Some believe Zack Snyder's “Watchmen” was a botched adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel, while others believe it to be an absolutely essential addition to the superhero genre. It’s a film that has spawned contentious debate over the years.
DC has decided to make an R rated animated version of “Watchmen” and maybe this’ll be a worthy effort. The adaptation is broken into two parts – one arriving in 2024 and the other arriving in 2025 (though no dates were provided by Warner Bros). The trailer was released today.
The animation style of the movie doesn't quite recapture the incredible details in Gibbons' artwork, but it seems to be largely true to the spirit of the original by recreating a handful of memorable moments from the comic, including Doctor Manhattan's appearance in Vietnam.
A darkly dystopian take of the superhero genre, “Watchmen” is set in an alternate history in the year 1985 at the height of the Cold War. The focus is a group of retired superheroes investigating the murder of one of their own.
Moore’s “Watchmen” was made as a sort of antidote to conventional superhero stories. What Moore created back in 1987, with artist Dave Gibbons, was damn-near revolutionary: a superhero world with realist-infused consciousness — a band of alternative caped crusaders that felt ingrained in socio and political resistance.
Snyder’s “Watchmen” came out in 2009, which was just one year after Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” heralded a new kind of comic book movie — darker, deeper and more cinematic.
Damon Lindelof would later helm a new adaptation of “Watchmen” for HBO, this one was a limited series. Lindelof’s “Watchmen” was less faithful to its source material, taking some creative liberties with Moore’s original story, but critics were much kinder to it than with Snyder’s version. The series received near universal acclaim.