HBO Releases First Teaser of Lindelof’s ‘Watchmen’

Its time to move on from the ‘Game of Thrones‘ frenzy and HBO has unveiled the next big thing to binge. The broadcaster unveiled the first teaser trailer of the upcoming series ‘Watchmen’ on Wednesday. Based on the comic book epic by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, which was published by DC Comics in the ’80s, the new drama features brand new team of superheroes. The new HBO series is written and produced by Damon Lindelof, who is known for ‘Lost’ and ‘The Leftovers.’

‘Watchmen’ is the second adaptation of the cult graphic novel after director Zack Snyder’s 2009 movie, ‘Watchmen.’ According to reports, Lindelof’s adaptation will be more loyal to the graphic novel than to its precursor movie. The series will reportedly expand the ‘Watchmen’ universe created by Moore and Gibbons to a full-fledged TV series franchise without the time constraints of a feature film or the space limitations of a graphic novel. In a letter to fans, the director also hinted that there will be new characters in the series.

DC Comics published the graphic novel in 1986. The plot follows the masked vigilantes operating in the midst of a heightened Cold War. According to the official synopsis released by HBO, ‘Watchmen’ is “set in an alternate history where ‘superheroes’ are treated as outlaws.” The synopsis also promises to bring back “the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel of the same name while attempting to break new ground of its own.”

“This story will be set in the world its creators painstakingly built,” Lindelof told THR. “But in the tradition of the work that inspired it, this new story must be original. … Some of the characters will be unknown. New faces. New masks to cover them,” he added.

‘Watchmen’ reportedly picks up the storyline after several years from the end of the story in Moore and Gibbons’ novel. Set in an alternate world which is still reeling under the ramifications of an ‘end of the world’ catastrophe, the series introduces one of the greatest leaders on the new planet, Ozymandias, played Jeremy Irons. The teaser hides a hint about one of the fan-favorite characters to follow Ozymandias to the HBO series. Rorschach, played by Jackie Earle Haley in Snyder’s 2009 movie, keeps his legacy alive in the upcoming series through an army of the masked vigilantes. “We are no one; we are everyone,” says the masked Rorschach-disciples at the start of the teaser. “And we are invisible.”

On a lengthy, five-page letter shared on Instagram, Lindelof requests the comic book fans to be patient. “First and foremost, if you are angry that I’m working on Watchmen, I am sorry,” he writes in the letter. “I have an immense amount of respect for [Watchmen co-creator] Alan Moore. He is an extraordinary talent of mythic proportion. I wrote him a letter, parts of which are not dissimilar to this one, because I owed him an explanation as to why I’m defying his wishes [in working on the series],” he adds.

Check out ‘Watchmen’ official teaser below.

Apart from Irons, the cast of ‘Watchmen’ includes, Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., and Tom Mison among others.

Cover Image Courtesy: HBO

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