Sure, we all met the announcement of Watchmen becoming an HBO series with some skepticism. Directors and producers attempted to bring Alan Moore’s classic to screens both large and small for years, before Zach Snyder finally succeeded with his oft-debated 2009 adaptation. One of the biggest criticisms of that adaptation was that even at nearly three hours in length, it still had to condense a great deal of Moore’s vision for an America plagued by crime, and the morally and ethically dubious “superheroes” who came to live in our midst.
The initial announcement of Damon Lindelof’s new vision for Watchmen was met by fans with similar trepidation; given Lindelof’s wildly varied track record, and the general enthusiasm for the material, even a longer-form adaptation would only tread familiar ground. Or so it seemed. Early word then began to mount around the series being more of a “remix” of the material, with Lindelof telling new and sometimes thematically familiar stories within the same universe, featuring a new set of characters.
That’s to say nothing of the legion of respected character actors Lindelof has already put together for the forthcoming pilot, which includes Regina King, Don Johnson, Louis Gossett Jr., and Tim Blake Nelson. Now, Deadline reports that Jeremy Irons is the latest veteran star to sign on for the series; as with the other characters, little is known about Irons’ role-to-be, but Deadline sources suggest that he’ll be “an aging and imperious lord of a British manor.” Classic Irons.
It’s still unclear when Watchmen will make its presumable HBO debut, but you can expect to hear a whole lot about it as it approaches.
