WARNING: There are massive spoilers ahead for last night’s episode of Watchmen!
After revealing the true identity of Hooded Justice earlier this month, HBO’s Watchmen went even further. The closing seconds confirmed that Angela Abar’s husband, Cal Abar, is actually Doctor Manhattan. Although Cal didn’t know the truth about himself, it’s a secret that Angela has held on to for years. However, their life together is threatened now that the Seventh Kalvary knows who Cal really is.
Watchmen showrunner Damon Lindelof spoke with The Hollywood Reporter and shed some light on the series’ latest twist.
“We needed to tell a new story with a new character at the center of it,” explained Lindelof. “Once we landed on Angela Abar as that center, the new rule became that any legacy characters we were using (Veidt, Laurie and Hooded Justice) could only be used in service of Angela’s story… she was the sun, everyone else needed to be orbiting around her. So how could Dr. Manhattan, a man with the power of God, be in service of Angela’s story as opposed to the other way around? Based on his past (and all the tropes of Greco/Roman mythology), the answer was intuitive… love.”
“We knew this relationship could only work if Manhattan took the form of a human,” added Lindelof. “And so, the idea of Cal was born. And yeah, it came early. Almost from the jump.”
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Lindelof noted that he cast Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Cal Abar while knowing he would also play Doctor Manhattan. However, Lindelof and the show’s creative team hid that info from Abdul-Mateen until after he landed the role.
“At the time, besides the writers, only Nicole Kassel knew,” said Lindelof. “We sort’ve hinted at it with Vickie Thomas, our brilliant casting director, something along the lines of, “He’s not who we think he is and he’s a bit… off.” I first saw Yahya in an episode of Handmaid’s Tale and I just knew. He came in for a chemistry read with Regina [King] and then she also just knew.”
What do you think about the latest Watchmen twist? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
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