New York Comic-Con-goers were treated to an early look at HBO’s Watchmen! Damon Lindelof introduced a screening of the pilot of his adaptation, and was joined by the cast after the episode aired.
The show will be a follow-up to the events of the comic, with Regina King playing the character Sister Knight, Hong Chau as trillionaire Lady Trieu, Tim Blake Nelson as Looking Glass, Louis Gossett, Jr. as Will Reeves, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Cal Abar, and Jean Smart as Detective Laurie…Blake. Who just maybe used to have a different last name/alter ego.
Plus, Jeremy Irons is here playing…well, the most obvious person he could possibly be playing, we’re guessing.
(You know, it rhymes with Shmozyshmandias.)
Lindelof told the crowd that he read his first issues when he was 13, and that he considers the HBO series to be “a very expensive bit of fanfic.”
Damon Lindelof introduces the #NYCC #Watchmen sneak peek. “Those issues changed my life. The writer of the series has asked that I not say his name but I’m forever aspiring to that brilliance.” pic.twitter.com/cINeYzPjrh
— Ethan Alter (@ethanalter) October 4, 2019
Here’s a very brief summation of the pilot:
Pilot highlights: Amazing "Unforgettable" needle drop; Regina King does some bad ass spy stuff; a sequence about the Tulsa race riots that torched Black Wall Street (look it up); a Gatling gun tearing up a cow; and Tim Blake Nelson. #Watchmen #NYCC2019
— SYFY WIRE (@SYFYWIRE) October 4, 2019
And if you’re asking, “Why Watchmen, why now?” Lindelof has a pretty good reason:
In developing #Watchmen Damon Lindelof wanted to know what happened to that world 30 years later after a giant squid fell and after Adrian Veidt saved the world. #NYCC pic.twitter.com/7cj5jFxArK
— 紫織🇯🇵🎬🎥 (@LadyJenevia) October 4, 2019
Regina King’s script was illustrated with a drawing of her as her character!
King notes that Firestar and Wonder Woman are her two superhero influences #Watchmen #NYCC
— Alex Zalben (@azalben) October 4, 2019
Louis Gossett, Jr. chimed in on his superheroic influences:
Louis Gossett Jr. expounding on his love of superheroes. "I was raised by Superman." #Watchmen #NYCC2019
— SYFY WIRE (@SYFYWIRE) October 4, 2019
Luckily Tim Blake Nelson got out of rescuing aliens and was able to participate in the show:
https://twitter.com/michejaw/status/1180229183903031296
And as a special surprise, Lindelof welcomed Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons to the stage at the panel’s end!
Dave Gibbons is the special surprise guest at the @HBO @watchmen @NY_Comic_Con panel. He thinks the show is "an amplification" of the graphic novel. #Watchmen #NYCC pic.twitter.com/BWcY9nm1qs
— Emily S. Whitten, Esq. ✨🐹✨ (@theemilyesse) October 4, 2019
Gibbons went on to talk about the “terrible appeal” of a character like Rorschach, and praised Lindelof’s approach to the material.
Gibbons says what the show gets right is that Lindelof approaches it as a science fiction alternate reality and not a superhero comic. #WatchmenHBO #NYCC
— Ani Bundel (@anibundel) October 4, 2019
The show’s arc will be complete in one nine-episode season, but the team is open to returning to the world in further seasons if fan reaction warrants.
We’ll all be getting an opportunity to watch the Watchmen when it hits HBO on October 20th!
