Debuts 20th October in the US. 2am & 9pm on Sky Atlantic on Mondays.
Set in an alternate history where “superheroes” are treated as outlaws, Watchmen embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel of the same name while attempting to break new ground of its own.
Oscar-winning actor Regina King leads the series as Detective Angela Abar, whose alter-ego is Sister Night, while Tim Blake Nelson plays her detective partner Looking Glass and Don Johnson plays Chief Judd Crawford.
Black Mirror’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays Angela’s husband Cal, Louis Gossett Jr plays Will Reeves, Adelaide Clemens plays Pirate Jenny, Andrew Howard plays Red Scare, Sara Vickers plays Ms Crookshanks and James Wolk plays Senator Keane.
And as for the original graphic novel’s cast of characters, Jean Smart plays the former Silk Spectre II Laurie Blake, while Jeremy Irons plays a character finally confirmed to be Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias.
It is visually astonishing, with each frame more ambitious, stunning, and remarkable than the one before. You also have no idea what the hell is going on at any given moment. If you liked that about Game of Thrones, you’ll LOVE it about Watchmen.
A lavish, transfixing epic, a potent but rarely heavy-handed metaphor for race relations in America and a showcase for one of the greatest actors of her generation, Lindelof’s Watchmen is also a shrewd encapsulation of the perils that might await a society obsessed with superheroes.
Calling it the best new show of the fall feels too limiting, because it’s trying to be so many things to so many people. It left me dizzy from its audacity, its delight, and its occasional lack of taste. Your mileage may vary.
HBO’s drop-dead fantastic new series “Watchmen” is many things at once — a righteously topical, thrillingly conceived riff on race and criminal justice set in an allegorical USA of vigilante cops, shady superheroes and subversive domestic terrorists. It’s fabulous and flammable and feels exactly right.
Like The Leftovers, it’s a vividly felt tale of generational sorrow, tapping deeper weirdness and structural experimentation as it goes along. Watchmen doesn’t overdose on nostalgia, like so many franchise extensions in our reboot-soaked decade. It’s dangerous, and invigorating. Like the proverbial Space Squid, it blew my mind.
The cast is owed a lot of credit for keeping the momentum going and the series grounded. ... Though its messaging gets muddled—especially in the sixth episode, which should raise the question of whether some symbols are too entrenched in violent, racist history to ever be repurposed or otherwise subverted—Watchmen is commendably bold in its dive into this country’s fraught past and present.
Cheeky Devlin wrote:Yeah that was pretty damn good. (The episode, not the race riot)
I didn't think it was related to the Snyder movie, but there were definite nods to it. Or was I wrong and it IS the same world?
It's definitely a sequel to the book not the film (the whole squid thing). The song playing when Don Johnson and Regina King are having a meal is a reference to the film though.
Cheeky Devlin wrote:Yeah that was pretty damn good. (The episode, not the race riot)
I didn't think it was related to the Snyder movie, but there were definite nods to it. Or was I wrong and it IS the same world?
It's definitely a sequel to the book not the film (the whole squid thing). The song playing when Don Johnson and Regina King are having a meal is a reference to the film though.
I wondered about that. It's been years since I read the book. Probably need to go through it again soon I think.
I need to reread the graphic novel as it was over a decade ago when I first/last read it. I know they've said you don't have to have read it to watch this but it certainly helps!
Grumpy David wrote:I need to reread the graphic novel as it was over a decade ago when I first/last read it. I know they've said you don't have to have read it to watch this but it certainly helps!
I started re-reading it last week and I got so much out of the second episode as a result. Loads of things I'd totally forgotten about and it definitely makes you look at some things a little differently.
But my wife has only seen the movie, and doesn't even remember much of it anyway, and she's really enjoying the show so far as well.
If they can keep this quality up over the season then this could be something special.
I thought it really started clicking together in episode 3. The new character was fantastic – as was her sidekick. The Dark Knight style bank robbery at the start was great, as was the blue dildo.
Jeremy Irons character intrigues me, where exactly is he? There was a mention of Argentina, but he clearly isn't there. Mars?
Sister Knight is a great character as well. That fake little girly laugh to show she wasn't scared was brilliant.
I'm assuming that the daughters nightmares's are somehow "prophetic" and that's how she knew that something was going to land in the backyard of the family at the start.
It's beginning to come together a little which I'm enjoying. That and Jeremy Irons has been fantastically mental.
This continues to be my entertainment highlight each week. It's just so...confident in its writing. It's really interesting to see the parallels to the original comic too (a series of events kicked off by the murder of a man with a mysterious past, a rich mogul planning something sinister through high technology, a sidestory that seems completely separate but that actually echoes the themes of the main narrative etc etc)
Jeremy Irons is strawberry floating baller. Love that dude.
Cheeky Devlin wrote:So far so good and yet another good episode.
Lube man
I'm assuming that the daughters nightmares's are somehow "prophetic" and that's how she knew that something was going to land in the backyard of the family at the start.
It's beginning to come together a little which I'm enjoying. That and Jeremy Irons has been fantastically mental.
I thought that the daughter was having some sort of flashback to the Vietnam War, makes sense that she sees the future as well though. I don’t think she’s actually the daughter either, some sort of clone with powers/memories artificially added?