HBO has revealed the first trailer for Watchmen and confirmed plans to start airing the series this fall after it's been in development for roughly forever. The "modern-day reimagining" of the original comic book by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons was created by Damon Lindelof, who you may already know as the co-creator and showrunner of Lost. That Lost connection probably has you either excited or filled with dread right now, but after re-watching the trailer a few times (and reminding myself that it has absolutely nothing to do with that subtle-as-a-brick Zack Snyder movie from 2009), I'm feeling optimistic. Here are a few things that Watch-fans should take note of already.
Rorschach is plural
Who are all those guys in the Rorschach masks? In the original Watchmen comic, Rorschach was a man whose childhood abuse and unflinching commitment to the ideals of personal liberty and responsibility turned him into an angry, lonesome vigilante - and eventually got him vaporized by the lethally pragmatic Dr. Manhattan. In this show, Rorschach seems to be a group of people: "We are no one, we are everyone, and we are invisible." I get the feeling that in this version of Watchmen, Rorschach is already dead, and he's become a posthumous rallying point for an alt-right-esque mob of angry men. Too bad they couldn't find more of that cool morphing-ink-blot fabric to make their masks.
Ozymandias is still around
There's no mistaking the man in the golden robe, meditating in the lotus position atop a desk. It's Adrian Veidt, AKA Ozymandias, AKA the smartest man in the world, and he's looking a bit older than last we saw him in the comics. His costumed crimefighter days are likely behind him. The shock ending of the original Watchmen revealed that Veidt had orchestrated the destruction of Manhattan to turn back the proverbial Doomsday Clock and ally the US and USSR against a non-existent alien threat, preventing them from blowing up the whole damn world. Whatever role Veidt plays in the HBO series, don't expect him to be a cut-and-dry hero or villain.
Doctor Manhattan is nowhere to be found (yet)
The big, blue, nude dude called Doctor Manhattan does not make an appearance in the Watchmen trailer. Since he disappears soon after Ozymandias' Ultimate Trolley Problem in the comic, this is further reason to believe that the HBO series takes place after the events of the books. It's probably for the best that Doctor Manhattan is absent. That way, the series can focus on smaller characters and stories without making them feel paltry next to his limitless powers of creation and destruction. But Doctor Manhattan isn't dead. He's just gone away, and he could come back in the blink of an eye if he wanted to. How would the sudden return of a god-like being work for a season finale cliffhanger?
Find more to look forward to in our list of new TV shows coming in 2019. Or watch our latest Release Radar to see what's coming in games and entertainment this week.
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