Variety reports that Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman, The Get Down, The Handmaid’s Tale) and Sara Vickers (Endeavour, The Alienist, The Crown) have joined the Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen pilot for HBO. The announcement comes after yesterday’s news that Sleepy Hollow’s Tom Mison had also joined the cast.
Originally published as a 12-issue miniseries beginning in 1986, Watchmen quickly become one of sequential art’s most acclaimed stories. The original story centers on a murder-mystery before unfolding into a planet-altering conspiracy that ultimately asks where the fine line is drawn between heroes and villains.
In a letter to fans, Lindelof made it clear that the Watchmen series won’t be an adaptation of the comics, but an original story with new faces and unknown characters introduced into the universe that he intends to remix.
The pilot is already made up of an ensemble cast that includes Jeremy Irons (Justice League), Regina King (The Leftovers), Don Johnson (Django Unchained), Louis Gossett Jr. (Hap and Leonard), Tim Blake Nelson (Colossal), Adelaide Clemens (Rectify), Andrew Howard (Bates Motel), Frances Fisher (Masters of Sex), Jacob Ming-Trent (White Famous), and Tom Mison.
Since the film’s release, DC Comics released an extensive “Before Watchmen” comic line, telling stories from the pasts of the central characters. More recently, DC Comics has made efforts to integrate Watchmen into the broader DC Multiverse with their Doomsday Clock series.
Lindelof serves as creator, writer, showrunner, and executive producer on the Watchmen series, with Tom Spezialy also executive producing. Nicole Kassell will executive produce and direct the pilot.
