‘Watchmen: Chapters I & II’ release window, cast, plot, and more

Watchmen is nearly four decades old, but despite the tens of thousands of superhero stories we’ve seen since then, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ epic saga is still widely considered the best in the genre.

So it’s not surprising that we’ve seen a live-action movie courtesy of Zack Snyder, a hit HBO sequel series, various sequel/crossover DC comics of questionable quality, a video game, and even a feature-length motion comic.

We can now add a full animated adaptation to the pile. The project was announced at 2023’s San Diego Comic-Con, but we now have our first trailer and confirmation that this will be a “two-part movie event”. So, what else do we know?

What’s the plot?

Judging by the trailer, this will be a faithful adaptation of the original graphic novel. At its absolute core, Watchmen is a murder mystery in which street-level vigilante Rorschach tries to figure out who tossed the aging superhero The Comedian through his apartment window to his death.

This is merely scratching the surface of Watchmen, which quickly expands into a sprawling epic that deconstructs the idea of superheroes, asks what kind of person would actually put on a mask and fight crime, how an individual with superpowers would warp society around them, and ultimately ponders some powerful philosophical questions to which there are no easy answers.

Let’s just say there’s a reason this story is so beloved. We envy you if you’ve somehow never read it or been spoiled.

Is there a release date?

The two halves of the story won’t be released at once. Watchmen: Chapter I doesn’t have an exact release date, but is confirmed to land sometime this year, with Chapter II in 2025. Hopefully there won’t be too many months between installments, so we’d be happy with a Fall 2024/Spring 2025 release line-up. More on exact dates as we hear it.

All that said, Blu-Ray.com lists Aug. 13 2024 as a release date for Chapter I, though this could simply be a placeholder.

The cast

In something of an odd move from Warner Bros, there’s absolutely no information on who’s voicing Rorschach in this trailer, or anyone else in the movie. That said, DC Animation generally impresses when it comes to assembling voice talent, so we’d expect some big names when it is announced.

If that Aug. 13 release is accurate then we should know more soon. Here’s hoping they can live up to the stratospheric reputation of Moore and Gibbons’ timeless work.