movies, is a project that he has continued to discuss with Lucasfilm, so while some rumors have indicated the planned trilogy is dead, that does not appear to be the case. Having said that, there are also no specific plans for that movie to go into active production, so when we could see it is anybody’s guess. 

There are two other Star Wars projects whose future is a bit more cloudy. Marvel's Kevin Feige was going to produce a Star Wars movie at one point, but the last we heard about that project there was nothing of note going on. More curious is the Rogue Squadron film, which Patty Jenkins was set to direct. That film had a set release date before being pulled off the calendar entirely. Clearly the movie wasn’t moving at a speed that would allow it to hit its previous date, but we don’t know if the movie is still happening at all.  

Now that we have The Mandalorian and Grogu and Star Wars Day at our backs, it's time to look forward to what is next for the Star Wars franchise. Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of Star Wars being released, and there is exciting news on that front below, as well as what we can expect before and after that hallowed date.

There is a brand new adventure starring Ryan Gosling coming next year and an assortment of small-screen adventures; there’s so much to look forward to in the next few years. In the coming months and years, the list of best Star Wars movies and great Disney+ original shows could grow deeper and richer as these highly anticipated theatrical releases (the first in nearly a decade), new streaming shows, which are all available with a Disney+ subscription, and much more come our way.

Star Wars: A New Hope (February 19, 2027)

Fans who have been begging for Disney to re-release the original version of Star Wars will get their wish when the 1977 film that started it all returns to the big screen for a short time on February 19, 2027.

Nearly 50 years after George Lucas changed the world, moviegoers will get to see the director’s original, unaltered vision for the first time in decades, meaning all of the CGI and additional scenes from the 1997 “Special Edition” won’t be included.

Though Disney and Lucasfilm have yet to announce if The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi will receive similar treatment in the years to come, let’s cross our fingers and hope it happens. That said, it would have been cool if the full Original Trilogy was re-released in theaters like it’s the spring of 1997 all over again.

Star Wars: Starfighter - May 28, 2027

The biggest date on the upcoming calendar was revealed at Star Wars Celebration Japan in April 2025. Star Wars: Starfighter will bring one of the most in-demand actors to the galaxy when Ryan Gosling leads Shawn Levy’s long-in-the-works project. According to StarWars.com, the new original movie will follow Gosling’s still-unnamed starfighter as he navigates the galaxy five years after the events of 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. It will hit big screens about a year from now, on May 28, 2027.

This may be Gosling’s first franchise film, but he's no stranger to being a hero in space, as he's coming off the heels of the wildly successful Project Hail Mary this spring. In terms of plot, we still don't know anything, but we do know that production wrapped back in December 2025. So far, we've only seen the briefest of teasers, which revealed only the name and release date. We can't wait for a full trailer!

Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi - 2026

Star Wars: Visions Season 3 hit Disney+ towards the end of 2025, and that isn’t the only anime-influenced show set in the “galaxy far, far away” in the near future. StarWars.com has revealed Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi, a new spinoff following the adventures of Kara and Juro from “The Ninth Jedi” in the show’s first season. The expanded series will allow writer and director Kenji Kamiyama to further explore one of the most popular stories from Visions so far.

It's been a little over a year since there have been any updates on this, as of May 2026, so hopefully we'll hear more soon

Carlton Cuse’s Star Wars Show - TBD

One of the more interesting, albeit mysterious, Star Wars projects is Carlton Cuse’s in-the-works TV show he’s making alongside his son, Nick Cuse. When it was first announced back in April 2025, outlets like Variety reported that the Lost co-showrunner was working on something set in the galaxy far, far away, but didn’t know what it was going to be about, when it was set, or if it would focus on established or brand-new characters.

We’re at the one-year mark, and we still have more questions than answers about what the Cuse father-son duo has planned for audiences. Hopefully, that changes sooner rather than later, as Cuse’s style and attention to detail would work handsomely in the Star Wars universe. Like a few other projects on this list, as of May 2026, it's been over a year since we've heard anything more about this.

Ahsoka Season 2 - TBD

With all the cliffhangers in the Ahsoka Season 1 finale, fans were hopeful they would get some closure at some point in the future, and that very well may happen. In January 2024, Variety reported that the show’s second season was in development at Lucasfilm with Dave Filoni once again leading the charge.

According to ScreenRant, new details about the upcoming season were revealed at Star Wars Celebration 2025, including the return of Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker and Lars Mikkelsen’s Grand Admiral Thrawn. There’s also the debut of Game of Thrones alum Rory McCann, who is taking over the role of Baylan for the late Ray Stevenson. Bryce Dallas Howard, who directed two episodes of the upcoming season, called the new chapter “beautiful,” “thrilling,” “adventurous,” and “romantic.”

There had been talk of Ashoka Season 2 arriving on Disney+ at some point on the 2026 television schedule, but it's since gotten a release window for early 2027.

Simon Kinberg’s Star Wars Trilogy - TBD

Simon Kinberg has been one of the busiest names in show business as of late. In addition to co-creating Star Wars Rebels, he's helmed projects like The Running Man remake and that new Star Trek big-screen adventure in the works. As reported by Deadline in November 2024, the writer and producer is working on a Star Wars trilogy of his own.

Details are limited at best at this point in the project’s development. During a January 2026 interview with Deadline, outgoing Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy explained that Kinberg’s movie is still in the works, adding that he turned in a 70-page treatment a few weeks earlier and that he’d have more in March. March has since come and gone. The status of these is, at best, unknown.

Untitled Rey Movie - TBD

Those who thought Rey’s (Daisy Ridley) story was over with the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ending may want to think again, as the character is supposedly getting her own movie. Originally, Lost and The Leftovers creator Damon Lindelof was writing a Star Wars movie with partner Justin Britt-Gibson, and Shareen Obaid-Chinoy, who directed several episodes of Ms. Marvel, had been tapped to direct the mystery project. However, by March 2023, Lindelof and Britt-Gibson departed the project, and shortly thereafter, it was revealed that Peaky Blinders' Steven Knight had taken over scriptwriting duties, who also later left the project.

The project is still in a state of limbo as of May 2026.

Lando - TBD

Those holding out for a show based on the exploits of one of the galaxy’s coolest scoundrels are in for some good news and bad news. The good news first… Lando, which was first announced back in December 2020, is still in the works. However, it’s reportedly no longer a show but a full-fledged movie.

We’ve learned more about Lando over the years, including the fact that Donald Glover and his brother, Stephen, are behind the project, which was originally developed by Justin Simien. In September 2024, Glover told the Wall Street Journal that he wanted “it to be fun,” but didn’t elaborate on the status of his return to the Star Wars universe. In her big exit interview with Deadline in early 2026, Kathleen Kennedy said that Glover had turned in a script for the long-dormant project.

Untitled Dave Filoni Movie - TBD

After being arguably the most influential figure in Star Wars television for years, the time has come for new Lucasfilm chief Dave Filoni to leave his mark on the franchise's cinematic realm. It was announced at Star Wars Celebration 2023 as part of the latest update on the franchise's movie plans that he will direct a feature about "the escalating war between the Imperial Remnant and the fledgling New Republic."

After years of back-and-forth and plans that never amounted to much, THR reported in January 2026 that the project had been placed on the back burner, in favor of Filoni possibly continuing the Mando and Grogu story. I supposed we'll just have to see how the final box office shakes out for the first movie.

Star Wars Movies And Shows With Unknown Statuses

Though there are a great number of upcoming Star Wars movies and shows with release dates or at least updates from the past year, there are several others currently up in the air. Here are a few projects that are vague for now.

Star Wars: Dawn Of The Jedi - TBD

James Mangold is hard at work on a long-in-the-works Star Wars project. The filmmaker behind A Complete Unknown is set to helm Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, a movie that will take place roughly 25,000 years before any of the previous stories in the franchise that have been chronicled on film and television. The filmmaker described this project as a "Biblical epic" that takes a Ten Commandments-like approach to showing the origins of the Force.

The status of the project has been in limbo for some time, and in March 2026, Jeff Sneider appeared on The Hot Mic, where he said things didn’t look good for the movie. This isn’t something confirmed by Disney, but we shall see.

Taika Waititi Standalone Movie - TBD

It has been more than four years since it was first announced that Taika Waititi was working on a Star Wars movie after first directing The Mandalorian Season 1 finale. But nearly a half-decade after word began to spread, we have no movie and no idea what it’s about. There have been smaller updates over the years, like the one about 1917 writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns penning the script, but nothing big has come out in a long time.

In her January 2026 exit interview with Deadline (the one mentioned above), Kathleen Kennedy said the project was “still somewhat alive,” but it’s hard to say what that means at this time. This seems like yet another project that is on the backburner, at best.

The Mandalorian Season 4 - Disney+ - TBD

In February 2023, showrunner Jon Favreau revealed that he'd finished writing all of the episodes for The Mandalorian Season 4 and that the next season would connect with Ahsoka and Skeleton Crew. Taking into account the Dave Filoni-helmed movie now in development, we are not fully sure when the next installment in the popular series will premiere or what kind of story it will tell once the show does return.

In 2025, Favreau told Empire Magazine (via MovieWeb) that he still had Season 4 sitting on his desk and that it was structured more like a movie and less like a serialized show. The Mandalorian & Grogu is, according to Favreau, not a replacement for the series, but it may serve to be the end of the story. We'll have to see.

Be on the lookout for more information about these and other yet-to-be-announced projects in the coming weeks and months.

As it’s gone for the past two years, the current TV season features a glaring lack of Damon Lindelof storytelling, with HBO’s Watchmen having wrapped up its Emmy-winning run in late 2019. But that glut is thankfully coming to an end with the  upcoming streaming series Mrs. Davis, which Lindelof co-created with The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon writer/producer Tara Hernandez. The Peacock project has been shrouded in mystery so far, but now we finally know what the show will be about, generally speaking, as well as its first cast member, with GLOW vet Betty Gilpin set to take on the titular role.

While Peacock and Warner Bros. Television are still keeping things largely secretive, the casting announcement did confirm a couple of key details about the storyline and Betty Gilpin’s character, as well as who else will be involved behind the scenes. Let’s go through those updates below.

 What Will Mrs. Davis Be About? 

Whatever this title might bring to the forefront of your mind, Mrs. Davis’ actual plotline probably won’t match up. Without any specifics coming to the surface just yet, the new series will center on the “exploration of faith vs. technology,” and will deliver to Peacock subscribers an “epic battle of biblical and binary proportions.” 

Sounds like a perfectly suitable plotline for a show coming from someone who spent years writing for the science-leaning sitcom The Big Bang Theory, as well as someone who co-conceived one of TV’s most spiritually mysterious dramas in Lost. Not to mention Lindelof’s work with the demigods of Watchmen and the fraught belief systems of The Leftovers. Expect zero easy answers from this show, regardless of what the questions are.

Keeping things delightfully enigmatic will be Owen Harris, who is confirmed to be serving as an executive producer as well as the director of the premiere and several subsequent episodes. With directing credits for episodes of shows such as Misfits, The Twilight Zone and Brave New World, Harris is arguably best known for helming three episodes of Black Mirror, including the Emmy-winning “San Junipero” installment.

 Who Will Betty Gilpin Be Playing? 

Betty Gilpin has two high-profile TV series on the way in Starz’s Watergate-based political thriller Gaslit, as well as Apple TV+’s anthology series Roar. And her next role will see her portraying the Mrs. Davis of the title, who is apparently a “nun who goes to battle against an all-powerful Artificial Intelligence.”

That kind of description makes the show seem like more of a physically minded project as opposed to one where the religion vs. technology argument is handled in a purely theoretical and/or conversational sense. But if I can go into this hoping to see a habit-wearing Betty Gilpin in a sword fight with a genius robot, I will be a happy dude, even if none of those hopes actually come to fruition. Just the idea of it is worth basking in. 

Betty Gilpin And Damon Lindelof’s Prior Connection 

This won’t be Betty Gilpin’s first time working on a Damon Lindelof project, as she starred in the politically minded 2020 thriller The Hunt. I can’t imagine that a show about religion vs. science will be any less controversial, especially coming from a streaming service whose parent company was owned for many years by General Electric! Okay, I guess that doesn’t quite count as a conflict of interest. 

While we’re not yet sure when Mrs. Davis will set its battlegrounds on Peacock, it’ll likely be some point in early 2023, depending on how much of an effort the post-production process is. In the meantime, let’s all join together in trying to convince someone worthy to take over the reins for Watchmen Season 2.

There are few movie franchises quite as popular as Star Wars. Entire generations were brought up on the galaxy far, far away, which has been expanding thanks to shows on Disney+. But the franchise’s future on the big screen is more unclear, as a number of projects are in the early stage of development. Both Patty Jenkins and Taika Waititi seemingly have Star Wars movies in the works, but now rumors are swirling about another.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ended the nine-film Skywalker Saga, leading Lucasfilm into a break from movie production. While there are a few projects expected to come down the line, there’s been some reports that a third movie might be in the early stage of development. Specifically the rumor claims that Watchmen and Lost’s Damon Lindelof would be the one working on this new Star Wars project. And my mind is blown.

This story about Damon Lindelof and Star Wars comes to us from Twitter of journalist Jeff Sneider who reportedly has sources close to Lucasfilm. So far the claim has been unconfirmed by the studio or anyone from Lindelof’s team. Still, his pedigree on projects like The Leftovers have proven that the celebrated screenwriter has a way of telling larger than life stories that still feel real and emotional. And that’s exactly what the Star Wars franchise needs at this time.

Following The Rise of Skywalker, a variety of Star Wars movie projects were announced to be in development. Unfortunately, there’s been some bumps in the road, and it’s unclear when the science fiction staple will return to theaters. Game of Thrones writers David Benioff and DB Weiss were attached to develop their own trilogy, but those plans were scrapped as they signed a development deal with Netflix. And that’s not the only setback that’s come to the galaxy far, far away.

As previously mentioned, Wonder Woman filmmaker Patty Jenkins was going to direct her own Star Wars flick, titled Rogue Squadron. But production was put on indefinite hold, seemingly as a result of creative differences. It’s currently nuclear if that project is still happening. Then there’s Taika Waititi’s movie, but that won’t happen until after he’s finished his work on Thor: Love and Thunder. Clearly things are up in the air, which is why news about Damon Lindelof’s possible movie is so dizzying.

Damon Lindelof was able to put his own spin on the comic book genre with HBO’s Watchmen, which also told an emotional story about racism and generational trauma. It’s fascinating to think about what he might do with the Star Wars IP, especially now that future movies don’t have to be connected to the main Skywalker Saga. Hopefully this rumor is confirmed or denied sometime soon, before fans like myself get our hopes up.

In the meantime, new Star Wars content is coming out in quick succession over on Disney+. The Mandalorian became a sensation when it was released, and The Book of Boba Fett quickly followed. Fans are eager to see Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi series, which will help fill in the character’s mysterious years on Tatooine. Hopefully plans for a movie come together, especially the rumored project with Damon Lindelof. 

Obi-Wan Kenobi will premiere on Disney+ May 25th. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. 

While not the most prolific TV creator, Damon Lindelof develops the kinds of television projects that start big conversations, whether they're about smoke monsters, mass exoduses, or racism-fueled vigilantism. Now he's getting set to bring another mysterious and unique story to the small screen along with former Big Bang Theory and current Young Sheldon writer Tara Hernandez. But as fun as it would be to imagine Sheldon Cooper as Dr. Manhattan, that's definitely not what this is. (Although by all means, Jim Parsons should be involved.)

Thankfully, fans don't have to worry too much about what will happen with this new project, as Damon Lindelof and Tara Hernandez's new drama Mrs. Davis received a straight-to-series order from NBCU's streaming service Peacock, which came out on top after what was reportedly a very competitive situation. The series, which will be produced by Warner Bros. Television, is keeping its main plotline mostly under wraps, though there's a brief synopsis for everyone to chew on.

That sounds right up Damon Lindelof's alley, considering how much religion, technology and binary pairings played into Lost and The Leftovers, and it's not like Watchmen was lacking in those departments either. He will be co-writing and executive producing the new series with Tara Hernandez, who will also serve as an EP as well as the showrunner. Both of the creatives are under overall deals with Warner Bros. TV.

Lindelof certainly sounds excited about the new project, offering this statement with the initial announcement:

As much as fans have hoped for Damon Lindelof (or someone else) to come up with the perfect idea to justify a second season of Watchmen, it hasn't happened yet. And it's very likely that Mrs. Davis will keep him and Tara Hernandez busy for at least a year or two, and even more if the Peacock original makes as big a dent with viewers and critics as Lost and The Leftovers did. And if it manages to draw the kinds of audiences that The Big Bang Theory did, then we'll probably be watching Mrs. Davis for the next decade and then some.

I cannot wait to see who lands the title role of Mrs. Davis, assuming it's referring to an actual person and not just a metaphysical...something-or-other. It might be too close to Leftovers territory for Carrie Coon to reteam with Damon Lindelof, but that would be stellar. Or Watchmen's award-winning star Regina King, of course. Or maybe, since Lindelof worked with Jean Smart on the superhero series, while Hernandez worked with Annie Potts on Young Sheldon, we can have a Designing Women reunion happening on this show with one of them taking the title role, with the other co-starring, and Delta Burke making cameos. I choose to think this can happen.

While waiting to hear more from Mrs. Davis and Peacock, be sure to keep up with all the big shows that are debuting soon during the 2021 Summer TV season.

As Watchmen fans eagerly await news about a second season that may never arrive on HBO, one of the first season's stars has finally broken his silence about a theory he's held onto since the twist-filled episodes first aired last year. Future Candyman lead Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who played Watchmen's psuedo-dual roles of Cal Abar and Dr. Manhattan, shared his thoughts about one of the show's mysteries that was left largely unexplained, and he is one of many that believe Dr. Manhattan passed his powers along to another character, but not just Regina King's Angela.

It's been eleven months since Watchmen aired its mind-blowing finale, but the drama has remained relevant and popular throughout 2020 thanks to its racially charged storytelling and its widespread awards recognition. As such, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's big theory reveal feels just as relevant as it would have been if he'd shared it last Christmas. Here's how the actor began his Watchmen-geared Twitter thread:

THANK YOU, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II! That is the exact same thought that I've held firmly onto ever since Episode 2 aired and fully introduced audiences to Louis Gossett Jr.'s Will Reeves. And it sounds like Abdul-Mateen was influenced by the same bonkers clues that I and other fans were flummoxed by. He continued:

That moment was one of the most baffling character actions throughout the entire season, and that includes the farcical pomp that was Adrian Veidt's existence. Even the fantastical superhero-esque moments in Watchmen, while always awesome, were technically in the same visual and/or thematic ballpark as other dramatic fare. But someone dropping their hand into boiling water and then immediately eating what comes out of it? That behavior is pretty specific to Will Reeves and only Will Reeves. Yahya Abdul-Mateen had a little more ammo for his theory, too.

Considering just about every single detail in Watchmen was put in there for very specific reasons (with no guarantees that all of the reasons were obvious), Will Reeves' egg trick in particular stands out as being just too eccentric to exist in a vacuum. And then when you add all the other questionable details in – such as his similar talent of drinking hot coffee without reacting – it takes little effort to hitch a ride on that speculation train. If only there was a deleted scene from Will and Dr. Manhattan's meeting that very blatantly laid this out. Darn you, Damon Lindelof!

It may be a while before there are any worthwhile updates about Watchmen Season 2, which will presumably only happen if Damon Lindelof miraculously crafts a set of new ideas, or if another equally talented creative mind takes the reins with HBO's blessing. While waiting to see if that ever happens, don't forget about comic scribe Tom King's official Watchmen sequel Rorschach, while will be a modern-day conspiracy thriller. And while waiting for that to come out, stay current with our Fall 2020 TV premiere schedule and our Winter and Spring 2021 TV rundown to see what else is hitting the small screen soon.

It has been nearly a year since Watchmen Season 1 came to a dramatic, shocking, and downright confusing end, and it has been nearly as long since fans of the gritty HBO superhero drama knew what was in store for the show's future. Over the past year, as the premium cable channel has introduced great show after great show (and one sad yet not shocking cancellation), there are more than a few people out there asking, what's going on with Watchmen Season 2.

As valid of a question that might be, sometimes there aren't a lot of answers, considering everything that has happened behind the scenes since we last saw the likes of Regina King's Sister Night, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's Doctor Manhattan, and the rest of the impressive cast of superheroes and everyday humans alike. And with the show taking home an insane number (11, yes, 11) of Primetime Emmys a few months back, you would think that HBO would be streamlining any and all future installments of Watchmen. Well, about that…

HBO Reclassified Watchmen As A Limited Series But Left The Door Open In February 2020

Before we get into everything that Watchmen series creator and showrunner Damon Lindelof has said about his involvement in the show moving forward, let's take a look at what HBO has said and done regarding the drama series' future. Back in February 2020, Variety reported that the premium cable channel reclassified Watchmen as a limited series instead of a traditional ongoing series. And while this change could have been made for awards consideration, this does go back to comments Lindelof made in the past, specifically about the show's first season being a standalone story instead of something that is told over the course of multiple seasons.

At the time, HBO released the following statement regarding Watchmen and its future:

This statement, although brief and admittedly vague, can be interpreted in many different ways but seems to leave the door open if Damon Lindelof were to return to the fold or if someone were to take the reins for future seasons.

But how did this all get started?

Damon Lindelof Laid The Groundwork For His Departure Following The Season 1 Finale in Late 2019

The mystery surrounding the future of Watchmen, or at least Damon Lindelof's involvement moving forward, started just as the Season 1 finale aired in December 2019. During an interview with Vanity Fair, when the creator of shows like Lost and The Leftovers told the publication that he would only return for a second season if he could come up with an idea that he felt was worthy of telling after he took a much-needed break after wrapping things ahead of the 2019 holiday break. Later on in the conversation, the showrunner added:

This comment, much like the one HBO would make two months later, is rather vague and leaves the door open for a possible return at some point, just if the story is right. At the same time, however, Damon Lindelof sounded like he was done with Watchmen for the time being.

The Watchmen Showrunner Said In February 2020 That He Wasn't Opposed To Returning At Some Point

In February 2020, when appearing at the Writers Guild of America West Awards ceremony, Damon Lindelof seemed to double-down on his comments about not wanting to pursue a Watchmen Season 2 at this point, but also didn't want to close the door in case he came up with an idea at some point down the road. Speaking with Deadline, this is what the showrunner had to say about his future with Watchmen as well as the show in general:

There's a lot to take from this comment. On one hand, Damon Lindelof seems to open to maybe returning at some point if everything made sense in terms of the show's story, but on the other, it seems like the the executive producer would be okay with someone else taking the lead. This latter statement is something that Lindelof would touch on several months later at the 2020 Primetime Emmy Awards.

Lindelof Again Said He Was Open To Idea Of Someone Else Picking Up Where He Left Off At The 2020 Emmys

The saga surrounding the future of Watchmen continued on throughout 2020, and was even brought up again the night of the 2020 Primetime Emmys Awards in September, where the HBO series received 26 nominations, winning 11 of them. While accepting one of the awards, Damon Lindelof had this to say about how much the show meant to him before once again stating that he was okay if someone wanted to take over moving forward (via Deadline):

There hasn't been anyone, not publicly anyway, who has stepped up to take on Damon Lindelof's offer. But if someone were to take him up on it and take over the show, however, one of the biggest stars (and most celebrated) of the HBO series probably wouldn't return.

Regina King Has Said On Multiple Occasions That She Would Only Return For Season 2 If The Show's Creator Is Involved

Back in June 2020, Regina King, who was front and center throughout much of the happenings in Watchmen Season 1 as Angela Abar / Sister Night, spoke with Reese Witherspoon during Variety's Actors on Actors, where she had this to say about a potential return to the HBO series:

Several months later at the 2020 Primetime Emmy Awards, Regina King, after taking home the trophy for Best Actress in a Limited Series for her Watchmen role reiterated her stance on her previous comments (via Deadline):

If the show were to return without its showrunner and lead actress, Watchmen would look much different moving forward, that's for sure.

There is still so much to unpack about the future of Watchmen Season 2, if it happens at all. But if the fates do allow for the story to continue moving forward, CinemaBlend will have all the latest and greatest information about one of the most unique and intriguing superhero shows in recent memory.

Despite the mounting skepticism that preceded its release, HBO's Watchmen managed to blow all expectations out of the water, both in terms of cleverly honoring the source material and delivering an exciting and unpredictable story. While it will no doubt inspire many adaptations and original works in the years to come, it barely took any time at all for the Damon Lindelof-developed series to directly affect Watchmen's comic book canon. It turns out the TV show played a role in bringing the upcoming Rorschach sequel miniseries to life.

During the Expansion of DC's Watchmen panel during Day 2 of DC FanDome, Damon Lindelof spoke with Rorschach's writer Tom King and artist Jorge Fornés about what fans can expect from the noir-esque conspiracy thriller. The first thing Lindelof asked echoed the questions that he heard many times when putting the TV show together: Why and why now? According to King, it was the HBO series that directly led to him accepting the gig after previously turning it down. In his words:

Tom King's initial hesitation to dive into an official Watchmen comic sequel is beyond understandable, considering how lauded Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' original 12 issues are. Not just for the brilliant core narrative but for the allusions, the panel choices, the art style, the foreshadowing, the supplemental material, and the other numerous ways that the duo upended expectations intrinsically tied to the comic book medium. It's easy to sympathize with King not thinking there was a proper way to follow that up, but then the Watchmen TV show came along and proved it was not only possible, but it was also possible to do it extremely well.

The Rorschach miniseries will be set in the modern day, the same as the Watchmen TV show, but fans hoping to see references to Sister Night or Looking Glass' origins are going to be disappointed. That said, Tom King made an interesting note when confirming the projects will be mutually exclusive.

Considering the variety of different ways that Damon Lindeof's creative team flipped the script on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen – from Hooded Justice's origin story to Laurie's future – there were probably times when Tom King very well could have alluded to the original text in a way that retconned the TV show's storytelling. But awesomely enough, King and Jorge Fornés made the conscious decision not to take away from that side of the universe.

Still, in the way that HBO's Watchmen was as much a commentary on the state of the world today as it was a commentary on the 1986 source material, Rorschach will strive to make that same double-duty responsibility happen, with Tom King metaphorically taking the reins from Alan Moore. (Metaphorically because Moore would have burned those reins up so that no one would have access to them.) Here's how King put it:

In case anyone wondered, Damon Lindelof was indeed humbled by Tom King's admission, but did not take credit for everything himself.

Rorschach centers on an investigation after an assassination attempt is made on the first presidential candidate in decades to face POTUS Robert Redford, and the first issue will hit physical and digital stores on October 1. Meanwhile, you can currently stream all eight episodes of Watchmen on HBO Max, though you probably won't be able to catch the FanDome panel. And stay updated with our Fall 2020 TV premiere schedule to see what new and returning shows are on the way.

HBO’s Watchmen received critical acclaim when it first premiered last fall and, now that it’s available to stream, more viewers are starting to discover the series for the first time. With so many getting hooked on the show, questions of whether or not it could return for a second season are being reignited. Creator, writer and producer Damon Lindelof has made it very clear that he has no interest in returning for a potential Season 2, and he’s now explaining why he believes a new showrunner should come in if the second season does happen.

Damon Lindelof has nothing but love for the world of Watchmen and the cast and crew he worked with. However, unless he can come up with a story that he feels is as compelling as the first season’s, he firmly believes it would be best if someone else took the reins for a second season:

As bittersweet as his comments to Collider are, they’re completely understandable. Following Watchmen’s conclusion, Damon Lindelof stressed that he had completed the story he wanted to tell and was happy with the way things wrapped up.

With this, Lindelof simply doesn’t want to force out a story but would rather have one come to him naturally. This may come as a disappointment to some fans, but it’s ultimately a wise move. In many cases, when stories don’t come from inspiration, they don’t tend to feel as compelling or personal. And when you consider just how good Watchmen was, anything less than that would be a disappointment.

When it comes to a second season of Watchmen, the limited series’ star, Regina King, also understands Lindelof’s sentiments and isn’t too keen on returning. She did, however, confirm that she would only come back if Lindelof finds a reason to continue the story.

With the action, imagery and social relevance of Watchmen, it’s still hard to fathom that we won’t be getting more of it any time soon. But with such a great limited run that was capped off by a strong finale, it can’t be denied that it was perfectly satisfying.

Watchmen is currently available to stream on HBO Max.

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Remember Lost? I mean, unless you were but a wee babe when the supernatural plane crash mystery aired, you must remember the TV juggernaut that was Lost. This is a show that didn't just have millions of fans tuning in every week, but which had people entranced and so dedicated to figuring out its mysteries that they spent their downtime at work (OK, not all of it was supposed to be downtime.) on ABC's official show website in an effort to try and piece everything together. Ahem...So, you might be surprised to know that Lost's producers only wanted three seasons for the series, and, you might be even more surprised to know why that was.

Lost began in the fall of 2004 and quickly dominated the pop culture landscape as people tried to pick apart the meanings to all the crazy stuff we saw happen to our favorite characters on the show each week. Co-creator and showrunner Damon Lindelof recently spoke to Collider about his time on the series, and not only talked about his and co-showrunner Carlton Cuse's deep desire for Lost to end after Season 3, but why they felt it was so necessary:

Wooooo, boy. I mean, to take a step inside of the shoes of ABC executives back then, I totally get that this would be the thought process up front. Damon Lindelof even noted during his interview that he tried to get ABC on board with the idea of letting him wrap the show up in three seasons while Lost was still in the pilot stage of its development, so he knew what he was doing in trying to make sure his team and the fans would get a complete (and completely coherent) story.

If you were a regular Lost viewer back in the day, then you will know that many fans complained about the series as it became a bit more long in the tooth. Lindelof and Cuse were not able to convince ABC executives to wrap the show after Season 3, though they had repeated conversations with the network about their sincere desire to do so. When it was obvious the network wasn't going to budge, the co-showrunners agreed to extend their contracts so they could shepherd Lost through the end of Season 3 and at least finish their original vision.

But, while in the depths of Season 2, Lindelof says that the network was still clearly confused about why he and Cuse felt the show needed such a definite (and relatively speedy) ending, and when presented with the question, says that he and his co-showrunner would point out the issues, which were obvious to them:

Sure enough, when Lindelof, Cuse, and their writers got into Season 3, they were left with having to stretch out some mysteries, create new ones that hadn't been planned and try to bring in new characters so they could keep the flashback machine rolling. And, the duo could already feel the show losing its way. According to Lindelof, though, after the first six episodes of Season 3 aired, ABC finally saw those potential issues come to life on the small screen, and agreed to end the show...after 10 seasons!

Obviously, they were able to come to an agreement, and Lost ended with six wild and crazy seasons under its belt, a storied history, and one of the most debated series finales in recent memory. I can't lie, you guys, just thinking about the heyday of Lost has me wanting to rewatch the series, even if the finale will leave me unsatisfied.

All of Lost is streaming right now on Hulu (while we wait for word on that potential reboot), but for more to watch in the coming weeks, check out our 2020 Netflix guide and see what summer TV will bring!

HBO's Watchmen elevated the franchise with its phenomenal run by many accounts, and there has been no shortage of cries for Damon Lindelof's sequel thriller to get greenlit for Season 2. While we still have yet to find out if that will ever happen, star Regina King has shared her thoughts on the finale's final scene.

The final scene in question saw King's character, Angela, consume an egg that may have contained the essence of Dr. Manhattan's power. The scene cut just as Angela attempted to walk on water, leaving the audience to wonder whether or not Manhattan's powers transferred over to her or not. Regina King shared her thoughts on the scene with TVInsider, and how anyone watching can relate to it today:

Regina King's ending would be quite a surprise, as Watchmen really made it seem as though Dr. Manhattan had intentionally left that egg for the purpose of giving her his powers. That being said, her pitch would fit the series' twists and turns rather well and create an especially sad arc for Angela as she mourned the loss of her husband in Season 2. Of course, that's still assuming Season 2 will ever happen, as HBO has given no indication that's even on the table.

While Watchmen was not a strong performer in live ratings, the show pulled in a lot of viewership in delayed viewing. With HBO Max just starting its run in the world of streaming, one would think the delayed streams hold more weight especially for a subscription-based service like HBO. Live ratings are nice but, for a network that doesn't sell ad time in its time slots, it's not necessarily as important as it would be on ones that do.

It's also worth noting that creator Damon Lindelof has announced he would not return if Watchmen was greenlit for Season 2. Even though Lindelof gave his blessing to however took up the torch next, one has to wonder if HBO would be willing to sacrifice the standalone season's quality and acclaim when it has so many other options for original content. For now, viewers can only visualize Regina King's fantasy of Angela falling in the pool and play out in their heads how Season 2 would go from there.

Watchmen is currently available to stream on HBO's on demand services. Continue to stick with CinemaBlend for news on whether or not Season 2 will happen, and for the latest news happening in television and movies.

Television nowadays is packed with reboots, revivals, and sequels, which naturally has led fans to start hoping against hope for their favorite finished shows to return. Some Lost fans are among those hoping for more, as the massively successful show closed on a very divisive finale that left about as many questions as answers. Now, Lost executive producer and co-creator Damon Lindelof has weighed in on the potential for a reboot, and his response was surprisingly positive… mostly.

Lost was able to build toward an ending rather than get cut off without the time or opportunity to wrap the highly serialized story, but that doesn’t mean a different take on the series wouldn’t win an audience. Speaking with ComicBook.com, Damon Lindelof addressed a possible reboot:

The good news for those hoping for a reboot is that one of the people responsible for making the original such a hit would “love” to see more Lost. The catch is that Damon Lindelof himself isn’t interested in being part of the reboot and would rather see how others would handle the premise.

While others taking over would probably guarantee a true reboot with new characters, it might mean an unsatisfying revival if another Lost was to bring back characters from the original. Damon Lindelof did previously weigh in about the possibility of a reboot bringing back original characters, saying that he wouldn’t want to see the closure at the end of the original series finale ruined by them returning.

All of this said, a Lost reboot is purely hypothetical at this point. Damon Lindelof’s comments echo those of fellow former Lost executive producer Carlton Cuse, who stated back in 2017 that they had no intentions of rebooting their hit show. Evangeline Lilly, who played Kate on Lost, has already said that she hopes Lost won’t be rebooted.

Interestingly, however, ABC President Karey Burke dropped a comment back in February 2019 that suggests more Lost could be on the way at some point. Burke shared that she would be interested in seeing a Lost reboot, and her support could mean a big step forward if it becomes official. Still, Lost fans shouldn’t start preparing to go back to the island, for better or for worse. Only time will tell.

For now, Lost fans who miss the series that arguably changed television forever by exploring large-scale serialized stories on a weekly basis can always rewatch the six seasons. The full series is currently available streaming on Hulu and for free on IMDB TV. There’s always something new to be gained from watching or rewatching Lost, especially as the years passed and the plot became more complicated and/or convoluted, depending on your views of the later seasons.

Damon Lindelof also made a splash with some big post-Lost projects, including HBO’s The Leftovers and Watchmen, the latter of which sadly ran for only one season as a limited series. If you’re in the market for some TV options now and in the not-too-distant future, be sure to check out our 2020 summer premiere schedule, and don’t forget to vote in our poll below about a potential Lost reboot.

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One of the best things about all of 2019 was, without a doubt, Damon Lindelof's stunningly realized Watchmen adaptation, and it's a bummer knowing that Lindelof probably won't be handling a second season. However, the absolute worst thing about 2020 so far, the COVID-19 pandemic, has shockingly delivered a brief and topical return to the Watchmen universe via a hand-washing PSA that features stars such as Regina King, Jean Smart and more reprising their iconic roles.

Accompanied by signature scoring from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the brilliantly titled "Washmen" was shared by Damon Lindelof on Instagram, and can be viewed below.

For a quick rundown on all the awesome Watchmen stars who pop up in the cheeky PSA, we have Tim Blake Nelson as Wade "Looking Glass" Tillman, Jovan Adepo as young Will Reeves, Yahya Abdul-Mateen III as Cal Abar / Doctor Manhattan, Jean Smart as Laurie Blake, Dustin Ingram as Agent Petey (or Lube Man, if you prefer), Sara Vickers as Ms. Crookshanks, Tom Mison as Mr. Phillips, Regina King as Angela "Sister Night" Abar, and Andrew Howard as Red Scare. A big blue round of applause to all involved for diving back into character for this.

Ever since the COVID-19 crisis first started keeping people in their homes, social media has been bombarded with videos of celebrity-fueled PSAs like this, with some of them slightly more self-aware than other arguably misguided attempts. But at no point has anyone offered advice as perfect as what Agent Petey gives (while amusingly dressed as Sister Night):

Of course, Laurie Blake's hand-washing scree is even more amusing, though not necessarily something for everyone to commit to memory. And I also rather like Ms. Crookshanks falling back on old habits by singing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" as she scrubs up. And if there was an honorary award to grant to anyone in the video, it would go to Tim Mison for calling back to the various versions of Mr. Phillips, while also throwing in a solidly gruff impression of Jeremy Irons' Adrian Veidt.

Damon Lindelof followed that video up by posting a "thank you" message to everyone who participated in creating this fun PSA.

While it seems like the above video might have been reverse-engineered after the concept of "Washmen" was first conceived, I like to think the video came first, and was followed by a spirited round of off-base pitches: "Who Bathes the Bathesmen? No, that's not right. Who Cleans Up The Cleans-Upsmen? No, still not getting it. Who Anti-Bacterializes The Anti-Bacterializers? Yeah, I think that one. Wait, no..." Not that anyone on Damon Lindelof's creative team is as dumb as that.

Most of America remains hunkered down in our homes for self-quarantining, with a growing desire for fictional superheroes to break through into our reality to provide safety and comfort (and medical supplies). Those heroes ain't comin', but at least we have Watchmen's protagonists around to make sure we're doing our part to keep our mitts clean.

Watchmen is currently available to stream on HBO Go and HBO NOW, with the Blu-ray and DVD sets hitting retailers on June 2 (unless that date gets affected by coronavirus setbacks). While waiting to see if someone else might pick up the reins for Season 2, check out the Marvel comics we'd like to see Damon Lindelof take on.

With his own continuation of Alan Moore’s classic graphic novel Watchmen on HBO, Damon Lindelof proved that adapting comics in TV shows has potential for some very thought-provoking storytelling. Noticing that Marvel seems to be going in the same direction with its line of upcoming Disney+ series, the writer sounds like he may be interested in putting his own touch on the MCU.

From his work on Lost, The Leftovers, and the recent thriller The Hunt, it is clear that Damon Lindelof is someone who likes to push limits. There is plenty of opportunity in the Marvel comic universe to adapt into something that will leave audiences moved, thrilled, and shocked.

So, if his participation in the MCU’s television division is on the horizon, what comic should we expect to see Damon Lindelof bring his signature, unique spin to. I have six recommendations.

Dark Avengers

It seems that Marvel is following a trend in which villains are all the rage by giving their most beloved villain, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), his own upcoming solo TV show on Disney+, but you know what is cooler than a show about one villain? A whole team of villains, such as the Dark Avengers whom, in the comics, are recruited by Norman Osborne (also known as Spider-Man villain Green Goblin) to take on the identities of famous heroes (including Bullseye becoming Hawkeye, Venom becoming Spidey, and Osborne combining Captain America with Iron Man to create the alter ego Iron Patriot) following the events of the Skrulls’ “Secret Invasion.”

Now, since none of the aforementioned bad guys have been introduced to the MCU yet and the Skrulls have been reimagined as allies (supposedly), Damon Lindelof’s version would have to take a few liberties to fit in with the franchise’s canon, but with many of the Avengers either retired, deceased, or simply unavailable following the events of Endgame, it might be an interesting idea to see these baddies giving the public false hope for their return, leading to some fascinating consequences, as well as an opportunity to introduce new villains into the mix.

Man-Thing

The horror-centric adaptation of Swamp Thing became one of the most acclaimed live action DC shows in recent memory by fans and critics alike, yet still suffered a premature cancellation after just one season. If anyone can prove to DC Universe what a great opportunity they could have had with allowing the series to continue, it is Damon Lindelof by turning Man-Thing, Marvel’s own former scientist turned half-man, half-plant hero, into a show of its own. Lindelof is a writer who specializes in character-driven content, especially characters affected by tragedy, and Man-Thing, a creature tortured by his own loss of humanity, is going to need that special touch.

Ghost Rider

Speaking of characters tortured by the loss of their own humanity, I would say that Johnny Blaze relatively fits that bill. The story of a motorcycle racer bound to a vengeful entity as part of a deal with Mephisto to spare his dying father, turning him into the skeletal, incendiary, chopper-driving Ghost Rider sounds like some really dark, existential drama, despite none of the character’s screen adaptations (including two films with Nicolas Cage) really nailing that theme. Damon Lindelof could make this hero’s burden a huge focal point of the series that, if not focusing on Blaze this time, could also resurrect the scrapped Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spin-off intended to focus on a new Rider named Robbie Reyes, a fan-favorite played by Gabriel Luna.

Nova

Marvel’s cosmic properties have proven successful on the big screen and could probably thrive just as well on the small screen, but since the Guardians of the Galaxy are too hot for that world at the moment, maybe we should take advantage of that idea as a means to introduce another hero of interstellar origin, such as Richard Rider. Yet another one of Marvel’s more tragic figures, Rider became the lone surviving member of the Nova Corps and, after absorbing his fallen brethren’s abilities, adopted their collective title to become Nova, a one-man army against intergalactic evil.

While James Gunn has hinted at using Nova in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, this story has Damon Lindelof’s name written all over it and, not to mention, I would love to see a new take on the cosmic side of the MCU as envisioned by the guy who wrote Star Trek Into Darkness.

Damage Control

You may recall a scene at the beginning of Spider-Man: Homecoming in which Adrian Toomes’ (Michael Keaton) crew was taken off duty to clean up wreckage from the Avengers’ fight with the Chitauri in 2012 by a woman (Tyne Daly) who works for Tony Stark. That woman was Anne Marie Hoag, the founder of Damage Control, which is a construction company specializing in post-superhero/villain battle repairs. A series following this crew would not only be a cool opportunity to revive yet another Marvel series cancelled before its premiere, to pay off that brief Spider-Man cameo, and, most importantly, serve a way for Damon Lindelof to tell a grounded and unique MCU-canon story focusing on how ordinary, working-class people live among extraordinary, super-powered gods.

Marvel Zombies

It is rumored that What If…?, the upcoming Disney+ anthology series inspired by the comic of the same name that will reimagine key storylines from the MCU, could give us the first screen adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s Marvel Zombies storyline, in which a plague turns our heroes into undead flesheaters. If that is true, I don’t know about you, but I do not want to see that multi-issue, alternate universe tale crammed into one animated half-hour episode. A story that dark, clever, and iconic deserves the live action miniseries treatment and, being the screenwriter behind Paramount’s 2013 World War Z film and the creator of HBO’s Watchmen series, Damon Lindelof knows a thing or two about apocalyptic horror and bleak takes on graphic literature, so combining is, naturally, the next step.

What do you think? Does Damon Lindelof have what it takes to give these Marvel favorites the proper small screen treatment or should they remain left alone, especially by him? Whatever your take is, let us know in the comments and be sure to check back for updates on the Watchmen creator’s next projects and the MCU’s small-screen endeavors here on CinemaBlend.

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for The Hunt. If you have not yet seen the film, proceed at your own risk!

Toward the end of the second act in Craig Zobel’s The Hunt, Betty Gilpin’s Crystal begins to tell Wayne Duvall's Don a bedtime story her mother use to recite when she was younger: the Jack Rabbit and the Box Turtle. At first it seems like a tale that we’re all heard a thousand times before, essentially a relabeled version of the Tortoise and the Hare, but it’s when she gets to the end that we learn that her version is a tad different. Specifically, it adds that the Jack Rabbit is a bit of a sore loser, and isn’t above some bloody vengeance.

It’s very much a surprising take on the familiar, and one that I couldn’t get out of my head after seeing the film. Thus, I felt compelled to ask about it when I attended the Los Angeles press day for The Hunt earlier this month, and I learned some fantastic insight about the story from both Betty Gilpin and co-writer/producer Damon Lindelof:

The classic moral of the Tortoise and the Hare is “slow and steady wins the race” – which is to say that thoughtful hard work will get you everywhere you want to go – but in the writing of The Hunt Damon Lindelof and Nick Cuse essentially confronted the concept with some rather cynical questions. There are not only holes to be poked in the classic fable, but it also does leave you wondering what happens next.

In the original story, the Tortoise only manages to win his race against the Hare because the latter is so overconfident that he takes a nap mid-race… but Damon Lindelof and Nick Cuse found themselves wondering why the Hare, who never loses, would just accept the results. Hence, in Crystal’s version the Jack Rabbit doesn’t just sit back and examine his flaws, but instead busts down the Box Turtle’s door and kills his opponent with a hammer.

Referring to the classic as having a “horrible moral,” Damon Lindelof explained that it’s only really applicable if you’re racing against a particular personality type – and if that’s the case, there’s going to be consequences:

That last bit in particular is what makes the new take on the tale fit ever so perfectly with the larger themes of The Hunt. At the end of the film, it’s revealed that “Manorgate” was essentially designed as a contrapasso punishment for online conspiracy theorists who spread the original lie of Manorgate to begin with. Just as the Box Turtle wants to teach a lesson, Hilary Swank’s Athena and her fellow scorned liberal elite CEOs establish the Hunt, but Crystal the Jack Rabbit bites back (as directly illustrated via the bunny Crystal sees following her deadly battle at the end of the movie).

A perfect extension of this, Betty Gilpin noted that she saw a great deal of who Crystal is reflected in that monologue. The actress noted that it is part of her method to look for the pure drama in the work that she is doing, and honing into something as classic as an Aesop Fable advanced that work:

In her everyday life, Crystal is essentially a Jack Rabbit that doesn’t even get the chance to race, stuck listening to complaining customers at the car rental service – but that all changes when she is drugged and kidnapped by Athena and her pals. Whether it was a mistake or not is left up to the viewer, but regardless the heroine locks into a real sense of purpose when she is given the opportunity to fight for her life. Said Gilpin,

Co-starring Emma Roberts, Ike Barinholtz, Justin Harley, Glenn Howerton, Amy Madigan, Ethan Suplee, Macon Blair, and more, The Hunt is now playing in theaters everywhere. Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more about the film.

The MCU and Star Wars franchises are continuing to grow and, as they do, both keep on attracting big names. Now, Damon Lindelof, who recently made waves in the superhero genre with HBO’s critically acclaimed Watchmen, may be looking to take on another comic book project in the MCU. But don’t expect him to be entering a galaxy far, far away anytime soon.

Watchmen marked Lindelof’s first venture into the world of comic books, and it provided viewers with a fresh take on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ iconic story. While speaking with Fandom, the writer-producer revealed that it’s his desire to try new things that’s drawing him to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In fact, there’s one particular MCU project that’s caught his eye:

In addition to working with Marvel Studios, Lindeloff also wouldn’t rule out teaming up with Lucasfilm for Star Wars. This, however, isn’t something he’s keen on doing right away given the current state of the fandom, which he playfully joked about:

Both Lindelof and HBO currently have no plans to produce a second season of Watchmen, meaning that Lindelof would hypothetically be available for potential projects with Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm. His most recent film, The Hunt, actually opens in theaters this weekend.

The Star Wars and the MCU series are currently in periods of transition, as both are venturing into uncharted territory with projects that showcase new settings, characters and storylines. Disney+ is becoming the place for this content, with shows like The Mandalorian and upcoming MCU TV series like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision and What If…?.

So far The Mandalorian has been praised by fans and critics alike, and Season 2 is on the way. Meanwhile, the Marvel shows are already generating buzz, especially after the release of that Super Bowl TV spot. And with WandaVision having wrapped and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier nearing the end of production, it’s only a matter of time before viewers get to see the shows in their entirety.

It goes without saying that Damon Lindelof should be an asset to both franchises and could carve out a distinct space for himself within both universes. It's definitely fun to imagine what he could do with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes or the Jedi Order. Now, we'll just have to wait and see if either one of the Disney-owned studios actually decides to reach out to him.

While there are many films in cinema history that found their initial release dates delayed due to various controversies, the case surrounding Craig Zobel’s The Hunt is particularly fascinating. Instead of people complaining about the actual movie (which hadn’t even screened when the hullaballoo started last summer), all of the issues raised pertained simply to the impression that certain individuals got watching the trailer and reading the brief available plot description.

This by itself isn’t particularly strange, but what makes the circumstances so crazy in retrospect is the fact that one of the key satirical targets in The Hunt is our current culture’s tendency toward impulsive judgement that can often have serious consequences.

Being particularly struck by this deep irony when seeing the movie last week, I felt compelled to ask about it when I participated in The Hunt’s Los Angeles press day and interviewed the film’s stars and filmmakers. Sitting down with co-writer Damon Lindelof and star Betty Gilpin as well as producer Jason Blum and co-star Ike Barinholtz, I brought up the controversy surrounding the release at the start of both conversations, and definitely sensed an appreciation from all of them for the meta-ness of the whole circumstance:

Co-written by Damon Lindelof and Nick Cuse, The Hunt begins as strangers wake up on an expansive estate after being drugged and kidnapped, eventually discovering that that are part of an event referred to by online conspiracy theorists as “Manorgate,” where conservatives are stalked and killed by rich liberal elites. What said elites don’t plan for, however, is a fly in the ointment in the form of Crystal a.k.a. Snowball (Betty Gilpin), who has the skills necessary to turn the game against the attackers and go after those who set her up for death.

The Hunt very much falls in line with a long tradition of big screen stories – including titles such as The Most Dangerous Game, Battle Royale, and The Hunger Games – but its direct usage of contemporary political overtones instead of undertones wound up rubbing some people the wrong way when the film started its publicity and marketing campaign last summer. Making a series of broad assumptions, certain significant right wing voices suggested that the movie was glorifying violence against conservatives, and the noise was loud enough to get Universal Pictures to cancel the planned September 27, 2019 release date.

The catch is: A) the film definitely doesn’t glorify violence against anyone, instead taking an even-handed approach and criticizing both extremes of the political spectrum; and B) it’s less about murder and conspiracies than it is ultimately about the way the modern world digests information. Both the protagonists and the antagonists in The Hunt are guilty of making snap judgements that wind up costing numerous lives, and it’s crazy how well-matched those ideas are with the real-world assumptions that led to the original release date being killed.

And before you try and get conspiratorial about any of this, note that not a single edit was made to the movie in the last seven months, per Jason Blum, so it really is just a case of perfect irony.

It’s actually impressive just how deep it ultimately goes, and while saying much more than that right now would be taking a trip into spoiler-ville, audiences only have a short while to wait before they can experience all the surprises the film has in store for themselves. Following six months of sitting on a shelf, The Hunt will be playing in theaters around the country starting this Friday – and you’ll definitely want to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend in the coming days as we dig further into the movie’s excellent ending and post more from my interviews with the cast and filmmakers.

Damon Lindelof’s TV adaptation of Watchmen was much different than its movie counterpart, but it stood out on its own despite it picking up at a different time from Alan Moore’s beloved graphic novel. After the show aired its season finale, it left many wondering about the future of the series and whether it could come back for Season 2. However, despite what seemed to be possible, it looks like Watchmen Season 2 won’t be happening at HBO, after all.

Though Watchmen’s Damon Lindelof has “given my blessing” for HBO to carry on the series without him, he told USA Today that he’s not interested in coming back for a second season. While HBO president Casey Bloys said it’s “hard to imagine” doing the show without him and his creative vision, Lindelof made it clear that he already told the story he wanted to tell. So, if HBO still wants to do a Season 2, it's still technically possible, it would just be without Lindelof’s input.

While the future of Watchmen seemed to hinge on Damon Lindelof’s involvement, Casey Bloys said the show could morph into an anthology series, like FX’s American Horror Story or HBO’s very own True Detective, rather than picking up where Season 1 left off. Here’s what he also recently had to say about the possibility:

In just eight episodes, Watchmen made a major impact. The critically-acclaimed series reimagined its source material to reflect present day issues, even though it left out graphic novel characters like Nite-Owl II. Knowing the way the series wrapped up Regina King’s Sister Night story arc makes it hard to imagine the existence of a Season 2 that followed what we got. Now, given Lindelof is a "no," an anthology might be the next best option if the show were to continue.

While it was unclear whether or not Watchmen should be considered a regular drama series or a limited series with regards to the Emmys, Damon Lindelof stepping away from the show makes the answer much clearer. It's still up to HBO, and not Lindelof, to decide whether the network wants to pursue another round at all. If not, I suppose HBO'd just have to submit Watchmen in the limited series category instead and that's OK. Previously, Casey Bloys told THR that Watchmen’s Emmy submission ultimately depends on Damon Lindelof’s plans for the show, but that's no longer the case.

Watchmen, which landed on our list of the ten best superhero TV shows of the decade, is currently available to watch on HBO. For more on what to watch, be sure to check out our complete 2020 midseason schedule to find out when every new and returning show is set to premiere.

For much of the past decade and then some, it seemed as if Zack Snyder's overtly faithful 2009 feature would be the only live-action Watchmen adaptation that ever made its way to fans' enlarged eyeballs. However, this past weekend saw the conclusion of HBO's Watchmen series created by Lost vet Damon Lindelof, which has already been hailed as one of the best TV shows of the 2019 and beyond. Many were suspicious that the small-screen vigilante tale was taking secret swipes at Snyder's film, but Lindelof says that's not the case at all.

It was a scene from Watchmen's second episode, "Martial Feats of Comanche Horsemanship," that really got people talking about how the TV show might have been riffing on Zack Snyder's signature slo-mo-infused action sequences. But any similarities are apparently coincidental in nature, seeing as how Damon Lindelof and others working on HBO's Watchmen are respectful of Zack Snyder's efforts. According to Lindelof:

Another fairly obvious clue hinting at Watchmen's true intentions for its show-within-a-show is the title itself, American Hero Story: Minutemen, which is a clear parody of Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk's gory and exploitative American Horror Story. Damon Lindelof has stated in the past that those segments, which offer erroneous background information about Hooded Justice, were conceived as more of a winking tribute to FX's trope-subverting horror anthology.

In another sense, the presence of American Hero Story within the Watchmen TV series is a live-action parallel to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Tales of the Black Freighter comic-within-a-comic. The doomed pirate tale details a harrowing plight that's analogous to the main storyline, though it isn't so transparent in its self-referential nature as the faux superhero drama series is.

Watchmen's Nicole Kassell, who directed multiple episodes and served as an executive producer, told Variety that American Hero Story was the amped up version of a Watchmen adaptation that could exist if that's the kind of show they were looking to put together. In her words:

Watchmen's sixth episode, "This Extraordinary Being," offers up certain fight scenes that depict that "real" version of events dramatized in American Hero Story, and watching those more gritty and sloppy scuffles easily sets them apart from the fictitious Hooded Justice altercations with American Horror Story vet Cheyenne Jackson beneath the hood. (The fact that Damon Lindelof even cast a Ryan Murphy regular could have been proof enough that he wasn't targeting Zack Snyder's movie.)

Of course, not everyone is going to be convinced by Damon Lindelof and Nicole Kassell's claims there, considering Zack Snyder's stronghold over a fanbase that has turned "Release the Snyder Cut" into a rallying cry for the director's unreleased version of the superhero team-up film Justice League. Snyder has been going heavy on social media with previously unseen pics and teases from his cut, which has stoked interest anew in his excised vision, and hasn't exactly helped Damon Lindelof & Co. from avoiding comparisons to the filmmaker's polarizing 2009 blockbuster.

While that side of the argument appears to be pretty convincing – SPOILERS are coming – there IS one particular moment in Episode 8 that felt like a playful middle finger aimed at Zack Snyder's altered Watchmen ending for the film, which swapped out the world-altering squid hoax to center on nuclear reactors. In the ep's flashback to 2009 (the year of the movie's release), Adrian Veidt calls people idiots for relying on reactors, and asks why they feel the need to keep building bombs. That felt like even more of a direct jab at Snyder's Watchmen, but it was probably just a jab at all of humanity in general.

Did HBO's Watchmen Set Up Lube Man To Be The Next Rorschach?

For now, Watchmen exists as a one-season entry on HBO that can be streamed in its entirety on HBO Go and HBO NOW. Here's hoping Damon Lindelof and HBO can work together to come up with a Season 2 plan extremely soon.

Major spoilers below for the second-to-last episode of HBO’s Watchmen, so be sure to watch before reading on.

Every episode in Watchmen’s first season on HBO inspired at least a dozen different questions, with millions of viewers trying to suss out exactly what creator Damon Lindelof and his creative team have been doing with Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ source material. Never have those questions felt more important than they do now as we look ahead to the Season 1 finale (which hopefully won’t be the last episode that fans get).

Here are the 12 biggest questions I have after watching the magnificence that was “A God Walks Into Abar,” which aren’t in any particular ordered following that hyper-important first inquiry. Join us in talking out some of these questions, and be sure to jot down your own overarching curiosities in the comments.

(For those who want to discover all the biggest comic book references that have popped up in each episode so far, check out our rundowns for Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7 and Episode 8.)

1. Is Doctor Manhattan Really Dead?

Despite his foreshadowing insistence on the matter, I still wasn’t fully convinced Doctor Manhattan’s 2019 resurgence would end tragically, though watching him get obliterated challenged any assumptions I might have had. Still, though, did the Seventh Kavalry’s tachyon ray legitimately “kill” Doctor Manhattan, or did it just offer up another failed attempt to eradicate the superhuman entity? My money is on the latter, though the TV series may well embrace such a game-changing twist to further set the two versions apart.

2. Did Doctor Manhattan Give Will Reeves Powers?

The Watchmen comic book never gave readers an exhaustive rundown of the many ways Doctor Manhattan can affect the reality around him, so it wasn’t altogether surprising when the TV show introduced the concept of his abilities being transferrable to other forms of organic matter. That reveal seemingly offered up answers for Will Reeves’ more unnatural behavior, such as his ability to escape handcuffs and to grab boiling eggs straight from the pot. Plus, it would make sense that Doctor Manhattan would try and guarantee Will's survival up until at least the 10-year mark, so that he could keep watch over Angela. (Even if Will did get some of Doctor Manhattan's abilities, is he alone?)

3. Did Angela Actually Doom Judd Crawford?

Angela's time-jumping question to her grandfather Will is the kind of time-traveling paradox situation that's fairly common to sci-fi narratives. However, I have to believe Damon Lindelof's creative team will completely flip expectations when all is said and done, and that Angela's actions will have various ramifications that viewers hadn't been aware of. In any case, even if Judd wasn't wholly deserving of a forced suicide, he was seemingly still guilty of conspiring with Senator Keene, so his day of reckoning was certainly near already.

4. Does Doctor Manhattan's Pre-Cal Appearance Matter?

"A God Walks Into Abar" purposefully hindered audience's views of Doctor Manhattan's face during both the flashbacks in the bar and on Europa. However, it wasn't entirely clear if there was a plot-related mechanic involved, or if his face was only being hidden in order to put more emphasis on Yahya Abdul-Mateen II whenever he goes full Manhattan blue. I can't imagine that there will be an additional twist related to the superhuman's non-Call appearance, but I wouldn't be shocked.

5. How Are Lady Trieu And Adrian Veidt Connected?

Beyond a squid-shaped shadow of a doubt, Adrian Veidt has deep ties to Lady Trieu that go beyond the fact that she currently owns all of his companies. In this episode, Veidt quipped that "a little elephant" told him about Doctor Manhattan's Europa life, which is seemingly a direct reference to Lady Trieu. Her company's logo, after all, resembles an elephant's face; not to mention she was housing an actual elephant that was used to soak up Angela's Nostalgia. But are they related? Acquaintances? Enemies?

6. Where Is Looking Glass?

Though Looking Glass appeared to be a goner the last time we saw him, the character's survival was more or less confirmed in Episode 7, though his whereabouts have remained a mystery. Anyone hoping for Looking Glass to do heroic things to save Doctor Manhattan from the Seventh Kavalry was out of luck, sadly. Here's hoping the mentally fractured cop chose to go directly after Senator Keene and the teleporter in order to stop the 7K's plan.

7. Who Are Veidt's 8 Million Children?

In the post-credits sequence, Veidt made a peculiarly ominous comment to the Game Warden, saying that he has something like 8 million children waiting for him on Earth, standing in their cribs. Was he just speaking in metaphors, though? Or did he somehow actually impregnate 8 million people that all had children without anyone realizing the timeliness? Would that have anything to do with the squids, or something that Lady Trieu has done in Veidt's absence?

8. Does Topher Have Special Abilities?

For the most part, Angela and Cal's kids have served as emotional connections, as opposed to fully developed characters in their own right. However, each of Topher's appearances have hinted at something else happening under the surface. Is that just the show finding ways to mirror Topher and Doctor Manhattan's distant nature, or have there been an actual genetic changes while Topher lived under the same roof as the hibernating Manhattan?

9. How Will Phillips And Crookshank Turn Into Mime And Marionette?

Before viewers got to know Mr. Phillips and Ms. Crookshank, actors Tom Mison and Sara Vickers were only known to be cast as the villainous Mime and Marionette, respectively. Their arrival is (presumably) this series' only direct tie to DC's official Watchmen sequel Doomsday Clock, where they cause a whole lot of imaginative mayhem, making the pair's transition of utmost importance going into the finale. But how will it happen?

10. What Does The Millennium Clock Do, Dangit?

Theories abound concerning Lady Trieu's Millennium Clock, because no one is buying that all it does is tell time. Is it some kind of time machine? Will it give everyone on Earth (or at least Tulsa) superpowers like Doctor Manhattan? Or will it instill in everyone a sense of empathy and peace, providing the opposite of the traumatic psychic energy put forth by Veidt's squid monster? Or will it do one of roughly a million other things?

11. Why Did Doctor Manhattan Show Angela His Water-Walking Skills?

Episode 8's post-credits sequence provided some confusing context for Veidt's horseshoe comment back in the series premiere, which almost definitely means that Doctor Manhattan's pool walk will lead to some kind of a big reference in the finale. But why would he specifically need to show Angela that ability so soon before he was meant to be killed off by the Seventh Kavalry? Does that detail alone serve as proof that Manhattan will return in the finale in some form?

12. How Is Veidt Going To Escape Europa?

Arguably Watchmen's most difficult-to-grasp details are the sporadic peeks into Adrian Veidt's Europa-centric existence, since they largely work mutually exclusive from the main narrative, while also giving viewers lots to wonder about. Lots of elements of Veidt's escape plan are still worth questioning, but we're currently invested in how well he'll be able to dig his way out of his cell using only a horseshoe. And what happens then? Did Doctor Manhattan have the foresight to leave a functioning space shuttle up there for Veidt to take back to Earth?

Considering Watchmen is a Damon Lindelof series, viewers can probably expect for some big questions to be left on the table unanswered, though the Lost and Leftovers vet has promised that the superhero saga will indeed reach a fully formed conclusion by the end of the Season 1 finale. Here's hoping he and the writers left plenty of connective tissue to kick off a second season if HBO wisely orders one up.

Be sure to watch Watchmen's finale on HBO on Sunday, December 15, at 9:00 p.m.

Big spoilers below for anyone who hasn’t yet watched the latest episode of HBO’s Watchmen.

With just one episode left to go in the unpredictably deep first season of HBO’s Watchmen, the endgame is seemingly near for Sister Night, the Seventh Kavalry, Doctor Manhattan and everyone else caught up in this delicately tangled web. (A Season 2 renewal would delay the overall end, despite creator Damon Lindelof crafting the season to stand alone if need be.) With the final episodes come the final round-ups of references to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ seminal comic book series.

Considering Episode 8 was so fully invested in bringing 2019’s Doctor Manhattan into this TV universe, the majority of narrative beats came semi-embedded in Watchmen’s comic book history. Per usual, we’ll be pulling out specifics when necessary, and looping things together when it’s most fitting, and it’s all in mostly sequential order.

(For anyone who hasn't been keeping up with our weekly comic book reference features, check out our rundowns for Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7 and Episode 8.)

The Importance Of Titles

Much like the name of Watchmen’s series premiere hinted at Judd Crawford’s death, Episode 8’s title was actually a nod to a pretty giant reveal itself, although the title that was publicly released had a slight change from the actual version: “A God Walks Into Abar.” Not that it was likely a surprise to everyone who made those assumptions early on, even without the immediate context of which Abar said God was walking into.

Understandably, the title’s meaning is multi-fold. At its most basic, it refers to Doctor Manhattan literally walking into Eddy’s Bar in the opening sequence. At its most unsubtle, the title refers to Doctor Manhattan “walking” into his Cal Abar transformation. Somewhere in the middle of those, it speaks to Doctor Manhattan winning over Angela’s heart ahead of their decade-long relationship.

It’s The Doctor Manhattan “Issue”

The Watchmen comic series dedicated its fourth issue to developing Doctor Manhattan’s story though a time-jaunting, memory-filled story that spoke as much to the character’s stunted humanity as it did his physical history. As well, the ninth issue was largely focused on Manhattan and Laurie’s relationship unraveling. For the most part, “A God Walks Into Abar” extracts beats and themes from both issues in order to inform TV audiences about the super-being’s post-comic whereabouts.

Meaningful Bar Moments For Doctor Manhattan

As viewers witnessed, the framework for “A God Walks Into Abar” was the initial time-looping conversation between Doctor Manhattan and a pre-vigilante Angela. Clearly, this interaction is/was vital to their relationship for many reasons, and it’s used by Manhattan as a touchstone in various ways.

This first meeting is a direct parallel to pre-Doctor Jon Osterman’s first conversation with Janey Slater, who was his girlfriend both before and after his superhuman transition. Jon and Janey first met at the Bestiary, the main bar at the Gila Flats testing facility, where their much referenced carnival photograph was posted until Doctor Manhattan later took it to Mars. Do note that in the comic, Janey is the one who initiates things by buying Jon a beer.

Also note that this TV meet was vastly more nuanced than the comic iteration, but that’s because Angela is more central to this story than Janey was to the comic’s.

Doctor Manhattan’s Unique Perception Of Time

A character trait that cements Doctor Manhattan in the conversation of most interesting comic book characters of all time, the blue being’s understanding of time basically means he’s experiencing his entire existence simultaneously. Thus, he’s able to offer direct answers about the future and the past that wouldn’t otherwise be known, which definitely has as many drawbacks as it has advantages.

As important as Doctor Manhattan’s time eccentricities were, the comic book never set up a fate-altering situation like Angela and Will Reeves’ time-spanning communication. That said, it’s not difficult to imagine a variety of ways that such a plot device could have factored into the source material.

Doctor Manhattan Creating Life

One of the final things that Doctor Manhattan says in the Watchmen comic book (to Adrian Veidt, fittingly) involves his potential goal to leave our galaxy for a new one, where he might create some life. Europa may not be in another galaxy, but the episode confirmed that Doctor Manhattan did indeed head there at one point in order to design and construct a utopia. Or a Garden of Eden, as it were, considering the Adam and Eve name-checks.

Doctor Manhattan Walking Across A Pool Of Water

As if there weren’t already many deified comparisons to make between Doctor Manhattan and God or Jesus Christ, the Watchmen comic book shows the character’s ability to walk on water’s surface without falling through. Near the end of the series, in the midst of his wall-walking through Karnak, Manhattan memorably walked across a pool while smirking after witnessing Dan and Laurie having a post-coitus nap. It's unclear what its meaning will be in the TV show, however.

Jon Osterman’s Father

HBO’s Watchmen introduced both Josef and Jon Osterman in the flesh in its penultimate Season 1 episode, with the comic having lightly touched upon Jon’s childhood relationship with his no-nonsense father. The episode expectedly gave viewers a visual nod to Josef’s occupation as a watch repairer, though it took a detour from the source material in laying out his introduction to the real-world inspirations for Mr. Phillips and Ms. Crookshank.

Doctor Manhattan’s Vietnam Actions

Though we have already covered the TV show’s callbacks to Doctor Manhattan’s destructive path through Vietnam that helped end the war, Episode 8 managed to make the incident even more meaningful to the current-day story. Manhattan’s deadly actions inspired that VVN puppeteer to hire the suicide bomber that killed Angela’s parents, thus kicking off the darker side of her upbringing.

Doctor Manhattan’s Hydrogen Atom Symbol

In case anyone had trouble picking Doctor Manhattan apart from all the other blue-hued things in this world, the character notably has a hydrogen atom symbol in the middle of this forehead, which was a logo conceived partly for PR optics. Here, we got a reversal of the symbol’s arrival.

In the comic, Doctor Manhattan brings a hand up and traces the symbol on his forehead ahead of a press conference (after rejecting a ill-conceived costume prototype that others crafted for him). After taking on the form of Cal in the TV show, Doctor Manhattan simply holds his finger up and the hydrogen atom disappears.

Bedroom Arguments

Doctor Manhattan may know how to woo a lady, it doesn’t mean he’s a perfect mate by any stretch. The comic book showcases some pretty one-of-a-kind arguments and disputes between Manhattan and Laurie, usually prompted by the former using his powers in ways that put Laurie on edge. Such as, for instance, replicating himself during the act of foreplay, in opposition to Laurie’s consent.

Angela and Manhattan have a similarly complex argument in the Watchmen TV series which was also influenced by prophetic notions. However, the aftermath of the live-action tiff is exceedingly more important to the story at large, considering it set in motion the plan to cloak Doctor Manhattan’s powers and memories.

Adrian Veidt’s Antarctic Retreat, Karnak

One of the most important locations within the world of Watchmen, Adrian Veidt’s snowy hideaway Karnak embodies the character’s conniving and duplicitous nature, with the public only being aware of his more virtuous actions. Much of Watchmen’s final two issues take place there, and the TV show apparently set up that Veidt continued to reside at Karnak in the years following the 11/2 massacre in New York City.

From Veidt’s signature wall of TVs to the small pyramid on his desk to his large supply of historical artifacts, the live-action Karnak looked gorgeous despite its fairly limited use. Extra points to the effects team for showing viewers the crumbling geodesic dome of the vivarium that Veidt allowed the elements to destroy after he revealed his plan to his Vietnamese servants.

Doctor Manhattan’s Final Comic Conversation With Veidt

The Watchmen TV show has offered up various callbacks to the then-final discussion between Doctor Manhattan and Adrian Veidt, in which the notion that “nothing ever ends” is brought up. But in Episode 8, both Veidt and Doctor Manhattan verbally recall that conversation, which the latter likely always has spinning in his head anyway.

"I Made It 30 Years Ago"

One of the most iconic and bone-chilling moments from the original Watchmen comic comes when Adrian Veidt makes his doom-laden admission to the disbelieving Nite Owl II and Rorschach that his squid creature had already been zapped into New York City 35 minutes before that point in their conversation, meaning there was nothing the two vigilantes could do to stop the 3 million deaths. Of course, it took on a much more positive light in the TV show, with Veidt apparently having made Doctor Manhattan's amnesia ring back in 1989.

Tachyons Blocking Doctor Manhattan's Powers

The ring that Adrian Veidt made to block Doctor Manhattan's powers and memories is embedded with tachyons that are able to block the super-being's abilities to experience future events. It's the same technology that Veidt utilized in the comic to keep Doctor Manhattan from discovering Karnak and his deadly squid plot (among other things), and it clearly worked quite well on Cal during the 9+ years he was free from his Manhattan identity. It's the only thing that works as a suitable comparison to Superman's Kryptonite weakness.

Silhouette Lovers

As previously discussed in these features, the Watchmen TV show offered up a brief callback or two to the comic book's "Hiroshima lovers," which is the nickname given to the shadowy graffiti of two lovers embracing. The original art was meant to reflect the aftermath of the nuclear attack in Hiroshima, and the penultimate episode actually had Doctor Manhattan and Angela serving as the couple seen embracing in silhouette. A sweet visual, but certainly a pessimistic one, given Manhattan's fate in the end.

Doctor Manhattan Exploding People

Though his actions in Vietnam were known to be destructive and deadly, Doctor Manhattan does not spend very much time getting violent within Watchmen, seeing as so many of the other characters are quick to get physical. However, the final issue of Watchmen hangs heavy on a murder caused by Doctor Manhattan; when Rorschach refuses to play ball and allow Veidt's plot to go unreported, Doctor Manhattan is inevitably the last line of defense stopping the truth from leaking. And it's a foul end for the masked vigilante, as Manhattan obliterates Rorschach out there in the Antarctic air.

In HBO's Watchmen, Doctor Manhattan also brings out his body-exploding abilities after witnessing Angela defy prophecy in order to try and save him from the Seventh Kavalry. It's another somewhat heartwarming twist on a major comic moment, though one that sadly ends in Doctor Manhattan's presumed death. (That we don't really believe is real.)

Other Random Thoughts

This episode obviously contained several other comic-specific moments, such as Doctor Manhattan’s admission to Angela that he constantly feels the fear of being trapped in the intrinsic field subtracter in the moments before his body was annihilated. But considering we’ve already seen Phillips and Crookshank act out that annihilation in stage form, it didn’t feel necessary as a standalone item.

Only one episode of Watchmen left before Season 1 is but a distant memory to anyone but Doctor Manhattan, who will be reliving through its events for as long as he exists. Be sure to check out the season finale on HBO on Sunday, December 15, at 9:00 p.m. ET.

Major spoilers below for those who haven't yet watched Watchmen's seventh episode. You have been warned!

All season long, Watchmen fans have had an abundance of questions and curiosities about the TV series' expansion of the comic book storyline, with the mystery of Doctor Manhattan's whereabouts looming large over most other elements. Episode 7 finally delivered what appeared to be a definitive answer on that front, revealing that the superhuman entity has been posing as Angela's human husband Cal for quite a few years. By the episode's end, Angela had destroyed "Cal" and allowed Doctor Manhattan back out into the world.

While some fans out there had the "Cal = Manhattan" theory already in their minds, the reasoning and details behind the superhuman's Earthbound presence are still unknown, though it's pretty clear that Angela has been Doctor Manhattan's romantic partner for even more years than Laurie was in the '80s. (And the latter is still pining for that connection.) According to Watchmen's TV mastermind and showrunner Damon Lindelof, it was that very relationship-driven concept that sparked this section of the narrative. In Lindelof's words:

In the final pages of Watchmen's source material, Doctor Manhattan was dealing not only with the knowledge of Veidt's monstrous plot, but also with having just killed Rorschach, and the sight of Laurie and Dan post-coitus. That said, he nonetheless seemed to have a weight lifted off of him, and he professed an interest in creating his own human beings. It's obviously not clear exactly when Doctor Manhattan chose to make a semi-permanent return to Earth by way of Vietnam, but it was indeed the power of human emotions that kept him around and under everyone's radar.

It does make sense that Doctor Manhattan would choose to align with Angela Abar, considering her story is one that practically demands empathy. Episode 7 revealed that her parents were killed by a suicide bomber, and that she'd only gotten to know her grandmother June for the length of a meal before the older woman died of a heart attack. We didn't get to see what happened to her after June's death, but it's clear that she stuck around Saigon until adulthood, and that she came into contact with Doctor Manhattan at some point during that stint.

The reason why Doctor Manhattan had to get brought out of Cal's body in the first place is because Angela discovered the Seven Kavalry's plans to destroy the blue being in order to somehow turn Senator Joe Keene into a new version of Doctor Manhattan. That reveal, which viewers learned about through both Keene and Lady Trieu, sounded just as nutso as Veidt's squid monster scheme, and brought the bigotry-tethered organization's true purpose to the forefront.

Speaking with THR, here's how Damon Lindelof explained the thought process behind Keene's ultimate goal to become the most powerful being in the universe.

One of the scariest things about Watchmen so far has been the unwavering confidence in Keene's approach and demeanor in every scene he's been in, whether it's a brief conversation with Angela or showing Looking Glass the brain-shattering truth behind 11/2. Now that audiences know his mind is set on becoming the next Doctor Manhattan, it makes his rise to power all the more alarming, and one can only hope he and his clan are far more short-sighted than Adrian Veidt when it comes to world-altering plots. Fingers crossed Keene chokes on a piece of calamari before their plan can be enacted.

What did you guys think about the Doctor Manhattan twist(s)? What about the bonkers reveal that Bian is actually a cloned version of Lady Trieu's mother? Let us know in the comments below, and don't forget to keep up with our comic book reference features for each of Season 1's installments: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6 and Episode 7.

Watchmen airs Sunday nights on HBO at 9:00 p.m. ET.

Major spoilers below for the seventh episode of HBO's Watchmen, so be sure and watch before reading on.

For much of its first season, HBO's Watchmen intentionally limited its use of the comic book's most powerful being, Doctor Manhattan. That dam broke with Episode 7, however, which not only gave viewers an assortment of Doctor Manhattan visuals through the years, but also dropped the massive reveal that the super-character has actually been posing as Angela's husband Cal for many years. So many questions, so few episodes left.

While that reveal couldn't have been feasibly set up within Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen, the HBO series definitely kept up with appearances by dropping a slew of comic book-related references with Episode 7, titled "An Almost Religious Awe." From deaths in Vietnam to eccentricities on Europa, Watchmen continued ramping up its unique narrative while paying homage to its roots, and we've rounded up all the biggest comic references in a mostly sequential order.

For those who may have missed out, check out our Watchmen comic references features for Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5 and Episode 6.

Dr. Manhattan All Over The Place

As mentioned before, Doctor Manhattan has been purposefully held to a minimum in Watchmen's live-action universe, since his presence would likely overshadow the very important storytelling being done by Damon Lindelof & Co. with the rest of this ensemble. But Angela's Vietnam-set flashback to the day of her parents' deaths gave viewers an idea of just how huge Doctor Manhattan's presence was in the country that became the 51st state of the U.S.A. From dolls to balloons to puppet shows to the poignantly titled documentary Manhattan: An American Life, the superhuman is truly an icon like no other.

This Manhattan-infused opening offers some comic context about the accident that turned physicist Jon Osterman into Doctor Manhattan, complete with an intrinsic field subtractor. This bit also contains a Nova Express "American Cancer" cover, as well as print ads for items fueled by Manhattan's lithium-powered batteries, such as watches (go figure) and cars. Fans also got to see pics of Jon's father Josef's shop, Osterman's Fine Watches in Brooklyn, as well as a pic of the two when Jon was a young boy. Not to mention a sign for Gila Flats, where his life was changed forever.

Doctor Manhattan In Vietnam

Even though this moment was part of the faux documentary footage, I would be remiss not to focus on it separately. As Doctor Manhattan's influence over the Vietnam War ending was discussed, the scene shifted to a P.O.V. shot of a gigantic Doctor Manhattan marking his destructive path throughout the tree-filled country. This visual comes directly from the fourth issue of Watchmen, when the character is on Mars and reflecting on his transition and existence, made most evident by his particular hand motion. Note how his face isn't shown in the TV show, however.

Elephants And Alt-Histories

The Watchmen comic book featured animals in memorable and distinct ways, from the dogs that influenced Rorschach's takeover to the all-important owl. Elephant visuals, in particular, were a common sight as the flying, air-filled promotions for the restaurant Gunga Diner. The Watchmen TV series utilized elephants much more directly, with one being used to flush Nostalgia meds out of Angela's system, no doubt in conjunction with the old adage that an elephant never forgets.

That rather shocking moment was foreshadowed earlier in the episode's video store sequence, in which animated tales showcase pachyderm characters like Trunky and Tusky. It's not exactly clear if their existences are meant as full substitutes for the French creation Babar the Elephant, or if they exist independently.

The Importance Of Titles

For the second episode in a row, Damon Lindelof and his creative team pulled a Watchmen episode title from the source material's text, as opposed to an outside song, poem, etc. In this instance, the title "An Almost Religious Awe" comes from Doctor Manhattan's narration in Issue #4 where his giant form is taking out Vietcong posts. You can read it below.

The implication here is clear enough, even if it's not completely understandable how it all meshes with the TV narrative. If one witnesses a being or event that defies all human logic, then it's likely their fear and distress will be overshadowed by curiosity and wonder. Doctor Manhattan earns that kind of reaction like no other character in this universe.

Silk Swingers & Other VHS Movies

As Angela is picking out that extremely influential copy of the (fictional) blaxploitation flick Sister Night, viewers can see several other familiar titles and thematic concepts on the video's rotating rack. Very interesting is the problematic feature Silk Swingers of Suburbia, the Edmund "King" Taylor-directed romp that started its life off as something resembling a more serious biopic. The faux project was referenced within Watchmen's pages as part of Issue #9's supplemental material, with a scathing review thrown in for good measure.

Also on the rack was the cinematic adaptation of Fogdancing, the Max Shea novel that was previously seen being read by a character in Episode 4. Interestingly, the movie was directed by The Fly and Videodrome's David Cronenberg, whose shocking body horror effects call to mind the NYC massacre in both the comic and the TV show.

The more on-the-nose thematic entry was the video for Monsters from Outer Space, a clear reference to the alien squid monster. (It's also worth noting that Ghostbusters still exists in this timeline, and I gotta wonder if that movie references Doctor Manhattan at all.)

Burgers and Borscht

While Gunga Diner was the most used in-world restaurant on Watchmen's pages, the end of the story reveals that the culinary world was affected by even more Eastern European influences after Adrian Veidt's deadly scheme thwarted war plans around the globe. The eatery Burgers and Borscht appeared in a single panel in the Watchmen source material's final issue, in the spot where Gunga Diner was located. In the TV series, it's where Angela meets her grandmother June for their fateful conversation that preceded June's untimely death.

V.V.N. Day

In the Watchmen comic book, V.V.N. Night was meant to be a joyous event celebrating the fact that the U.S. had won the war in Vietnam. It was on that June evening when Doctor Manhattan witnessed (and did nothing to stop) The Comedian point-blank shooting the Vietnamese woman that was clearly pregnant with his lovechild.

A similarly dark moment occurred during the daytime V.V.N. celebration that occurred on the Watchmen TV show. It's where Angela's parents (and others) were murdered by a suicide bomber unhappy with Americans having taken over the country. That sentiment was also expressed in the "Murderer" and blood graffiti added to that Manhattan mural in Saigon.

Triangles

As much as Watchmen has been invested in circular imagery, let's not forget that it was a triangle that connected all the tendrils of Adrian Veidt's conspiracy plots. The triangle was, of course, the symbol for the Veidt-owned Pyramid Deliveries, which funded the Nova Express publication, as well as Dimensional Developments, the company that itself funded the Institute for Extraspatial Studies.

Triangles have appeared in the TV show before, of course, but I found their presence to be particularly noteworthy during the revealing conversation between Laurie Blake and Jane Crawford, in which Jane eagerly confessed she was a part of the scheme cooked up by Joe Keene and the Seventh Cavalry. The couch that Laurie is sitting on has a pillow filled with triangles, while the lampshade seen in the shot with Jane also brings triangular imagery to the scene. Perhaps most important, in terms of villainous hat-tipping? The three-sided case that holds Judd's memorial flag, of course.

Psychological Tests

Upon waking up from one of her Nostalgia naps, Angela was shown a series of images by Lady Trieu's not-actually-her-daughter Bian, who then asked questions involving the card subjects' fears and potential for danger. Bian said it was research for a dissertation surrounding the subject of empathy, which seemed a bit strange until Lady Trieu waved away age-related questions with the reveal that Bian is the clone of Trieu's mother.

Shortly after Walter Kovacs' capture in the Watchmen comic, his sessions began with criminal psychologist Malcolm Long, who initially sought fame from his involvement in Rorschach's case, but quickly showed signs of emotional distress upon hearing the vigilante's stories and criticisms. Their first meeting, which kicks off Issue #5, stars with Mal showing Kovacs a series of Rorschach blots, which the latter bullshits his way through while visualizing his more disturbing true answers. It's obviously not clear if Mal's downward narrative trajectory will be paralleled in Bian in other ways, particularly if she learns of her true nature, but it's worth keeping in mind.

Reflections

In this instance, I'm specifically referring to two Episode 7 scenes that strongly showcased the comic book's penchant for character action being displayed via reflective surfaces. The first was during the aforementioned back-and-forth between Angela and Bian. At certain points, Angela's reactions to Bian's admissions were shown in close-up shots of Bian's eyeglasses, while Angela's eyes offered a smaller reflective surface for the clone to be seen within. It's no coincidence that those glasses are as round and owl-like as they are.

Angela's eyes, which became the stained glass in Veidt's "courtroom" in the episode's most striking scene transition, also played into those game-changing final moments of the episode. After Angela dug the hydrogen atom piece out of Cal's head following his pseudo-death, the all-too-familiar blue glow appeared in full for the first time, and viewers could clearly see Doctor Manhattan's face (and his arm?) reflected in Angel's loving peepers. All in favor of these shots, say eye.

Groaner puns aside, I believe it's thematically relevant for the episode to hold attention on both of Angela's eyes, and possibly Bian's as well, to serve as dual opposition to the one-eyed Cyclops threat that Will sought to vanquish as Hooded Justice. Perhaps it wasn't intentional, but it felt connected enough.

Black Freighter Skull And Crossbones

The familiar pirate-themed imagery from Tales of the Black Freighter returned in Episode 7 within the courtroom setting where Adrian Veidt's 365-day trial took place. It was showcased on the wall behind the Judge, who also goes by Game Warden, further reminding viewers that Veidt's years-long attempts to vacate his moon-based prison serve as Watchmen's TV take on "Marooned," the inter-spliced pirate comic story that flowed through the comic book narrative. We've seen the previous parallels, such as using corpses as a method of escaping, so it will be interesting to see how Damon Lindelof's creative team sticks the landing.

Adrian Veidt's Past Murders

During Veidt's trial, not only were all the 11/2 deaths and moon-clone deaths working against him, but Ms. Crookshanks the Prosecutor also brought up Veidt freely admitting that he "took the lives of fellow costumed adventurers." Clearly, this was another namecheck-avoiding way to bring up The Comedian, whom Veidt murdered after the latter discovered the island where the squid monster was being conceived. (Some viewers likely wondered if Lady Trieu's comment about her father was also in reference to The Comedian, but we'll have to wait and see on that front.)

But was Crookshanks' wording pluralized in a general sense, or was she specifically revealing that Veidt was responsible for killing more than one semi-virtuous vigilante? I suppose someone could lump Moloch into the "costumed adventurers" category if one argued hard enough, but he was still a villain through and through. Perhaps Veidt had a hand in Captain Metropolis' vehicular decapitation. Someone likely did, since the head was apparently never found.

The Original Squid Illustration

With Looking Glass' brain-warping lesson on this universe's lack of squid-related dangers, HBO's Watchmen more or less wrapped up everything that absolutely needed to be said about the creature's influences. However, we not only got another peek of the "squid rain" headline inside Looking Glass' corpse-filled bunker, but Lady Trieu was also serving up some calamari for her big meal before the Millennium Clock goes live.

The biggest callback to the Watchmen comic book, however, came during Adrian Veidt's trial, where Ms. Crookshanks the Prosecutor had a blown-up recreation of the central squid-monster illustration from the great Dave Gibbons. Within the narrative, it was artist Hira Manish who was responsible for crafting the creature's look. She was one of the many who were blown up by Veidt after their mission was completed, and the illustration was last scene washing up on a shore not far from where the group died.

Given the location, though, it's not exactly clear if someone actually discovered the image on Earth and connected Veidt to the boat explosion, or if only the person responsible for Veidt's current imprisonment has access to the picture. It's also not clear if that matters or not.

Butterflies In The Vivarium

In transitioning back from Europa to Earth, Watchmen flipped from Veidt's tear-struck face to the very similar visage of the Ozymandias statue in Lady Trieu's vivarium. From behind the statue flew a butterfly, which carried the camera over to Angela sneaking around. That seemingly non-contextual moment might be strangely foreboding, however, considering the subtly dark butterfly-related moment in the comic.

In the issue where Veidt bloviates about his history and his legacy to his Vietnamese servants, it becomes clear at a certain point that the drinks he'd poured for them were poisoned, and he later opened the vivarium up to allow Antarctica's snow to cover their corpses. The poison's rather instant effect is hinted at by a butterfly sitting on one of the servants' faces for multiple panels, which he surely would have swatted away had he still been alive to notice it. Could the butterfly in Lady Trieu's home be an indication that Veidt actually is already dead in the current timeline?

Doctor Manhattan's Return

Beyond everything discussed earlier concerning Doctor Manhattan, the episode's final moments confirm a theory that took hold of a certain section of the fanbase: Cal has actually been Doctor Manhattan this whole time, only with more humanistic feelings cloaking the latent dispassion. While there wasn't a Cal in the comics – we're tiptoeing around the Cal/Kal-El name similarities and the Superman/Doctor Manhattan connections central to the Doomsday Clock arc – one of the last things Doctor Manhattan says hints at the TV show's big reveal. After Veidt brings up the superhuman's rediscovered interest in humans, Doctor Manhattan says:

It's obviously easy to also connect that particular line to all of the clone babies that Veidt fishes for on Europa, but in that instance, Doctor Manhattan would have created other beings to witness in a Sims-esque capacity. With Cal, it would appear Manhattan firmly wanted to become a living and breathing human being again, which also falls under the umbrella of "perhaps I'll create some." So many questions left to answer about his relationship with Angela now.

Other Random Thoughts

I like this Manhattan-related ad copy, "The journey should be the last thing on your mind," in the sense of how it applies to Veidt's trials and tribulations.

Did anyone else get vaguely Seinfeld-ian vibes when watching Red Scare eating Cheetos Puffs out of the bag with a fork?

Speaking of other-show vibes, did Watchmen seriously bring up an old Saturday Night Live sketch during Laurie and Jane's scene? In the 1988 SNL episode hosted by Judge Reinhold, there was a fake commercial sketch in which Jon Lovitz's businessman has a series of trapdoor malfunctions. The brand of the trapdoors was Wilson, which was the same brand as Jane's own malfunctioning trapdoor. I suppose that could also be a slight nod to the 2009 film's star Patrick Wilson (who is a fan of the show), but the additional trapdoor stuff is hard to ignore.

Are Jane Crawford and Joe Keene the "two riders" that are approaching to bring about this timeline's judgment day, while Judd was just a semi-racist patsy? I thought it immediately when Jane rode her horse up to Laurie, though I don't think we'll see Joe Keene riding any horses beyond his own high one.

After hearing those highlights from Lady Trieu's life, I want to learn so much more. Especially about that microfusion spacecraft, and how it possibly could have been used to transport someone to Europa.

Where was Angela going to click next on the big Doctor Manhattan call center orb? After hearing Laurie's message from Tulsa, Angela looked as if she has a particular spot in Europe that she was going for, which was interrupted by Lady Trieu's arrival. Is there something more to that moment than meets the eye?

Picking A Penis Body Double Was Just As Awkward As It Sounds For Watchmen Star Tom Mison

With just two episodes left to go in this increasingly incredible first season, Watchmen airs Sunday nights on HBO at 9:00 p.m. ET.

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Watch out! Major spoilers below for anyone who isn’t yet caught up with Watchmen’s latest episodes.

With its sixth episode, HBO’s Watchmen confidently wove its way into Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ comic book source material with stunning dexterity. The entire creative team created something truly transcendent for small screen audiences, from the direction to the editing to the music and so on. But we’re here to glorify the comic book references!

“This Extraordinary Being” took a step back from making plentiful comic book connections, at least in some ways, to completely shake up the canon while also answering some of the Watchmen TV universe’s lingering questions. It was a wild journey through time and space, thanks to Angela’s Nostalgia trip, but there’s no time like the present to dig in to everything we saw.

(If you haven’t gone back and read our previous comic book-centric Watchmen TV features, check out Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, and Episode 5.)

Hooded Justice’s Backstory

It feels necessary to start by pointing out nearly the entire runtime is devoted to giving Hooded Justice a TV-specific backstory that stays mostly faithful to the Watchmen comic while still twisting the heck out of it. That it started with American Hero Story’s familiarly heightened interpretation only served to remind comic viewers that there are more than enough blanks in the vigilante’s backstory that could be filled in interesting ways for TV.

We’ll get into more specifics as we go on, but it’s worth pointing out up top that episode writers Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson did play around with the mythos set up by Hollis Mason’s Under the Hood. As well, the opening interrogation scene loosely references the government's attempts to keep an official record of vigilante identities, something brought up in both Before Watchmen (with local police) and in Under the Hood (with Senator Joe McCarthy).

Watchmen Supervillains

The Seventh Kavalry currently serves as the most obvious overarching threat within HBO’s Watchmen, but the group definitely isn't this universe’s first batch of theatrical baddies. During the opening AHS sequence, a trio of comic-specific antagonists were mentioned as having been taken down by Hooded Justice and the Minutemen.

First was Captain Axis, a WWII Nazi operative who had a feud going with Nite Owl; Captain Axis was one of the villains that Hollis Mason visualized himself fighting whenever he was attacked by Knot-Tops in the eighth issue. The second name-check went to King Mob, a villain whose lone reference is an ape mask that appears in the background of the scene when The Comedian assaults Silk Spectre.

The third villain mentioned is the most prominent of the Watchmen comic foes: Moloch the Mystic, real name Edgar Jacobi. Moloch kept up his criminal activities from the 1930s through the 1970s before retiring and unwittingly becoming part of Adrian Veidt’s anti-Doctor Manhattan scheme. Veidt first ruthlessly gave Moloch cancer and later shot him in the head after The Comedian’s drunken visit, a murder that Rorschach was framed for. Fingers crossed we still get a memorable Moloch scene in a future episode's flashback.

The Importance Of Titles

Considering “This Extraordinary Being” is such a semi-revisionist take on one of Watchmen’s most curious vigilantes, it’s only fitting that the sixth episode’s title come from the source material itself. On page six of Under the Hood, Hollis Mason used the description when talking about Hooded Justice’s supermarket incident:

Those words tell a different story than the one seen later in the grocery store. Perhaps it’s because Hollis Mason’s autobiography was rife with sections that were given major overhauls prior to publication, due to sensitive material. Or perhaps it was because the incidents were completely different.

Watchmen’s Use Of Color

Not that HBOs Watchmen hasn't delivered many color-focused moments in its five previous episodes, from Tulsa PD's signature yellow masks to that sporadic blue glow. "This Extraordinary Being" went above and beyond, however, in offering up a color scheme that truly stepped up to the work of the Watchmen comic book's colorist John Higgins, though not in ways that mimicked Higgins' palette. Instead, Watchmen bounced between the black and white tones of Will Reeves' adulthood and the other more colorful stages of his life, while also combining them in lovely ways, such as the bedroom scene where the pilot flashback played out through an open doorway.

In particular, it's the episode's use of the color red that is the most striking and enigmatic. Will's piano-playing mother, the bodies being dragged behind the cop car, and the red light over the recording room door were haunting reminders that these overlapping memories were happening inside Angela's mind. Those moments brought to mind another visually unique comic book adaptation, Robert Rodriguez's Sin City, just with a completely different emotional through-line. (For those who haven't read Watchmen without John Higgins' colors, check out the black-and-white release Watchmen Noir.)

Newspaper Vendor

The corner newspaper stand in 1938 clearly wasn't still standing in Watchmen's 1985 setting, but its presence was just as clearly meant to mirror the use of newsstands in this universe. Not only in the way that headlines drew focus, but also because it set up a very important moment that we'll talk about next. Also note that the stand was centrally located in front of a store selling watches. Tick-tock.

Action Comics #1

In Watchmen's world, the rise of superhero comics didn't take off the way they did in the real world, largely due to the rise of costumed vigilantes that made up the Minutemen, but the Watchmen TV show brought in arguably the most important comic book of all time. Action Comics #1, which featured the first appearance of Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster's iconic hero Superman, was shown to Will by the news vendor at precisely the right moment to influence Hooded Justice's arrival. The scene also vindicated anyone who'd mentally connected Will's childhood trauma to Superman's comic origins.

Within the Watchmen text, Superman's first appearance was most prominently viewed through Hollis Mason's eyes via his Under the Hood biography. Though he initially pegged the comic to be for children, the future Nite-Owl was quite taken by the wholesomeness of Clark Kent in the face of darker stories told in The Shadow. He may not have been quite as immediately inspired by Action Comics the way that Will was, but there's no question how influential the Man of Steel was for all iterations of Watchmen.

Hooded Justice’s First Appearance

The Watchmen comic book never fully delivered an explanation for Hooded Justice's rope-laden costume, but Damon Lindelof & Co. figured out a pretty brilliant way to weave Will Reeves' tragic story into the information provided by the source material. "This Extraordinary Being" explored Will's challenging run as a New York City cop at a time when black cops were intentionally few and far between, which was definitely a different experience from Hollis Mason's time as an NYC cop in the late '30s. (One wonders if they ever crossed paths on the job.)

After being taken to the brink of death by his Cyclops-minded fellow officers, a mentally broken Will walked home with a noose around his neck when he heard a violent mugging in progress. That's when the hood went on and the animal was unleashed for the first time. The events didn't play out precisely as they did in Hollis Mason's account in Under the Hood – for instance, Will's Hooded Justice hadn't "dropped into the alleyway from above" – but contradictory witness reports were indeed key to the vigilante's continued mystique.

Captain Metropolis' Introduction

Watchmen viewers had previously been introduced to the "fictional" version of Captain Metropolis through American Hero Story's risqué sex scene, but Episode 6 brought in the "real" Minutemen leader via Jake McDorman's Nelson Gardner. Contrary to how things were (admittedly vaguely) presented in the comic book, Nelson did indeed see Hooded Justice sans hood, and that's actually how they first met. And contrary to the aforementioned sex scene, the two vigilantes were not in costume when they started their illicit affair.

Much as the comic character was presented as self-involved and interested more in spotlight-grabbing than in bringing down all forms of crime, the TV take on Nelson Gardner's Captain Metropolis was an image-conscious hornball whose tolerance of Will's skin color didn't extend beyond the bedroom. It'd be kind of a shame if this is all that TV audiences see of the nationally renowned Captain Metropolis, but it wouldn't be so surprising.

Clocks, Clocks, Clocks

Everybody knows that clocks are an extremely important visual motif within Watchmen, and Episode 6 expectedly featured a handful of timely appearances. Perhaps the most important and/or interesting was the clock shown during the Minutemen's photo shoot, which will be discussed more below. That moment happened around 11:55 (presumably a.m.), and its closeness to the 12 o'clock hour was likely tied to the mental stress that Hooded Justice was feeling about his Cyclops investigation being ignored by the others.

Interestingly, the sequence in which Will tried to get that pompous arsonist arrested showed viewers  clock times that seemed to contradict each other. The clock in the precinct initially read roughly 6:17, and when Will goes outside and talks to the news vendor, the watch shop's clock shows that it was around 8:18. But then when Will returns to complain about the arsonist going free, the precinct's clock pegs the time as 7:27 or so. It would be a lot easier to write that off as a continuity error if Watchmen wasn't so finely tuned with its time-related details, so did that mean anything?

Nazi Rally At Madison Square Garden

Considering Watchmen's storyline was more connected to the Vietnam War over World War II, the subject of Nazis didn't often come up. (As hinted at earlier, the Minutemen villain Captain Axis made only the slightest appearance in the source material.) The TV show's themes of prejudice and xenophobia make it a more suitable home for Nazi-esque elements, however, and one particular bit of set dressing stood out to me as a potential comic book parallel.

One of Will's Cyclops-infused articles referenced the Nazi rally held at Madison Square Garden in February 1939. The real-world event attracted upwards of 20,000 people, but didn't do much to spread the rise of Nazi sympathizers in the U.S. Though it's obviously not a direct tie-in, Madison Square Garden was the ominous setting for Pale Horse's final concert on the night of the Squid catastrophe. There have long been debates over how heavily the band influenced the rebellious and sometimes deadly Knot-Top gang that shared the lead singer's hairstyle, so perhaps this was Damon Lindelof connecting those dots in the haziest way.

The Minutemen Photo Shoot

The comic's oft-used photograph of Jon and Janey' amusement park date is only eclipsed in importance by the group shot of the Minutemen, in which all the major players were present. HBO's Watchmen paid tribute to that moment in Episode 6, but in a smart way that didn't necessarily depict THE photo held so dear by Hollis Mason, Sally Jupiter and others. It's not so clear how many promotional pics the Minutemen took during their heyday, but it's possible there were some less impressive ones beyond that iconic shot.

The parallels were definitely there, though, minus the Cyclops folder that Will Reeves was holding onto throughout. The background characters' features intentionally obscured by blurriness, but the other Minutemen members were still easily recognizable, and they were seemingly lined up in the same order as the Watchmen group pic: Silhouette, Mothman, Dollar Bill, Nite-Owl, Captain Metropolis, Silk Spectre and then Hooded Justice, with the 16-year-old Comedian kneeling in front of everyone.

Reflective Storytelling

Similarly to how Episode 5 directly mirrored Watchmen's palindromic fifth issue, the sixth installment featured some equally giant emulative reflections that honor Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' textured narrative and artwork. These happened most notably through Will's Hooded Justice exploits, which were foreshadowed via those slightly off-base American Hero Story scenes. The alterations made to Hooded Justice's origin story – from the original comic to the TV show to the dramatized show-within-a-show – are a sign of the way mass media largely embraces sensation over strict reality, at least in my mind.

For instance, Hooded Justice's big act of grocery store heroism, which was depicted in both the comic's Under the Hood excerpts and in the first big American Hero Story segment, got turned on its head in Episode 6. Like the photo shoot, this could have been a different incident entirely, since Hooded Justice was busting some KKK skulls at the time and not stopping a robbery; they were definitely meant to be connected, though, given the opposing front-window crashes. That said, this may have been a case where authorities skewed the story to the papers in order to draw less attention to the Klan being around.

With such important moments gluing our eyes to the screen throughout the episode’s runtime, it’s more than possible that we didn’t mention a fairly major comic book connection that struck others as important. I’ll cop to that, but be sure and let us know in the comments what other Watchmen comic homages you saw.

One Watchmen Film Star Is 'Loving' Damon Lindelof's HBO Series

Watchmen airs Sunday nights on HBO at 9:00 p.m ET.

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Tons of spoilers below for anyone who isn't caught up with HBO's Watchmen.

Of all the things that Watchmen excels at, the HBO series perfectly reflects the original comic series' habit of dangling narrative threads (like tentacles) while saving key information held for later. From the opening minutes of the pilot, Damon Lindelof and the rest of Watchmen's creative team have given audiences an abundance of characters, plot points, comic references, key locations, and motivations. Seemingly everything that shows up on the screen is worthy of intricate speculation, and fans have been happy to oblige. (Including at least one of the film's stars.)

To be expected, Watchmen has inspired my own brain to contemplate an untold number of questions and theories about what's happening with Regina King's Sister Night, Jeremy Irons' Adrian Veidt, those squids and just about everything else. It would be easy to fall into a conspiracy-driven haze inside an underground bunker with walls covered in photographs connected by yarn, but we're sticking with the biggest questions that need answers before this socially poignant first season comes to a close. Let's kick things off a mystery set up in the premiere's final minutes.

Who Or What Is Will Reeves?

To be fair, even the name "Will Reeves" feels like it will be revealed to be false at this point, but for now, I'm talking about Lou Gossett Jr.'s (sometimes) wheelchair-bound man who may or may not have killed Judd Crawford. The reveal that he doesn't need the wheelchair was shocking, but that's far from the only head-scratching quirk that Will has displayed. (He snatched an egg out of boiling water and peeled it without letting it cool, for one.)

Will's relation to Angela Abar is presumably legitimate, but because her parents died when she was young, it's still unclear what that family dynamic looks like on the whole. If Will is actually the young boy from Watchmen's opening sequence, how is he still alive and agile? (And would that make his name William Williams?) And if he's not that boy, is he another major player such as Doctor Manhattan in disguise? Maybe I'm going to need some of those Nostalgia pills.

What's Up With Doctor Manhattan, For Real?

Arguably the most conversation-worthy character within Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen is the big, blue behemoth Doctor Manhattan, and not just for his big, blue genitalia. As the only true superhuman in the narrative, Doctor Manhattan served as humanity's savior until a point when he left Earth behind for Mars, where he has supposedly been for the past 30+ years. But has he actually been up there all this time?

Doctor Manhattan's continued influence on the world has been confirmed and examined in part, from his celebrated satellite appearances to Manhattan-influenced technologies to Laurie Blake's sex toys. I can't help but believe, though, that the character is having a far more direct effect on other characters. Every time someone brings up something that Doctor Manhattan can't do, I automatically start believing that he's entirely capable of it. So at this point, I wouldn't be too shocked to learn that every Watchmen live-action character is actually a Manhattan avatar.

How Many People Are In On The Squid Conspiracy?

Until Watchmen's fifth episode, I might have believed that only a handful of people in the world were truly aware that Adrian Veidt was behind the squid calamity on November 2, 1985. Senator Keene proved that wrong, however, by showing Looking Glass the videotaped confession that Veidt made for Robert Redford, in which he laid out his entire plan in the style of one of James Bond's most loquacious villains.

So, if a high-profile senator (who also happens to be leading a cult of presumed racists) is able to gain access to that confession in order to show a city cop, does that indicate that there are tons of other people who also know of Veidt's culpability? (It's a whole other line of questions concerning why Veidt would do something as ridiculous as confess on a recording.) Are the people behind Extradimensional Security in on the hoax and still bilking people like Wade Tillman out of their money? It says something about this universe that I would watch a limited series based solely on the court cases that would happen if Veidt's confession went public.

How Did Veidt End Up On Europa?

When Damon Lindelof revealed that Adrian Veidt's location in HBO's Watchmen was actually on Jupiter's moon Europa, it kicked off a new branch of inquiries that stretched further than those that supposed he was on Mars or another closer heavenly body. Because if it wasn't Doctor Manhattan that put him in the middle of the solar system, then how in the blue heavens did it happen?

One easy guess would be that Lady Trieu had something to do with it, since her Millennium Clock construction implies that she's got the resources to do whatever she wants. And it's no chance of whimsy that her resources used to be in Adrian Veidt's possession. But would she have had access to cloning machines, infant-filled lakes and moon-safe habitats? And, of course, the question of why he was sent there looms large, but that's probably even more complicated.

Is Lady Trieu A Villain?

In true Watchmen fashion, Damon Lindelof's HBO series has presented an ensemble of characters colored in various shades of virtuousness, to the point where it's rarely clear who the real "good guys" and "bad guys" are in this universe. This distinction goes for Will, Angela, Laurie and more – though Looking Glass seemingly got redeemed with his origin story episode – and it is arguably most obvious with Hong Chau's Lady Trieu.

As the successor to Adrian Veidt from a business perspective, Lady Trieu also seems more than capable of fulfilling his role as the overarching villain through a late-stage reveal, complete with the self-assurance that deadly actions are meant to help the greater good. She's helping Will Reeves, which is possibly a good thing, but she's also not very sympathetic to her (alleged) daughter, which rings villainous alarm bells. Also when has a truly moral protagonist ever been responsible for constructing the biggest building in a city? At least, outside of the Wayne family.

Is Angela's Family "Different" At All?

As Sister Night, Angela Abar is one of the most resourceful vigilantes we've seen in Tulsa, and one of her biggest goals is keeping her family safe. But it's still not quite clear how she and her husband Cal survived the White Night massacres that resulted in them adopting their children. And it's definitely not clear how or why their son Topher was constructing a lookalike of Adrian Veidt's Europa castle, which was the same building type that Doctor Manhattan was demolishing on Mars.

Though nothing out of the ordinary has happened with the two daughters that were adopted from Jim Beaver's previously seen deadbeat, I've become increasingly convinced that there is something pointedly unique about both Topher and Cal. The latter is almost too understanding and calm for a show like this, and Laurie's attraction to him raises questions about his potential connection with the similarly subdued Doctor Manhattan.

What's The Game Warden's Story?

Barely anything about Adrian Veidt's largely standalone narrative is easily accessible for viewers to understand in full, which is obviously a purposeful move on Damon Lindelof's part. Perhaps the most inscrutable part at this point is the Game Warden's existence within this lush so-called prison. The character is seemingly also portrayed by Tim Mison in a mustache, which makes him either another one of Veidt's clones, or possibly the original source for Mr. Phillips' DNA.

Whatever the case may be, it's a full mystery how his authoritarian role came to exist in the first place, especially if he really is just another clone. (The Game Warden does look slightly more aged than Mr. Phillips, for what that's worth.) Was he someone from Earth who was also transported to Europa by whoever it was that stationed Veidt there? Where does he live in this seemingly limited land? And if that IS the O.G. Phillips, where is the O.G. Crookshanks?

What Other O.G. Watchmen Comic Characters Will Show Up?

By all means, HBO's Watchmen has already presented so many elements of the original comic book, both on the series itself or through the various supplemental materials. However, viewers have only knowingly come face to face with the comic characters Laurie Blake, who went by the surname Jupiter in the source material, and Adrian Veidt, though the cloak of secrecy over Jeremy Irons' role, despite the obvious very hints of Veidt-ness, makes me wonder if a future twist will upend that identity. (Twist: He was really Alan Moore's anger personified this whole time!)

Beyond that and the dramatized American Hero Story: Minutemen history – which doesn't really count for true character appearances – Watchmen has only shown us satellite footage of Doctor Manhattan on Mars. A Peteypedia article revealed that Dan Dreiberg is currently in jail for later-in-life vigilantism, though he supposedly never confessed a word about Veidt's squid plot, but will the TV show actually give us more of the original comic characters in the flesh, such as a flashback to Rorschach and Nite-Owl on a caper? Perhaps a scene featuring The Comedian and Sally Jupiter in a moment of peace, instead of sexual torment?

While it's not so likely, HBO's Watchmen could very well make it to the end of Season 1 without answering any of these questions with 100% conviction. Damon Lindelof has claimed that the nine episodes will be able to standalone as a complete story if HBO decides not to move forward with Season 2 (which would be on par with the budget-bursting Carnivale getting cancelled after its second season). So here's hoping audiences are completely sated by the time all the tentacle-esque narrative threads are tied up.

Watchmen airs Sunday nights on HBO at 9:00 p.m. ET. While waiting for the next episodes, check out our comic reference rundowns for Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4 and Episode 5. Happy hunting!

HBO's Watchmen isn't the easiest show to follow. Beyond the fact that the superhero drama has been purposefully cryptic with parts of its story, the live-action Watchmen draws on certain elements from the original comic, and seemingly the Zack Snyder movie that preceded it. So as someone who has never taken the time to dive into Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' comic, and only has the movie to look back to, it's a lot to absorb.

Some comic fanatics may be wondering what the Watchmen viewing experience is like for the uninformed, and I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure what I'm missing out on. Which is to say, I don't even know what I don't know. With that said, here are some of the thoughts I've had watching the first handful of Watchmen episodes as someone who hasn't been able to rely on comic knowledge for guidance.

I'm Never Sure If Confusing Moments Are From Watchmen's Comic Or Damon Lindelof

I may not be a well-read Watchmen fan, but I've definitely watched a show or two from Damon Lindelof, which has been something of a saving grace in these early episodes. Although it also means I'm always unsure if the details I don't understand are a result of my ignorance of the comic, or the fact that Lindelof's creations always tend to be mysterious and cryptic. For instance, I'm not sure if Doctor Manhattan's situation was hinted at in the source material, or if it all came from the show writers.

For that reason, it's a lot easier to just take Watchmen's oddities for what they are, while accepting that not everything will make sense in the moment. Though I'm still not 100% on exactly why I'm ignorant of some plot details, I can't really say any of it has kept me from understanding the major beats and themes of the story. So if anyone else out there was worried about not understanding anything without a comic background, I don't see it being a problem. So far.

So, Rorschach Is A Symbol Of White Supremacy?

One of the most confusing things that Watchmen threw at fans immediately was the implication that Rorschach is a major inspirational symbol for the white supremacy group dubbed the Seventh Cavalry. Now, it has been a long time since I've seen the movie, but don't fully recall the character (who many consider a hero) exhibiting lots of overtly racist behavior that would gain him such a following.

Granted, I know ideological movements can grasp onto the notions of notable people who may have never intended for their words to impact others in such ways. Still, that reveal was such a surprise that I can't help but continue to wonder each week how much knowledge about Rorschach I'm missing from the comic, or even the movie, I hadn't previously known.

Watchmen's Squid Rain Doesn't Make A Ton Of Sense Even With Context, Right?

While I certainly feel some narrative elements have gone far over my head, I've been able to soldier through a good portion of Watchmen so far without having to jump to the internet for explanations. As a major exception, I did have to look into what the hell is happening with all those squids, as I knew there was a squid-related conclusion in the comics that never made it into the film adaptation.

As it turns out, learning the the answer didn't really help me understand the situation any better. Did Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' giant squid creation somehow have lots of tiny babies that rain down from the heavens every so often? Or is this another one of Veidt's tricks, as part of whatever plan he's got now? I still have no idea, and for now, I'm just chalking it up to being a standard kind of Lindelof-ian plot device. I'm all good being out of the loop in this mystery, provided the payoff is satisfying.

Most Of The Vigilantes So Far Are Cops With Costumes

I know Watchmen is a universe in which there is really only one person who has super powers (Doctor Manhattan), but a lot of heroes in the movie were at least Batman-like in their vigilante abilities. Even if they weren't "super" in the sense they could clone themselves and teleport to Mars, they had exceptional amounts of prowess with certain physical and mental skills.

So far, a vast majority of the "vigilantes" in Watchmen are just cops in alternate uniforms. I guess I was assuming there'd be more independent vigilantism, despite it being outlawed, though I can understand the narrative draw of having the strength in numbers of a city's police force, given the deadly actions of Seventh Cavalry members. I'd like to see more vigilantes riding solo like that Lube Guy; by the way, I'm still chuckling about how utterly ridiculous that whole sequence was.

Does Adrian Veidt Have Any Role In Watchmen's Current Events?

While I'm aware that some of Veidt's actions from the original Watchmen timeline created a ripple effect that shaped the nation (and world) the way it did, I'm not so sure Jeremy Irons' castle-dweller has a direct hand in anything happening in America or elsewhere. The most recent episode revealed that he's in a (self-described) prison of some sort, and was possibly put there by another familiar character.

I have no idea who could do such a thing, considering Veidt's location has its own logical fallacies, but it does seem like the answer will come soon enough. Veidt seems to think the key to his escape deals with lifting off the ground, as evidenced by his rocket man and catapult experiments in the past couple episodes. But will he escape, and if so, how will he respond to the state of the world that he has been locked away from?

This Story Doesn't Feel Like It Will Be Wrapped Up In A Season

We're about halfway through Watchmen Season 1 and while I may be in the dark about a lot of things, I think everyone is in the dark on exactly what the major threat in this series is. The lack of overall clarity is pretty surprising, since Damon Lindelof has confirmed his Watchmen story will wrap up suitably by the end of the season, and he's fine with ending things after that.

Now, that doesn't exactly mean Season 2 of Watchmen won't happen, but if it does, it's entirely possible Damon Lindelof won't be involved. It's hard to imagine a show this bizarre keeping that same energy with someone else at the helm, though Lindelof has mentioned he'd love to see Ryan Coogler take a crack at the franchise. Who knows, by the time this whole event wraps up, fans may be happy with it not returning.

Will HBO Max Rule Streaming In 2020?

Anyone else flying the Owlship blind while watching the series? Share all thoughts in the comments below and remember Watchmen airs on HBO Sundays at 9:00 p.m. ET. Stick with CinemaBlend for updates on the show, and for a look at what's happening in the world of television and movies throughout the rest of 2019.

Major spoilers below for anyone who hasn’t yet watched the latest episode of Watchmen! Be sure to catch up before reading on.

Unsurprisingly, Watchmen's third weekend on HBO did not answer every single one of our overarching questions about Damon Lindelof’s increasingly intriguing comic book follow-up, but it certainly did inspire a slew of new opinions and theories about the TV series. “She Was Killed By Space Junk” introduced an extremely important Watchmen character from the source material, creating interesting character dynamics with Regina King’s Sister Night. In more than a few ways, the episode mirrored “Absent Friends,” Watchmen's second issue.

Jean Smart’s Laurie Blake (formerly Laurie Jupiter/Juspeczyk) was the central hook of Watchmen’s latest chapter, but she was far from the only comic-familiar element on display. Below, I’ve rounded up another mostly sequential selection of the biggest comic book references sprinkled throughout Watchmen Episode 3, and how they factor into the show’s storyline.

Let’s kick things off with the aforementioned former Silk Spectre, and in case you missed our previous Watchmen features, check out our comic reference rundowns for Episode 1 and Episode 2.

Laurie Blake Arrives!

Having gone through quite a lot since the events of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ comic book narrative, Jean Smart’s Laurie Blake immediately shined as a fully rounded character in Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen TV series. (Arguably not always the case in the comic.) Now a vigilante-hunting FBI agent whose gruff exterior tests (and sometimes consumes) others’ mettle, Laurie adopted more than just her biological father’s surname, as revealed by HBO’s supplemental Peteypedia materials. More details from Laurie’s introduction will be discussed below.

The Importance Of Titles

Episode 3’s title, “She Was Killed By Space Junk,” is in reference to Devo’s 1978 song “Space Junk,” which Laurie listens to upon arriving home in the opening minutes. (Via CD, in a nod to this universe’s lack of Spotify, or any internet streaming.) For those looking for deeper meanings, the oddball track’s titular space junk kills a woman named Sally, which is the name of Laurie’s mother, also the first Silk Spectre.

It’s unclear at this point what Sally’s final days entailed, but now it feels sensible to believe that she was a victim of…junk from space? Perhaps Adrian Veidt’s squid aftermath, or maybe something that could be sourced to Doctor Manhattan?

Laurie’s Current Status With Doctor Manhattan

The world’s fascination with the Mars-settled Doctor Manhattan resulted in call stations where people leave recorded messages for the superhuman to either listen to or ignore, though he might already know about them before they get there. In any case, it appears that Laurie has kept up a somewhat regular pattern of one-sided contact with her detached former lover. Jean Smart hits the full range of character thrusts in those scenes, too.

Laurie's call in this episode seemingly hints at big things to come, while also dipping into her past as The Comedienne, in honor of her father’s vicious alter ego. Laurie tells a “joke” that was sopping wet with metaphorical goodness, and also had a surprising break in structure. What will it mean that the brick-launching girl not only returned from the botched opening joke, but also killed God and/or Doctor Manhattan? Regardless of what does happen, it looked like Jon sent a pretty bright and timely response in the end. But what does that mean?

Laurie’s Got An Owl

More owl references! On top of all the other visual callbacks to Watchmen’s Nite-Owl, Laurie has an actual owl as a pet, presumably as a reminder of her romance and vigilante spree with Dan Drieberg (currently keeping mum in prison in this universe). The owl’s name, Who, provided an amusing “Who’s on First?” homage with Senator Keene that felt right in line with this show’s bizarre humor.

Of course, it’s also a clever way to evoke that most ubiquitous comic book question: “Who” Watches the Watchmen? I think it’s also quite meaningful that the covered cage limits such watching, since Laurie isn't exactly the most by-the-books federal agent.

Silk Spectre Pop Art

The episode makes it abundantly clear that Laurie’s current FBI status does not imply she has turned her nose up at her former life. Case in point, she has a large Andy Warhol-esque painting of the Crimebusters quartet Silk Spectre, Doctor Manhattan, Nite-Owl and Ozymandias. Of all the visual styles that could have been used, the pop art motif is the most reminiscent of the Watchmen comic’s uniform panels.

Dan Dreiberg's Current Whereabouts

While the episode didn't call out Dan Drieberg by name, Joe Keene's conversation with Laurie referenced information shared on the Peteypedia website, concerning Dan "Nite Owl II" Drieberg being in prison and refusing to talk about anything involving anything. The higher-reaching Keene made the not-so-subtle comment that a Presidential pardon would allow Laurie's owl to get out of his cage. Will we see a prison break like the one in the comic, or will Dan's appearance have to wait for a later season?

Rorschach’s Journal

One of many important texts within the Watchmen mythos, the finalized version of Rorschach’s journal popped up in slide form – technology! – during Laurie’s FBI meeting, when we first meet Dustin Ingram’s Agent Dale Petey, of the Peteypedia tie-in site. Petey perhaps unwisely included a slide featuring two excerpts from Rorschach’s October 13 entry, as seen in the comic's “Chapter One.”

The first journal entry covered the vigilante's first attempt to gain information about The Comedian’s murder. Was that a purposeful play by Petey to get a rise out of Laurie? The second entry was about how Rorschach had a bad taste in his mouth after meeting with Veidt, which is possibly a hint of what’s to come with Jeremy Irons’ storyline.

The Millennium Clock

The massive Millennium Clock is another multi-faceted element within the Watchmen TV show, and it’s no coincidence that the owl-loving Laurie gets a “bird’s-eye view” of it from the plane. The clock – note that this is a standalone clock entry aside from the general one – is being developed by Trieu Industries, the global conglomerate that took over Adrian Veidt’s estate in 2017. Petey shared that Its head Lady Trieu even dropped Ozymandias’ “Look on my works…” quote at the Clock's groundbreaking. An innocent homage, or a middle finger to the missing Veidt?

It’s unclear at this point whether Watchmen’s structure has anything to do with the real world concept for the Millennium Clock. Also note that the clock shares half of its name with the “Millennium by Veidt” marketing that served as the company’s post-Squid alternative to the “Nostalgia” promotions. Considering the Peteypedia notes how poorly Veidt did with the push, it’s interesting that Trieu Industries kept that name going.

Gotta Have Squids!

This week’s squid-related moments include a gorgeous still shot of one inside Looking Glass’ Pod, and the episode's first moments in Adrian Veidt's home give viewers a magnified shot of an illustrated sea creature. The latter is our first direct sign of proof that Veidt definitely still has squids on his brain, even in…wherever he is.

Black Freighter References

It’s pretty clear that Jeremy Irons’ largely standalone storyline serves as the TV series’ take on Watchmen’s allegorical “Tales from the Black Freighter” comic-within-a-comic. However, it was Laurie and Petey who found themselves staying at the could-be-worse Black Freighter Inn. Sadly, no pirate-themed rooms yet, but all the parking spots do have charge stations.

Episode 3 also featured the shot of Veidt riding his horse past the skull-and-crossbones flag that was first revealed in the trailer. Judging by the similar seal applied to Veidt’s letter, one might surmise that the flag specifically marks off the character’s property. Also, that gear in Veidt’s house kinda looked like a ship wheel, right?

Who Polices The Police?

Of the signs that protesters are holding outside the Tartarus Acres cemetery, the one that probably stood out the most to comic fans was “Who Polices the Police?” That phrase echoes the signature “Who Watches the Watchmen?” phrase that gives the entire series its name. Kudos to the creative team for spinning it via cardboard sign – a possible reference to Rorschach’s “The End Is Nigh” sign – rather than spray-painted on a wall.

The Funeral Scene / Assassination Attempt

Though the Seventh Kavalry bomber situation did not mimic anything from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ graveside service in the comic, Watchmen’s funeral issue was quite important in laying out the various characters’ troublesome relationships with The Comedian. HBO's Watchmen used its funeral to combine the old and the new regimes, which are still bristly at this point. (That overhead shot of the open grave and Judd’s casket was a nice visual callback to one of Gibbons' panels, also.)

For the HBO series, the funeral scene set up how each Laurie and Angela will exist in the other’s world, and also put a target on Senator Keene’s back. While Laurie is the one who killed the bomber, and Angela is the one who limits the explosion’s damage, this scene was also fairly reminiscent of Adrian Veidt’s unsuccessful hitman in the Watchmen comic, whose assassination attempt was ordered by Veidt himself. What’s up with that, Senator Keene? (That thought train continues in the next entry.)

Ozymandias Finally Arrives!

In his reactionary letter to the buffalo-protecting game warden – who interestingly refers to himself as “Your Humble Servant,” which sparks clone-related theories – Jeremy Irons’ character actually self-identifies as Adrian Veidt. Finally, confirmations that Veidt isn’t dead, and that Irons is Veidt! (At least until some possible point later when it’s revealed he’s someone else entirely.)

Helping the assumed confirmation along is the fact that Irons can soon be seen dressed from head to toe in Veidt’s comic-sourced Ozymandias suit, whose purple mask had already been shown earlier in the episode. Very telling, I do believe, is the way the scene ends on Veidt’s face while Joe Keene Jr. is saying, “I am not a hero here.” Not only does that speak to the dual nature of Veidt’s deadly plan for world peace, but it also adds to speculation that Keene’s story mirror’s that of Watchmen’s self-proclaimed genius.

The Comedian’s Closet

Though The Comedian has yet to get a verbal name-check, Laurie’s conversation with Angela did directly reference Edward Blake’s secret closet that contained all of his vigilante gear. The closet was discovered by Rorschach in the Watchmen comic book, while Angela found a badge-boasting KKK outfit in the TV show. It is amusing that Laurie even commented on being connected to two cases involving sub-closets. Kismet, surely.

Clocks And Circles

To be expected, this third episode didn’t hold back on clock visuals. As far as I could tell, though, the clocks that were set between Watchmen’s all-important 11-12 o’clock span numbered fewer than the ones that were set at other points of the day. The most important time, seemingly, was Petey’s watch (atop The Rorschach Journal) that read 11:50 p.m. Not such a great omen for Laurie and Petey.

Beyond the clocks, “She Was Killed By Space Junk” was seemingly rife with more circular imagery than earlier eps, from the stained glass window in the tomb to the bank’s floor to Veidt’s mysterious schematics. Not to mention the Doctor Manhattan call stations, or the shot of Laurie through Sister Night’s goggles, or Laurie’s CDs, etc. Okay, so maybe there are tons of circles in every episode, but I picked up on more of them for whatever reason. Perhaps Looking Glass knows what that means for me.

The Doctor Manhattan Sex Toy

In Episode 2, Watchmen made the viewer-approved move to visually represent Doctor Manhattan’s blue dong in the comic books, though the penis belonged to Tom Mison’s clone character Mr. Philips. (In reality, the penis was not Tom Mison’s at all.) In this latest installment, Laurie’s continued fascination with her off-Earth ex-boyfriend extends to her possession of a rather sizable vibrator that is SO blue that it literally glows from an open briefcase, Pulp Fiction-style. It might have been a buzzy coincidence had she not carried it around in a briefcase with a magazine cover set on the inside cover.

The Newsstand’s Location

Though HBO’s Watchmen is obviously set at a different place and time from the comic book series, I think it’s important to note how the episode’s final shots somewhat reflect Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons set decoration. On the Watchmen pages, it isn’t immediately obvious how many of the narrative beats occur at the same NYC intersection that featured Bernard’s newsstand and the “Institute for Extraspatial Studies,” though that fact intentionally becomes more pronounced as the issues go along.

In the TV show, for a comparison, it’s now confirmed that the Seymour’s Mister News stand is set up in close proximity to the Doctor Manhattan call station. Both of them are near Angela’s faux-bakery Milk and Hanoi, also. I’m guessing that info was already known by whoever returned the car to its previous spot in the parking lot. Again, it's not a huge deal, but the gradual build-up of a central hub is very on point with Watchmen's comic run.

It’s almost hard to believe that all this time is spent talking about comic references and not even all the TV-specific theories and speculation jostling around inside my head. I guess that stuff will come later, perhaps riding in on the smelliest raft possible, so stay tuned.

With decent ratings that should be better, all things considered, Watchmen airs Sunday nights on HBO at 9:00 p.m. ET.

Art and controversy go hand in hand and Hollywood is no exception. While there have been plenty of controversial movies in film history -- most of which have been released to a wide audience -- Damon Lindelof's The Hunt stands out as a recent example that has yet to hit the big screen.

Universal pulled the plug on The Hunt in August and have remained quiet since its initial press release. However, the show must go on, as they say in the biz, and co-writer Damon Lindelof has moved on to other projects, including HBO’s Watchmen. When asked about the status of The Hunt in a recent interview he had this to say:

In his interview with Deadline, he shared his thoughts on working as a storyteller today and addressing controversial subjects, however he didn’t have a concrete answer for where The Hunt currently stands in terms of release.

From the initial trailer release, The Hunt was surrounded by controversy, complete with false rumors that the original title was Red State vs Blue State. Despite that not being the official title, many believe it directly criticized by President Donald Trump on Twitter, which may have led to its eventual shelving. Even though the future of The Hunt is questionable, Blumhouse president Jason Blum is optimistic the film will eventually see the light of day.

In the meantime, Damon Lindelof hasn’t shied away from getting controversial given the subject matter of his Watchmen series. Just like Alan Moore’s original 12-issue run, HBO’s Watchmen isn’t afraid to tackle tough subjects such as racism and vigilante justice.

Based on the 1924 short story The Most Dangerous Game, The Hunt follows twelve strangers who are hunted by a group of cold-blooded aristocrats until one of the pursued decides to fight back. The film features political references such as the elitist giving their prey the monicker of "deplorables," based on a quote by Hilary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election.

While the future of The Hunt is up in the air, HBO’s Watchmen is looking quite bright indeed with a solid 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. Watchmen airs Sunday nights on HBO at 9 p.m. ET. As for The Hunt, all there is left to do is wait and CinemaBlend will update you when the latest news pops up. In the meantime, you can check out the what’s coming out next with our 2019 release schedule.

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Major spoilers below for the big series premiere of HBO's Watchmen, so be sure to watch before reading on.

Perhaps it's no surprise or shock that Lost and The Leftovers vet Damon Lindelof delivered a shock-filled opening episode for his modernized take on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' stellar comic Watchmen. From the horrifying opening sequence in 1921 to Jeremy Irons' mysterious blonde man to Judd's jaw-dropping death at the episode's end, the Watchmen TV show was a surprisingly incredible (and darkly comedic) revival of a classic work of fiction.

Ahead of Watchmen's premiere airing on HBO, I had the pleasure to speak with its director Nicole Kassell, who also serves as an executive producer for Season 1. While Kassell obviously couldn't go into extremely detailed explanations about where things were going, we talked about quite a few of the episode's biggest moments and Watchmen connections. Let's start off with arguably the biggest twist.

Judd Crawford's Death And Don Johnson's Fake Corpse

Watchmen casting Don Johnson was, to me, one of the sweetest picks that could have been made for the show, even if he's admittedly a golden egg in a sea of other golden eggs like Regina King and Lou Gossett Jr. So while I half-suspected Johnson's Sheriff Judd Crawford might get unveiled to be a villain at some point during the season, considering his own excitement, I definitely didn't expect for the first episode to end with his body swinging from a tree.

During my conversation with EP Nicole Kassell, I asked how Judd's death would play into the rest of Watchmen's first season, and here's what she told me:

Of the various relationships set up during Watchmen's premiere, Don Johnson's Judd and Regina King's Angela Abar (Sister Night) appear to be much closer than most, not accounting for romantic relationships. (Tim Blake Nelson's Looking Glass, to counter, appears to be the same amount of standoffish with everyone.) Anyone who can call out their boss' coke-nose on the sly is a trusted compadre. So if Nicole Kassell is talking about expecting the unexpected, Angela may stumble onto some precious information that Judd did not trust her with.

That arc, for everyone familiar with the Watchmen comics, matches up with The Comedian's death in the first issue, which is then investigated by Rorschach, who discovers a lot more about Eddie Blake's life. How far will those parallels go? The only way to find out is devoting an hour a week to the mystery.

For viewers who were disturbed by the final sequence at the tree, know that you weren't alone, and the scene was particularly off-putting for the crew as well. When I asked about how creepy Don Johnson's fake corpse was, she said:

Clearly, keeping such a visually unappealing death within Watchmen's premiere speaks to its overall importance as is. Damon Lindelof knows a thing or two about brutal onscreen deaths, with The Leftovers' stoning scene as the most grueling one to date. For as disturbing as the death was, though, I have to say the final shot of the blood on the star bounced me back into a slightly more gleeful mode while going back over everything else that went down.

Doctor Manhattan's Appearance

Part of the Watchmen TV show's marketing visuals nodded to Rorschach's mask, Jeremy Irons' potential existence as Adrian "Ozymandias" Veidt, and Jean Smart's impending introduction as the presumed former Silk Spectre, Laurie Blake. But without much said about the big blue galoot himself, Doctor Manhattan's presence within the show remained an unknown variable until he showed up on a news broadcast, imploding a castle-like structure on Mars.

Expectedly, Doctor Manhattan didn't come up again in the episode, and it's not known when he'll show up again. I asked Nicole Kassell about being able to introduce such a huge element like Doctor Manhattan in the very first episode, and here's how she explained it:

It was awesome to witness all of those other elements being employed and highlighted throughout Watchmen's opening episode, especially the ad-covered dirigible. But of all the clear and present comic book elements on display, seeing Doctor Manhattan's choppy satellite footage made me the most giddy. I cannot wait to see how this show's writers handle the character's dehumanized detachment.

Many viewers probably noticed that Doctor Manhattan's castle structure on Mars looked quite a bit like the Earthbound castle that Jeremy Irons' currently unidentified character resides in with his doting servants. When I asked Nicole Kassell about whether the buildings' lookalike nature was intentional, she got bemusedly coy with her answer.

Not even the sky is the limit for where that avenue of speculation could go. Has Doctor Manhattan just been obsessing over maybe-Veidt's chaotic squid plot for all these years? How does he know about maybe-Veidt's current living situation? Will the blue other-being end up paying that Earthly castle a visit one day?

1921 Tulsa And American Hero Story

Watchmen's opening sequence, set during the tragically heinous 1921 race riots in Tulsa, was a completely unpredictable place to start this follow-up tale, and its implications have yet to be fully realized. Filled with KKK-involved violence and murder, the cold open was the most chilling segment of the episode, partially because it was unclear where any of it was going.

Understandably, that scene stuck out to Nicole Kassell as being a memorable section of the production shoot, even if it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience in all the ways.

One of the reasons why the opening stands out so starkly from the rest of the episode is its kinetic energy, which isn't something that Watchmen's carefully patterned panels and pages connote very often. And to that end, Nicole Kassell said that the 2019 timeline is where the crew made the direct effort to create more comic-centric visuals. In her words:

Speaking of paying homage to the source material, Damon Lindelof introduced a very intriguing way for TV's Watchmen to delve into the lore's history, in the form of the faux anthology TV seres American Hero Story, clearly a winking reference to Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk's horror-minded series. The teases that were shown during the pilot make it look like this might be a semi-realized project-within-a-project, similar to the supplemental material in the back of each Watchmen issue, such as the Under the Hood excerpts and the Veidt interview.

Nicole Kassell, who also directed the second episode, told me she absolutely had fun putting the American Hero Story stuff together. When I asked if viewers can expect to see more of Watchmen's history showing up in that form, she told me:

With only nine episodes in this first season – which could very well be its only season without Damon Lindelof having any regrets – there are a lot of expectations already building for what might be coming in the future for Regina King's Angela and everyone else involved with this revisionist drama. If only I had another planet to zip off to so I could store some of these expectations.

Watchmen airs Sunday nights on HBO at 10:00 p.m. ET.

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MAJOR SPOILER WARNING for anyone who hasn’t watched the Watchmen TV show premiere. We get into all the detailed nitty-gritty here.

One of the most revered books out there, comic or otherwise, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen is the inspirational touchstone for HBO’s newest TV drama from The Leftovers’ Damon Lindelof. The Watchmen TV show is a current-day sequel to the original tale, though taking place in a different location and centering on mostly different characters. Regardless of the differences, a plethora of comic-friendly references and easter eggs were infused throughout Watchmen’s premiere as plot-setting connective tissue.

Below is a list of all the big Watchmen comic references that showed up in the TV show’s premiere episode, titled “It’s Summer and We’re Running Out of Ice.” From follow-up weirdness to the main story’s shock ending to the appearance of a certain blue superhero, Watchmen was a smorgasbord of “Wait, did you catch that?” moments that deserve quick rewinds. And without further ado, here’s a mostly sequential order of the biggest comic-inspired highlights. (Check here if you need a new copy.)

The Blood On The Boy’s Face

Once the orphaned boy wakes up in the field, following that harrowing opening, he has a splotch of blood on his head that definitely feels like a reference to the blood on The Comedian’s button that kicks off Watchmen and serves as one of its most identifiable symbols. This particular reference comes up very obviously at the end of the episode, but it’s worth pointing out that Damon Lindelof also found a way to work a bloodied face into the start of his story. Metaphors abound.

Mirrored Storytelling

The millionth reason Watchmen remains a celebrated and respected work is because Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons were so meticulous about filling the comics with reflected and repeated art, dialogue and situations; examples include Chapter 5’s palindromic nature, Doctor Manhattan’s photograph obsession, the somewhat prescient Black Freighter text and much more.

Beyond all of the Rorschach masks that don’t move, HBO’s Watchmen already made some use of this narrative style in its opening episode. The biggest example, of course, would be the episode starting off with a celebratory film strip of a heroic black man roping up a foul white dude, and then ending with a potentially wicked black man looking very much like he hung a white lawman from a tree. To top it off, the guy in the wheelchair was holding the same note as the kid from the beginning, indicating that this is either a near-impossibly old version of that kid, or perhaps his son. Who’s the hero here?

Electric Cars

Within the alternate world of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen, it would appear that all vehicles are powered electrically, with zero reliance on gasoline for fuel. Though the TV premiere doesn’t take viewers into an assortment of planes, trains and automobiles, it looks like the world help steady with electric car power since the main narrative’s timeline, without the need to revert back to cruder forms.

Rorschach Mask And Journal

Yes, this is one of the most obvious entries on this list, and it won’t be the last one. It’s still worth mentioning that the Seventh Kavalry was founded on the basis of Rorschach’s worldview, and the white supremacist cult uses his signature mask as a unifying symbol (and disguise). Is his journal their Bible, or more of a manifesto?

Masks As “Faces”

Throughout Watchmen’s comic story, Rorschach refers to his mask only as his “face,” particularly whenever he gets arrested and has it taken from him. On the Watchmen TV series, Don Johnson’s Judd tells Tim Blake Nelson’s Looking Glass, “Pull your face down,” in reference to the latter slipping his reflective mask back on. It’s interesting that Damon Lindelof has the authorities using that wording, as opposed to only the Seventh Kavalry adopting it.

Doctor Manhattan Appears

Watchmen’s mystery-laden build-up kept fans in the dark on how many original characters would appear on the HBO show, and thankfully, the pilot doesn’t get too far before dropping some concrete proof that Doctor Manhattan is still on Mars, and has been for the past 30+ years.

Doctor Manhattan showed up on a news program via satellite footage, in which he could be seen destroying a large and elaborate castle he’d created. (Find out more about that from my interview with director and EP Nicole Kassell.) In general, the situation echoed the blue being’s Mars structure in the comic, although in the TV show, Manhattan’s castle appeared to be a mock-up of the dwelling that Jeremy Irons’ character (almost definitely Adrian Veidt) lives in. Very interesting.

Vietnam, Robert Redford And More

It would have been strange had HBO’s Watchmen changed things up here, but it was confirmed early on that Vietnam is still the 51st state in the U.S., and the American flag represents that with an alternate look. Regina King’s Angela was born outside of Saigon, which is a somewhat deeper connection to the country than the brutal scene in the source material with The Comedian and Doctor Manhattan.

Robert Redford (currently sorta retired in our world) is still the President of the U.S. in Watchmen’s universe after a slew of successive terms, and his predecessor Richard Nixon is part of Mouth Rushmore’s quartet. Redford has his detractors for sure, earning him the name “Sundance-in-Chief.”

Owl Mug

Inside Judd Crawford’s office, Angela can be seen drinking from an owl mug. This is pretty clearly a reference to Watchmen’s Nite Owl, though it doesn’t appear to be actual hero-related merchandise. OR IS IT?!?

Smiley Faces

As mentioned already, The smiley face button is an iconic symbol within Watchmen’s pages, with The Comedian’s yellow button echoed in a variety of ways. The same goes for HBO’s Watchmen, of course. Beyond a few arguable examples, the most overt visual smiley reference occurred when Regina King’s Angela showed a classroom of kids how to make moon cakes. With the camera below a glass mixing bowl, Angela cracked a bunch of eggs, and after the yolks initially resembled a yellow Rorschach design, they quickly settled into the smiley face layout. Notice that "bloodied eye," too.

Clocks

The Doomsday Clock is another one of Watchmen’s central visual anchors, and the TV show picks up where the comic book left off. Nine times out of ten, if a clock appears on the screen, it’s going to be set between 11:00 and 12:00, in reference to the atomic age catastrophe monitor. In the school, for instance, It looked as if the clock was somewhere around 11:25 a.m. Everyone should be probably be worried when we start seeing times much closer to 12:00.

It’s also no coincidence that the Seventh Kavalry uses adopted a clock’s sounds as its troubling chant: “Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.” (Though I do wonder why maybe-Veidt’s pocketwatch didn’t follow suit.)

Veidt’s “Death” Notice

Though Jeremy Irons’ character shows up for some oddball moments with Tom Mison and Sara Vickers, viewers aren’t yet privy to what he’s going by on the show. But if he is playing Adrian Veidt, it would appear there is misinformation afoot, as a newspaper headline very clearly states “Veidt Officially Declared Dead.” (Note the Statue of Liberty and squid rain headlines, also.)

Such phrasing implies that Veidt was missing from the public eye for a while before an official declaration was made about his fate, which means he could have been in hiding for the past 10-20 years, depending on the circumstances surrounding his disappearance. Would that have something to do with the anniversary that his servants are celebrating with him?

Squids Are Everywhere

Watchmen’s comic book conclusion remains bizarrely surreal all these years later, and Damon Lindelof addresses the Veidt’s squid catastrophe in a big and mysterious way. Though it was one gigantic squid creature that Veidt transported to New York, the TV show’s characters dealt with a temporary rain storm, only with tiny living squids serving as the raindrops.

A squid storms seems like one of the most hilariously disturbing events that could happen in any given day, but Watchmen’s characters are clearly used to it. Angela is quick to get out and wipe the windshield, and there are city cleaning vehicles that were created specifically for removing squids from the streets. But how did things get to this point?

The Minutemen

Within the Watchmen mythos, the first team of vigilante heroes was called the Minutemen, which is with whom The Comedian made a name for himself, both as a hero and as a rapist. (The first versions of Nite Owl and Silk Spectre were also involved.) Much controversy swirled around the various Minutemen members, and within HBO’s Watchmen, those more sordid stories are being showcased through the dramatized TV anthology American Hero Story, a distinctly different AHS than the one airing on FX.

Dirigibles

One of the more curiously unexplained details within Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen is the pronounced use of skybound dirigibles, often with ads emblazoned. The transportation method made an appearance in HBO’s Watchmen, too, promoting the American Hero Story series.

Hollis Mason’s Under The Hood

Also seen in Judd’s office is a copy of Under the Hood, the memoir penned by the first Nite Owl, Hollis Mason. The faux book, whose excerpts were used as supplemental material in the Watchmen comics, was instrumental in inspiring Dan Drieberg to become Nite Owl II, and laid the historical groundwork for the formation and dissolving of the Minutemen.

Within Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen, the term “hood” takes on a completely different meaning, considering the KKK’s involvement. I doubt the TV show will reveal Hollis Mason to be a riotous bigot, but I don’t doubt there are further layers beyond just the visual reference.

Blood Under The Door

This was one of those moments that might not have been a specific Watchmen reference, but the abundance elsewhere convinced me to include it here. Whenever Sister Night beats the crap out of that Nixontown resident for information about the shooter, the extent of the beating is suggested by the possibly bloodied water seeping from beneath the door as she exits.

In the Watchmen source material, a similar situation occurs whenever Dan and Laurie break Rorschach out of prison. The latter enters a restroom to share a few final moments with crime boss Big Figure, whose plans to take Rorschach down failed miserably. The comic did indeed feature water puddling out from beneath the bathroom door, while Zack Snyder’s similarly reference-heavy feature made it very clear that there was blood in the water.

Watch Parts

Seventh Kavalry members were seen taking watches apart in order to get their batteries, which are said to be the old synthetic lithium batteries that got a bunch of people sick. In the first place, watch pieces are a recurring motif within Watchmen’s pages, given Jon Osterman’s family history with watchmaking; the intricate and specific mechanics are indicative of Doctor Manhattan’s mental deconstruction of time and human experiences, as well as his own physical transformation.

I’m curious about the notion that enough people got sick from those batteries that they were eradicated completely. Would that possibly tie into the false narrative Adrian Veidt concocted in the comic about those close to Doctor Manhattan being diagnosed with cancer? Is there a way Veidt, or someone else, found a way to actually make watches kill people?

The Dollar Bill Poster

During the attempted ambush on the Seventh Kavalry’s cattle ranch, Sister Night got into a brawl with one of them in a trailer. The fight was a hectic one, and possibly drew viewers’ attention away from one interesting Watchmen connection. On the wall was a poster for Dollar Bill, the Minutemen hero lauded more for his marketability than his actual skillset.

Dollar Bill came into existence essentially as a bank mascot, but one who could also protect people’s money, even though he inevitably died whenever his cloak got caught in a bank door during a raid. He remained popular, no doubt, but why would Dollar Bill be acknowledged in such a way by the Seventh Kavalry, 70 years after his death? Will HBO’s Watchmen share some big Dollar Bill reveals in Season 1? Do those exist?

Archie, The Owlship

The only signature form of transport within the Watchmen-verse was Nite Owl II’s Owlship, affectionately called Archie in a reference to Merlin’s pet owl. While there’s no sign of Dan or an actual Nite Owl, the Owlship was used during the cattle ranch mission to try and bring down the Kavalry’s plane. It was being piloted by the character we’ll talk about next, with Judd running point from inside. Considering the mug and Hollis Mason bio, how hard is Watchmen trying to convince us that Judd has some Nite Owl secrets? Or is this possibly just one of many similarly styled vehicles used by police?

Pirate Jenny

Portrayed by All Rise’s Jessica Camacho, the protagonist Pirate Jenny’s main scene was the Owlship sequence, as she was piloting Archie during the chase and crash. That character doesn’t appear within Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen, but the reference here stems from the use of “pirate” in her codename. As readers know, pirate comics were more popular than superhero comics in Watchmen’s world, given the existence of real superheroes, yet Pirate Jenny is the only big reference to the seafaring criminals.

The Watchmaker’s Son

Jeremy Irons’ maybe-Veidt is talking with two of his servants when he mentions that he’s been working on a tragedy in five acts, which is to be called The Watchmaker’s Son. Such a play doesn’t exist in the source material, but it’s clearly a reference to Doctor Manhattan’s pre-transmogrification days as Jon Osterman. Stay tuned for more on that front, hopefully.

Blood On Judd’s Badge

The end is the beginning is the end in Watchmen world. As it was hinted at in the very beginning of this article, Watchmen is all about reflections and cycles and even, in Damon Lindelof’s hands, a meta-homage to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ twelve-issue masterpiece. In opposition to how the cover and opening panels of “At Midnight, All the Agents…” pull away from the bloodied smiley face button, the premiere TV episode ends by zooming in on Judd’s dropped badge just as a drop of blood splatters across it in an oh-so-familiar way.

The implications of the seemingly well-liked police chief being killed off so early, and so similarly to The Comedian, has a range of potential implications for where Damon Lindelof’s creative team is going to take Judd’s backstory. The foreshadowing makes it pretty clear his family ties are stained with darkness, but I’m all for Don Johnson directly riffing on Edward Blake’s leather and domino mask phases.

The Importance Of Titles

Watchmen’s issue titles were taken from a variety of places, from song lyrics to poetry to Bible verses to Albert Einstein. One’s mileage for interpretations may vary, but there was always a fairly clear reason for why Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons used each title.

For anyone familiar with the musical Oklahoma, or anyone who Googled curiously after the episode titles were revealed, HBO’s Watchmen premiere might have come across as a little spoilery. “It’s Summer and We’re Running Out of Ice” is a lyric from “Pore Jud is Daid,” a song performed in a scene that hypothesizes characters fully appreciating the woeful character Jud only after he hangs himself. Does that mean Judd’s hanging death wasn’t real at the end of the premiere? I actually didn't have that thought until this exact moment, and now I'm invested.

Watchmen is finally here, everybody, and judging by the premiere alone, a whole hell of a lot of work went into making this project both faithful to the source material while also freshening up the central themes and character dynamics. From my perspective as a Watchmen fan, just about every single second of the episode was as engrossing as it could be, and a lot of interesting chess pieces were set atop the board.

With nine episodes set for Season 1, Watchmen airs Sunday nights on HBO at 9 p.m. ET, so be sure to keep up each week before all the mysteries get spoiled.

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Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen comic series is often treated as a disillusioned parable with heroes as repugnant as its criminals, but many readers often gloss over the sardonic and slightly deadpan humor bubbling at the edges. In tackling HBO's unique adaptation, Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof had tons of storytelling ground to cover, and from the pilot forward, it's clear how important it was to him and the creative team to keep the humor element intact.

Watchmen executive producer and episode director Nicole Kassell thinks embracing humor within the tonal structure was a necessary piece of the puzzle. Speaking with CinemaBlend ahead of Watchmen's HBO premiere, here's Kassell's take on the show's levity, and how heavily Watchmen influenced Damon Lindelof's own talents.

For both modern readers and for those who picked up the comics at the time of their '80s publication, Watchmen definitely isn't the most obviously amusing work of fiction; especially when one is reading in a vacuum without additional context. When one goes back over it after knowing how things get resolved, however, there are countless moments when Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' cheeky senses of humor shine through.

HBO's Watchmen: Do You Need To Read The Comic Or Watch Zack Snyder's Movie?

Watchmen clearly isn't sitcom material, but its U.K. creators knew how to bring the anarchic fun, often through the structure of the story itself. For me, Adrien Veidt's arc becomes almost farcical with its tongue-in-cheek foreshadowing, and to say nothing of Rorschach's overall nihilism, his journal entries were rife with observational oddities that read like reverse-Seinfeldian sentiments. Dan and Laurie's burgeoning relationship is another area for spirited wordplay and juxtaposition.

While Zack Snyder brought some of that fun out in his big screen feature, Damon Lindelof had to work with a completely different set of tools for HBO's Watchmen, both in taking the story to live-action and in introducing a mostly original set of characters and situations. Thankfully for everyone, Watchmen's stellar cast adds all the extra performative dimensions that can't exist on the page, with actors like Regina King, Tim Blake Nelson and Don Johnson adding energetic sparks to every line. Cheers to realistic, irony-laced nuance like this over hokey one-liners any day.

Nicole Kassell had her work cut out for her, too, since the pilot episode kicks off with an inciting incident within Watchmen's alternate world, the Tulsa race massacre. Filmed with the intensity of Saving Private Ryan's epic opening, Watchmen plunges viewers headfirst into the dark before revealing a light in the distance. Though that light may be hard to see at times over the course of the show's run, relief is always nearby.

During my talk with Nicole Kassell – who is also responsible for helming very memorable episodes of The Leftovers, Rectify, Westworld and more – I asked her what she hopes Watchmen's biggest comic book fans will be struck by. In her words:

Comic book fans can be among the most vocal of any fandom, and Watchmen is widely viewed as the medium's holy grail, so it's probably safe to expect strong sentiments coming out one way or another. Optimism should be ever-present though, since Watchmen is currently sitting pretty at 93% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, with over 40 reviews accounted for.

Whether or not Watchmen will last longer than one season is up to audiences at this point, since Damon Lindelof has implied the show was built for a limited run, with ways to keep things going if the hunger for more is there. However it goes, just be sure to give it a shot by tuning into Season 1 on Sunday nights on HBO, with the premiere going down on October 20.

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It’s hard to believe that a TV show based on the Watchmen comic is happening, but HBO and series creator Damon Lindelof have pulled it off. Set in more current times, HBO’s Watchmen is a sequel of sorts that re-contextualizes Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ seminal depiction of superheroes every bit as fractured as they were justice-minded. Because of this, potential viewers likely want to know how necessary it is to be familiar the source material, or with Zack Snyder’s 2009 blockbuster.

The Watchmen TV series is not a mirror-image adaptation of the comics, which Zack Snyder already took care of, and Damon Lindelof doesn’t aim to hold anyone’s hand when jumping into the cable drama’s narrative. Below, is a mostly spoiler-free look at what you’ll need to know before making the Watchmen TV show a weekly obsession.

Do I Need To Read (Or Reread) The Watchmen Comics Before The TV Show?

Plainly stated, anyone entering the world of HBO’s Watchmen would be aided immensely by partaking in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ original 12-issue series. To say nothing of how relevant and unique the story, art and narrative tricks remain, the ‘80s Watchmen introduced multiple generations of heroic vigilantes and a conspiracy that rocks the world, all within an entire alternate universe. (2012’s Before Watchmen prequels, as well as the Doomsday Clock series from Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, add their own subtext as well.)

Because Watchmen superfan Damon Lindelof is setting his tension-fueled storyline at such a distance from the source material, the TV show doesn’t strictly require audiences to know every page and panel by heart. It does reward the deeper readers with plenty of nods, though, and the TV show also features a ton of details that may come off as bizarrely random if one goes into it completely blind. (More on those details below.)

Do I Need To Watch (Or Rewatch) Zack Snyder’s Watchmen Before The TV Show?

The answer here is somewhat similar to the one above, though on a much smaller scale. Watchmen inspires a unique take on the “book vs. movie” adaptation argument, given how faithful to the text Zack Snyder was with his 2009 feature. HBO’s Watchmen even seemingly pays homage to Snyder’s visual flairs in certain moments.

So, for anyone who isn’t interested, or isn't able, to plunge into the Watchmen comic in its entirety, popping the film version on could provide a solid enough tutorial. Solid performances from stars like Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Carla Gugino and Jackie Earle Haley are always fun. Finding the Watchmen: Motion Comic DVD would also be a good option, even with the limited narration scope, given how wonderfully large Dave Gibbons’ art can get on a TV.

So What Do I Really Need To Know Before Watching HBO’s Watchmen?

This section could likely take up a few thousand words on its own, but I’ll keep things limited to the most essential knowledge. Note that there are various Watchmen comic book spoilers here, for anyone who hasn’t yet enjoyed its fruits.

Watchmen’s Comic Characters: Many of the major characters in HBO’s Watchmen TV show have been originated by Damon Lindelof and his creative team, but there are certain characters who are still seemingly around.

Legion vet Jean Smart was cast as FBI agent Laurie Blake, who went by the name Laurie Jupiter, or Juspeczyk – and even the name Sandra Hollis at the comic’s end – and was the second woman to take up the Silk Spectre mantle. The daughter of the first Silk Spectre, Sally Jupiter, Laurie was a strong feminist, though she was only 16 when she entered her doomed with Doctor Manhattan, at least 15 years her senior. When Watchmen concluded, Laurie was off to start a new life with her former vigilante teammate Dan “Nite Owl” Dreiberg.

Justice League’s Jeremy Irons returns to a DC Comics adaptation to play Watchmen’s Adrian Veidt, although there’s much secrecy surrounding his role. In the source material, Adrian Veidt is the self-proclaimed “smartest man in the world,” and went by the vigilante name Ozymandias. Veidt was essentially Watchmen’s biggest villain, though the depths of his villainy are up for debate depending on how scrupulous one is. Jeremy Irons isn’t being played up as the current big bad in promotions, but it’s likely he’ll be full of antagonistic motivations.

Though it’s not clear how the Watchmen TV show will handle the comic’s only superpowered character, it’s known that the Superman-esque Doctor Manhattan (formerly Jon Osterman) will be part of the story in some way. A scientific accident turned Osterman, a physicist, into Doctor Manhattan, a mostly omnipotent being who rocks an all-blue and mostly nude body. The character was a huge boon for the military and science, but after it was revealed that multiple people close to him were diagnosed with cancer (though not of his own causing), he made a jaunt to Mars for long-term solitude.

Though his death occurs in the final pages of the Watchmen comic, the take-no-bullshit vigilante Rorschach plays a huge role in the events of the TV show. With his signature style of speaking, Rorschach noted many of the comic’s events within a journal, and that journal will influence the villainous white supremacy group the Seventh Cavalry. Members of that group can be identified by their makeshift Rorschach masks, though none but the original matched owners’ emotional states.

HBO’s Watchmen also references the earliest crimefighting squad from the 1930s and 1940s, known as the Minutemen. The group was comprised of do-gooder Captain Metropolis, the hyper-violent Hooded Justice, the outed lesbian Silhouette, the first Nite Owl, the marketing stunt hero Dollar Bill, the substance-abusing Mothman, Sally’s Silk Spectre and the amoral wise guy The Comedian.

Watchmen’s Comic Plot: In its simplest form, Watchmen works as an alt-Earth murder-mystery, with Rorschach and Nite Owl looking into the untimely death of The Comedian, Edward Blake, and whether or not a conspiracy existed to take out New York City’s superhero elite. A conspiracy did exist, although Blake’s death only happened because he found out about Adrian Veidt’s extremely destructive plans.

In one of the most baffling comic book plot twists put to paper, Veidt had a team of brainy creatives craft a gigantic squid-like creature that was teleported into the middle of the city and destroyed, covering buildings and streets with disgusting viscera. Nightmarish psychic energy emanated from the wreckage, so even nearby people who weren’t killed still suffered mental problems. (Naturally, Veidt made sure everyone who worked on the project also died.)

Veidt’s scheme, which was partially successful, was to create an outsider alien threat that would convince the warring nations of the world to come together against a common enemy, rather than remaining in intra-planetary conflicts. It might have been an amazing plan had over a million people not died because of Veidt’s actions. (Note that Zack Snyder’s movie alters that conclusion in pretty huge ways.)

Watchmen’s Themes and References: The events of Watchmen take place in a world that split away from our own at one point assumedly in the 20th century, so there are tons of quirky differences sprinkled throughout the comic. Cars had been fully electric for years, and dirigibles served as a widely used source of transportation. Doctor Manhattan helped the U.S. win the Vietnam War, and Vietnam later became the 51st state. Food chains were affected due to various global conflicts, and pop culture veered from superhero comics to pirate stories once actual superheroes became a normal part of life.

Both Watchmen’s art style and storytelling rely on repetitive visuals and themes throughout each of the issues, with much symmetry to be found. Sometimes pages and panels echo previous ones, and one entire issue essentially works as a palindrome. The most iconic Watchmen visuals are The Comedian’s smiley face button, with its signature blood spatter, and clocks that are always set near 12:00, both a.m. and p.m., in reference to the Doomsday Clock. The series similarly uses other circular shapes throughout, carrying on the clock and button’s imagery.

A comic book through and through, Watchmen’s narrative approach also incorporates other forms of media. The most overarching is the pirate comic story Tales of the Black Freighter, whose story of a man who feeds into his monstrous fears runs parallel to some of the main character’s stories. Each issue also contained various forms of supplemental material, such as autobiography excerpts, magazine interviews, photographs and more. As well, Watchmen played heavily with advertisements and forms of marketing. Expect the TV show to play around with its approach as well.

Beyond all of these heavily detailed ideas is the central idea behind the text, which shows up as unfinished graffiti throughout: “Who Watches the Watchmen?” Fans can expect the TV show to carry on the idea that the most powerful and authoritative among us sometimes have the biggest skeletons in their closets. As Ozymandias’ deadly plan proved, the road of good intentions can sometimes be filled with squid guts and corpses.

Set in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Watchmen TV show introduces the concept of an entire police force that wears masks in order to protect their identity, which creates interesting legal system questions, among others. Expect Damon Lindelof to port much of Alan Moore’s mindset through a 2019 filter to deliver lots of other complex ideas.

To reiterate, any future Watchmen viewers out there would be doing themselves a big favor by sitting down for a few hours to get indulgent with the comics, since this world is such a large one to spend time with. (And since that’s as close anyone will get to Alan Moore being involved with the HBO series.) Watching Zack Snyder’s take on Watchmen is the secondary option, but even reading this article is a lot better than going into the TV show completely unaware of anything.

WATCH - Watchmen: What We Know So Far

While it’s unclear at this point whether or not Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen will get more than one season on HBO, the chances of that happening will be a lot greater if audiences turn up in droves when it premieres on Sunday, October 20, at 9 p.m. ET.

HBO is less than two weeks away from premiering what is arguably its most high-profile series since Game of Thrones: Watchmen, and series creator Damon Lindelof has already spoken out about how long the show was designed to run. Fans of the Watchmen source material know that the comics only ran for 12 issues in the mid-1980s. HBO's Watchmen isn't going to be an adaptation of those comics, but rather something set in the same universe. As it turns out, the Watchmen TV show was only designed for a single season.

Damon Lindelof dropped the somewhat surprising news to Deadline in the lead-up to Watchmen's October 20 premiere on HBO. When asked how many seasons this Watchmen would run if a renewal happened, this was Lindelof's response:

Yes, the first season of Watchmen on HBO could well be its only season, but the good news is that the batch of episodes wasn't designed to end on a cliffhanger. Whether or not it returns for a second season or beyond, the first season will evidently have a beginning, middle, and end. If you thought you could expect a Lost 2.0 -- especially considering Damon Lindelof's reveals of how Watchmen impacted Lost back in the day -- with its wild cliffhanger finales, Lindelof's comments are proof otherwise!

Of course, Damon Lindelof (who had the perfect response to comic scribe Alan Moore's comments about the show) didn't rule out future seasons of Watchmen, although it's interesting that he mentioned he doesn't know if he'd be working on any subsequent seasons. If Watchmen is a great as it's being hyped to be, maybe it would be best for the show -- or at least Lindelof -- to close on a high note rather than go for a second, quite possibly inferior season. We don't want a repeat of True Detective Season 2, do we?

The first season may be as self-contained as the 12 issues of the original comic series, but HBO's Watchmen won't be a straight adaptation of the comics. The show will be more of a sequel than a reboot, according to Damon Lindelof, and it treats "the original 12 issues as canon." So, don't expect the story of the TV series to go down as Watchmen did on the page!

When asked if all of the work he put into Watchmen Season 1 was a lot for the show to be one and done, Damon Lindelof said this:

If Watchmen does come back for a second season, it evidently won't be because the writers and producers came up with a bunch of future stories they wanted to tell or continue to tell while crafting Season 1! "Completeness and resolution" definitely aren't bad things when it comes to TV shows, and HBO may still be feeling the sting of fan reactions to the resolution of Game of Thrones, such as it was.

Watchmen: What We Know So Far

The nine episodes of Watchmen could be must-see TV, so be sure to tune in to HBO on Sunday, October 20 at 9 p.m. ET (which happens to be Game of Thrones' former time slot). For more of what's in store, swing by our fall TV premiere schedule.

Damon Lindelof has clarified the Watchmen TV show’s canon in relation to the movie. The latter an adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ limited comic book series of the same name. Zack Snyder directed the 2009 film. Ten years after its release, the HBO series inspired by the comic/movie is set to arrive in October.

In the lead-up to Watchmen’s release, there have been a lot of questions. One of which is how the series’ canon will connect to the movie’s storyline. For instance, does it even exist in the show’s timeline? The creator of the TV series, Damon Lindelof, clarified the situation. Asked if what happened in the comic/film also occurred in the world of HBO’s Watchmen, Lindelof told EW:

So, Watchmen is going to respect the canon established in the comics. Damon Lindelof acknowledges that the show checks the “sequel box” and will include all 12 of the original issues as part of the HBO series’ canon.

That said, Watchmen is not looking to re-tread that story either, rather start its own, while basing it in the same world. From the sound of things, my take is the canon of Watchmen exists and impacted the world shown in the HBO series.

Damon Lindelof has previously said that HBO’s Watchmen series would not be an exact adaptation of the comic. Accordingly, the handling of one of its source material’s most controversial elements is already known. Excitement for fans of the comic and the movie adaptation can continue to build as it seems their worlds will share a history.

A reveal that means all the time you spent reading the comic and watching the movie should be useful in navigating the show. Something that fans of both should be enthused by. It also sounds like HBO’s Watchmen will have its own world, which those both familiar and unfamiliar with the comic/movie will be able to get into.

A first look at the series arrived towards the beginning of the year. It gave prospective viewers a teaser of what to expect. Watchmen is coming full-tilt with a top-notch cast that is bound to blow fans away.

On that note, HBO dropped the first official trailer for the series back in May. If featured references back to the comic. Given the now-confirmed canon connection that makes even more sense now.

Don Johnson has teased that he thinks fans will not believe how good the HBO series is. They are closer to finding out! As of today (September 19), the premiere is almost exactly one month away! In case you need an extra dose of enthusiasm, CinemaBlend’s Mike Reyes has already outlined why you should be excited about the Watchmen series.

Watchmen (the TV series) will premiere October 20 on HBO. The highly-anticipated drama is one of this fall’s premieres.

In taking on the audacious job of crafting a sequelized version of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' fantastic Watchmen, Damon Lindelof hasn't played down the fact that his initial claim to fame, the mystery mega-hit Lost, took huge inspirations from the tightly wound comic books. Thankfully, Lindelof is finally able to start talking a little more about his take on Watchmen, controversial as it may be, now that HBO has revealed the new drama's October premiere date.

Of course, any conversation with Damon Lindelof has a good-to-great chance of broaching the subject of Lost at least once, and he recently revealed three big ways that his former TV sensation took cues from Watchmen's pages. In his words:

While John Locke didn't wear a constantly changing mask that reflected his temperament, and the Island's past generations didn't feature any vigilante team-ups, some of Lost's core conceits were indeed drafted from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen. For one, the somewhat signature way Lost rippled back and forth through its timeline was directly inspired by Watchmen's innate ability to connect the past and present through key moments and visuals. Of course, Lost also went the extra step to give the term "flash-sideways" prominence in the pop culture lexicon.

Damon Lindelof also speaks to the idea that Lost's island was a non-sentient (or perhaps very sentient) vessel moving through all of time at once was inspired by the all-encompassing nature of Doctor Manhattan, the big blue being formerly known as nuclear physicist Jonathan Osterman. Like Doctor Manhattan, the island also seemed curiously impervious at times to the plights and fancies of human beings. Not that the Island could just pop off to Mars willy nilly.

Osterman repaired watches before turning into an amoral super-entity, allowing Watchmen to utilize lots of gears and mechanical visuals in its artwork. I don't think it would be outside the boundaries of the imagination that those aesthetics also played into the mechanics of Lost's Island itself. Such as the frozen donkey wheel that's responsible for sending the Island along skipping through time.

One of the biggest ways that Lost won fans over in its early seasons was how it brought a centralized focus to characters and situations on an episodic basis. This allowed audiences to get to know Matthew Fox's Jack, Evangeline Lilly's Kate, Josh Holloway's Sawyer and all the rest with ease, as fans learned big chunks of certain characters' stories on a weekly basis. And like Watchmen, Lost didn't follow traditional television tropes by giving the bulk of episodic runtimes to just protagonists.

Watchmen dedicated issues to Rorschach, Doctor Manhattan and Ozymandias, despite the fact that none of those characters would be considered a true hero by any stretch. They all have their redeeming values in how they wish the human race would handle itself, but they go about it in ways that strikes fear and/or death into others, which is not exactly how Superman and DC's more optimistic warriors opt to solve problems.

Similarly, Lost wouldn't have been able to offer some of the answers that it did without being able to focus episodes on Michael Emerson's Ben Linus and the more mysterious characters that got introduced as time went by. A little darkness is always needed to balance the light, after all. Though in both of these cases, there was a whole lot of darkness overpowering fleeting bits of light, but the principle remains the same.

How will Damon Lindelof reconfigure those inspirations for the upcoming Watchmen series, which is set after the events of the comics, and introduces a radically different reality than the one we're living in now? Well, we can expect him to get weird with it, that's for sure.

Why You Should Be Excited For HBO's Watchmen Series

When asked by TVInsider how weird Watchmen will get on HBO, Lindelof said:

To shoot for anything less would be uncivilized. (This Watchmen world doesn't have cell phones or personal computers, but I wonder if they have Right Guard commercials.) Let's just hope Damon Lindelof & Co. can stick the landing in a way that doesn't leave fans polarized as it went with Lost.

Watchmen will make its weird and potentially Lost-esque debut on HBO on Sunday, October 20.

TV adaptations are always a tricky thing to tackle, and they're made all the more complicated whenever they're only adaptations in the loosest sense of the word. Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof will soon bring to HBO his remixed and revised version of the iconic comic Watchmen, which has expectedly drawn some ire from the book's curmudgeonly writer, Alan Moore. Perhaps unexpectedly, though, Lindelof smoothly retaliated with a pretty perfect (if NSFW) reply.

During the HBO panel for the Television Critics Association's supper press tour, HBO president of programming Casey Bloys updated everyone on writer Alan Moore's current mood concerning the Watchmen TV series. Moore is reportedly "not thrilled" about the idea, which is about as shocking as grass growing upward. Damon Lindelof wanted to address that issue, and did so in a way that went from complimentary to stingingly hilarious. Check it out below.

Sounds like a response that was wholly inspired by The Comedian, doesn't it? Granted, we don't even know if the Comedian will be involved in this new Watchmen series, which at times appears to be a sequel to the events of the graphic novel, and at other times appears to be a completely different story that just happens to feature some of the same weirdo characters...and also Don Johnson, who is pumped for fans to check it out.

It's not at all clear if there could ever be an adaptation of any Alan Moore work that would earn his complete and unimpeded approval. He publicly dismissed feature takes on V for Vendetta and From Hell, among others. (The one-man jury is still out on DC Universe's Moore-esque Swamp Thing, though assumptions can be made.) The British storyteller might even get pissed when people merely pen his name in an undesirable handwriting, such is the artist's temperament.

Even so, one could easily picture Alan Moore being as particularly prickly as ever about Damon Lindelof's Watchmen, since the TV series' creative team expanded their scope and intentionally reconstructed the graphic novel as not to deliver a sterile reiteration of either the source material or Zack Snyder's mostly faithful 2009 big screen feature. (Which Moore was also actively meh about.) Though perhaps the key to getting Moore interested is to create only vaguely connected adaptations.

For what it's worth, Damon Lindelof isn't going into Watchmen with an abundance of blind confidence that everyone is going to instantly love the show. The creator is seemingly keeping his expectations in check, but clearly believes that the risks are worth the potential rewards in this case. Here's what else he said at TCA (via TVLine).

In a lot of ways, the original tale that Alan Moore wrote (and Dave Gibbons illustrated) remains one of the most risk-taking books in comic history. Not that comic books hadn't taken on adult stories before, but Watchmen was on a level unto itself when it was released in the mid-'80s, with themes of sexual abuse, narcissism, fate, lust, mass murder, and more feelings from the dark side of the spectrum.

Though many of those elements are more commonplace in today's entertainment world, it's understandable that Damon Lindelof wanted to update things for society's place in 2019, while still adhering to some of the same paranoia and problems with authority that drove Alan Moore's story.

Everyone can check out the full-length trailer below, which followed up splendidly on the first teaser released a few months back.

There isn't too much longer to wait – especially if you experience time like Dr. Manhattan does – with HBO announcing at Comic-Con that the new series will debut in October. Stay tuned for a more exact date, and for more details about what fans can expect from Damon Lindelof's Watchmen.

A decade after the film from director Zack Snyder brought the DC/Vertigo source material of Watchmen to the big screen, HBO is set to run a new series that extends this classic universe. Which means that nature only dictates that fans of the original graphic novel that was published between 1986 and 1987 would start to get worried about where showrunner Damon Lindelof, he of Lost fame, will be taking their beloved franchise.

Looking at HBO’s attempt at tackling the material, fear is the last thing that should be on the minds of the folks who devoured all 12 issues of Watchmen’s story. Quite simply, the reason fans shouldn’t be afraid is because this series holds so many exciting cards in its hands, and has limitless potential.

In an effort to get everyone hyped for the series’ premiere this fall, it’s time to take a look at just why HBO’s Watchmen series should be seeing as an opportunity for success, rather than disaster.

It’s An Original Story In The Watchmen Universe

Believe it or not, Damon Lindelof was offered to create this show two times prior to his eventual acceptance. In deciding to undertake an entry in the Watchmen, Lindelof made it important to let the world know that he wasn’t just going to adapt the 12 issues for TV.

Instead, the new HBO series is going to tread new ground, in a more modern era of history. The series will still very much exist in the Watchmen universe, as seen in the inclusion of Ozymandias, played by Jeremy Irons. In addition though, there’s going to be more costumed vigilantes introduced, as well as some new players on the law enforcement side of the equation.

Anyone who’s afraid for the legacy of the original story run for Watchmen can breathe easily. If anything, the HBO project is interested in something else entirely.

HBO’s Watchmen Series Is Kind Of A Sequel

Another fear to dispel is the fact that Watchmen isn’t merely an HBO sequel series that will pick up where Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ landmark comic left off. Rather, this new story will be set presumably in an alternate version of our present day.

The details behind the show’s story are in somewhat short supply, but this new Watchmen story very much feels inspired by how much the world has changed since the milieu of the Moore/Gibbons series. Looking at the trailer HBO released for the series, it definitely looks like a contemporary story, told along the same lines as the original book.

Tie in Ozymandias’ return, as well as a cult of hooded men that look like they’re inspired by the dearly departed Rorschach, and the history of the past definitely comes into play. But the story that follows takes into account the consequences of those past actions.

Jeremy Irons Is The Older Ozymandias

Sometimes, the casting in a project like Watchmen is truly inspired. When the decision to bring back Ozymandias into the fold was made, one could only imagine the next step in the process being to immediately call Jeremy Irons and see if he was free to play the role.

While this isn’t a sequel to the 2009 Zack Snyder film version of Watchmen, Jeremy Irons’ casting as the aged Adrian Veidt is not only fitting of the actor’s talents. As fate would have it, it’s a perfect nod to Snyder’s treatment of the original source.

Ozymandias was memorably brought to life by actor Matthew Goode in that particular project, so between Jeremy Irons’ insanely talented acting chops and his close enough resemblance to what Goode would look like at a later age, this casting is absolutely inspired.

Regina King, Don Johnson, And Others Round Out Watchmen’s Impressive Cast

Jeremy Irons isn’t where the casting skill ends when it comes to Watchmen on HBO, as the extended cast list has a lot of other faces people will be happy to see. Academy Award winner Regina King, legendary TV actor Don Johnson, and recent alum of the FX comic series Legion, Jean Smart, are all on board in still mysterious roles.

It shouldn’t be surprising to anyone that Damon Lindelof’s talent and HBO’s bankroll could attract such an eclectic cast. That in mind, it’s still amazing to see all of those faces, plus the likes of comic movie veteran Tim Blake Nelson and the legendary Louis Gossett Jr., headed towards the small screen.

This Show Is Accessible To Fans Of Both The DC And WB Incarnations

Debates such as whether or not the 2009 film version of Watchmen lives up to the original DC/Vertigo book are bound to still take place from time to time. That’s just the mantle that adapting such a memorable and iconic graphic novel takes on.

That leads to one of the best things about this HBO pseudo-sequel -- the fact that no matter which version you prefer, you can still jump into this series and enjoy it as a follow-up. Even ignoring the fact that Jeremy Irons and Matthew Goode make for a fantastic pair of actors to complement each other’s performances, you can still enjoy Irons’ Ozymandias because he’s just so damned perfect for the role.

No matter which version is your passion, Watchmen feels like it’ll be a valid continuation of the universe built in either the film or graphic novel version of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ story.

Watchmen 2019 Looks Just As Topical As The Original Book

Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons ultimately cracked into the zeitgeist of ‘80s pop culture and political dealings when the wrote Watchmen and released it between September 1986 and September 1987.

While we almost had a film version that adapted that story for a more modern political context, the 2009 movie stuck to its guns and provided us with a period appropriate story that worked extremely well for an adaptation. Yet with HBO’s new show, it looks like the property is headed back to modern political commentary.

The imagery used, as well as the themes of law enforcement and vigilante justice, all ring just a little truer now than they did when the film came out about a decade ago. The network has never been shy to attack controversial topics, both in their fiction and their non-fiction programming; and Watchmen looks like it’s going to uphold that reputation without a doubt.

We’ve still got some time before Watchmen graces the screens of HBO subscribers, as the show is set for a vague Fall 2019 premiere. More details will obviously come to light the closer the show comes to launching, and that will change the picture we currently see.

Where the cards lie now is in the favor of Watchmen being one of the best new shows of this year, because of how it honors the past, while also invoking a bold vision for the future.

There are a number of TV reboots, revivals and continuations currently in the works for both linear TV and streaming studios, but seemingly the only project that might count as all three distinctions is Damon Lindelof's upcoming Watchmen series for HBO. Not much is actually known about what to expect, as it usually goes in Lindelof's mystery-driven career, but some early praise has come from star Don Johnson.

Co-star of Rian Johnson's upcoming crime drama Knives Out (which just released its first trailer), Don Johnson is one of Watchmen's more interesting casting choices. He'll play the non-comic role of Chief Judd Crawford, and that's about all we know about the character. But here's what Johnsons teased for potential viewers of the HBO superhero show:

For what it's worth, Don Johnson didn't come into the project completely unaware of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's seminal opus. This was a guy at the peak of his Miami Vice fame in the 1980s when Watchmen was being released to comic readers. While he didn't go on any essay-length tangents about the plot or the characters with Collider, he did say his awareness of it came from it being "the classic graphic novel" that the industry looks to when telling comic book stories.

That's basically what Damon Lindelof has done with his upcoming Watchmen series, too. He took Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' iconic narrative, which had already been cut and pasted for Zack Snyder's 2009 feature, and he reinterpreted it with his 2019 mindset for a new, if somewhat familiar, take on the core concepts. Which is exactly the kind of feeling that one got watching the first big trailer: "Well, this looks like Watchmen stuff, only more of some things and less of others, and also, it's Don Johnson and Regina King."

Speaking of Regina King, who worked with Damon Lindelof of HBO's exquisite drama The Leftovers, which led to its own brand of fan theories, Don Johnson had nothing but good things to say about the If Beale Street Could Talk star. In his words:

Regina King has long been one of Hollywood's most underutilized talents, and she remade a home for herself on the small screen with Southland, and hasn't left it behind since. Watchmen will be her biggest take on something so genre-heavy, too, as she's only appeared in a few episodes of The Strain in the past.

Too bad we don't know anything about her character, though, or how she ties in with Don Johnson's Judd Crawford. I mean, if I had to guess, I'd say that they work together on the police force, but she looks way more polished and official than his big-smiling shit-kicker. If you hadn't seen the trailer yet, check it out below.

For those who were previously unaware, Don Johnson and Damon Lindelof go way back, with the latter giving the up-and-coming writer a gig on CBS' Nash Bridges in 2000. Just a few years later, he was teaming with J.J. Abrams and Jeffrey Lieber and conceiving the first season of Lost. (A show that Lindelof can still get amusingly defensive about.)

Watchmen tells the story of one of the greatest and most complex superhero teams imaginable, and it'll be the first time that HBO taps into that kind of story material. Here's hoping it's exactly what the premium cabler needs to rise above the Game of Thrones aftermath without getting swallowed back up in adaptation arguments. The series also stars Tim Blake Nelson, Jouis Gossett Jr., Jeremy Irons, Sara Vickers, Frances Fisher, Tom Mison, Jean Smart and more awesome actors.

Without an official release date set just yet, Watchmen fans will have to spend the summer months anticipating its (for now) fall premiere window.