Production for HBO's "Watchmen" adaptation has been underway since early 2018 and fans are expecting that the television series will finally be on the air in 2019. But could the network be planning to delay its launch?
"Watchmen" is conspicuously absent from HBO's recent promo, according to Bleeding Cool. This December, the network released a video compilation of its upcoming programs for 2019, but none of it featured scenes from the comic book adaptation.
However, the HBO promo had clips for the new show "2 Dope Queens" with Jessica Williams and Phoebe Robinson. It also showed teasers of the new seasons of its popular returning series like "Game of Thrones," season 8 "Big Little Lies" season 2, "Barry" season 2 and "True Detective" season 3.
The only indication that "Watchmen" would be on the network in 2019 is an announcement on the official HBO site. Other than this, details have been scarce for the Lindelof series. HBO, however, can be notorious for keeping its high-profile projects a big secret to prevent leaks and spoilers from ruining the show's launch.
Alan Moore released a series of "Watchmen" graphic novels in the 1980s with Dave Gibbons and John Higgins. Its main story centers on superheroes as the enemies of the public. In 2009, "Justice League" director Zack Snyder came out with the "Watchmen" movie adaptation that starred "Aquaman" villain Patrick Wilson, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Malin Akerman.
Lindelof's version of "Watchmen," however, will be different from the movie version. The writer and producer also confirmed that the HBO series would stray from the source material because it won't be a complete retelling of the 12 novels and there will be new and original characters.
He further called the show's development as a "remix" of "Watchmen." This meant that fans of the graphic novels would see something familiar based on Moore's creation, but there will also be a lot of new elements that no one has seen or read in the books before.
For instance, Dr. Manhattan/Jon Osterman will have a father in the HBO iteration. But in the graphic novels, the character has no family nor backstory, according to Hidden Remote.
HBO's "Watchmen" has cast Jeremy Irons as Ozymandias/Adrian Veidt, Tim Blake Nelson as a character named Looking Glass, Jean Smart as FBI Agent Blake and Regina King as Angela Abar. Completing the rest of the cast are Don Johnson, Tom Mison, Louis Gossett Jr., James Wolk, Sara Vickers, Andrew Howard, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jacob Ming-Trent, Dylan Schombing, and Frances Fisher.
