Geekery: Damon Lindelof to “Remix” Watchmen for New HBO Series
No one asked for the Zack Snyder version, and no one is asking for another live action version of the highly rated comic book that deconstructs comic books and superheroes. But, we’re getting one.
If you like Lindelof, you’ll likely be happy with this. If you dislike him, like I do, you’ll want him to drop this project. The man ruins existing properties – Star Trek: Into Darkness, Prometheus – and has created some pretty horrid originals – Lost, Cowboys & Aliens, Tomorrowland.
He’s moving on to Watchmen for HBO after intially saying no. He wrote fans a letter to tell us why we should give his “remix” a chance. The post includes photos of several pages – you can read the full thing here.
The big take away here:
We have no desire to ‘adapt’ the twelve issues Mr. Moore and Mr. Gibbons created thirty years ago. Those issues are sacred ground and will not be retread nor recreated nor reproduced nor rebooted.
They will, however, be remixed. Because the bass lines in those familiar tracks are just too good and we’d be fools not to sample them. Those original twelve issues are our Old Testament. When the New Testament came along it did not erase what came before it. Creation. The Garden of Eden. Abraham and Isaac. The Flood. It all happened. And so it will be with Watchmen. The Comedian died. Dan and Laurie fell in love. Ozymandias saved the world and Dr. Manhattan left it just after blowing Rorschach to pieces in the bitter cold of Antarctica.
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DC is already doing something like this with Geoff Johns’ Doomsday Clock, which started its run in November of last year. It’s a direct sequel to Alan Moore’s story. There are 4 issues out right now, you should pick them up.
Lindelof is diverting from that plotline, as well, and introducing new characters. He claims he’s not making a sequel – he’s creating something new.
This story will be set in the world its creators painstakingly built…but in the tradition of the work that inspired it, this new story must be original. It has to vibrate with the seismic unpredictability of its own tectonic plates. It must ask new questions and explore the world through a fresh lens. It must ask new questions and explore the world through a fresh lens. Most importantly, it must be contemporary.
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So… inspired by Watchmen, with superheroes (of a sort), set in current day, with the same general tone, and has vibrating tectonic plates. Right. Can we call it something else? Or just stop? Stopping before starting would be awesome. Thanks.
If you dig this idea, I hope you enjoy it. For me it’s a…
