Quick Thoughts and Pitch for the HBO "Watchmen" TV Series

The cast of Zack Snyder's 2009 adaptation of Watchmen

About two months ago, it was announced that Zack Snyder was in preliminary talks with HBO to develop a Watchmen inspired television series; most likely to fill the void that Game of Thrones will leave once it ends in a couple of years. Granted, Watchmen is complete as it is. The ultimate cut of the film and the graphic novel are all we really need of this universe. However, if we are to have an expansion of the brand as a gritty adult TV series, this is my pitch for what they should do.



This would be a sequel series. It's the 90's. Years have passed after the attacks on cities around the world. What Ozymandias intended to do to bring peace to the world has backfired. Rorschach's journal has been published as a controversial expose on "what really happened" that exposes Ozymandias as the true cause for the disasters, not Dr. Manhattan as it appeared to be in the immediate aftermath. However, the validity of this story is not truly confirmed, leading to civil unrest over what really happened; most believing that it was an act of malevolence by Dr. Manhattan and the rest believing that it was a misguided attempt at peace by Ozy.

In the meantime, the surviving members of the Watchmen have retired and are in hiding. Normal citizens are starting to be effected by the bombs used in the disasters (as they were created by Dr. Manhattan's power) and people are starting to exhibit super human abilities. As this is discovered, these people are quickly persecuted and murdered by others around the world still wary of what they believe Dr. Manhattan did to them, regardless of if they have ever done anything wrong (cue the parallels to Islamophobia here). In comes a new character who decides to take up Rorschach's mantle Kylo Ren style to truly expose what has happened so these powered individuals can be vindicated. In the process, he discovers a conspiracy involving the government and others in power that reaches back to the time of the Minutemen in the 40's and 50's. This can be Watchmen's version of Hydra. Eventually, it is revealed that Ozymandias is once again attempting to "save the world" by manipulating these conspirators to start a new war and coax Dr. Manhattan back to Earth to help him create a new world order that will once and for all bring peace to a xenophobic and scared human race.

This new series would pay homage to the original graphic novel by expanding on its themes with a modern world view sensibility while also not tarnishing it. It would be respectful of the source material and also be its own entity. Even if what HBO does differs wildly from my idea for the direction this series should take, they need to stay with this mindset. Do not reboot the original story. Don't soil it or its characters by doing prequels. Create new interesting characters that can become their own incarnation of the "Watchmen" team, while also allowing the surviving characters to lend to this story in a way that's true to them and the original vision of Alan Moore. It would also position the 2009 Watchmen film (notably the Ultimate Cut) as a back door pilot to the new series instead of rebooting it or lessening its importance. I feel like there is rich, dark, and mature material that HBO can mine from this and I just hope that whatever they do, they do not forget the importance of the source material or the film that is already a faithful adaptation of it.

What are your thoughts on an HBO Watchmen television show? Is it a great idea or is it sacrilege? Leave your comments down below and share your thoughts on what direction HBO should take in the future.