The official Instagram account for HBO’s upcoming Watchmen series from Damon Lindelof has posted three new teaser videos with captions that read: “Abandon all hope, ye who enters here,” “Reach out and touch Mars,” and “It’s not 1985 anymore.” The videos have minor references to elements of the original Watchmen comic including an American flag with 51 stars (with Vietnam becoming the 51st state), Doctor Manhattan’s travels to Mars, and the cultural imprint of pirate entertainment instead of superheroes. Check out the videos now below!
Set in an alternate history where “superheroes” are treated as outlaws, Watchmen embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel while attempting to break new ground of its own. 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.
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In a letter to fans, Lindelof revealed that the series will be an original story with new faces and unknown characters introduced into the universe that he intends to remix.
The series is made up of an ensemble cast that includes Jeremy Irons (Justice League) as an older Ozymandias, 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), Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (The Handmaid’s Tale), Sara Vickers (The Crown), Tom Mison (Sleepy Hollow), Jean Smart (Fargo) as a mysterious FBI agent, and James Wolk (Zoo, Tell Me a Story).
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Lindelof serves as creator, writer, showrunner, and executive producer on the Watchmen series, with Tom Spezialy, Stephen Williams, and Joseph Iberti also executive producing. Nicole Kassell will executive produce and direct the pilot. The series comes from Lindelof’s White Rabbit in association with Warner Bros. Television and is based on the DC Comics characters.
The series adaptation is set to premiere sometime this year.
