Damon Lindelof Confirms HBO’s Watchmen Series Will Not Be A Direct Adaptation

Last month, Damon Lindelof, the man entrusted by HBO to oversee an adaptation of Alan Moore’s beloved DC comic, Watchmen, suggested that the long-gestating series would not be a direct translation. Instead, The Leftovers creator likened his take on Moore’s deconstructed parody of superhero-dom to Noah Hawley’s small screen reconstruction of the Joel and Ethan Cohen motion picture, Fargo.

Earlier today, Lindelof confirmed, via a lengthy letter addressed to “fans of Watchmen,” that he has “no desire” to adopt the “twelve issues Mr. Moore and Mr. Gibbons created thirty years ago.” Referring to himself as the “unscrupulous bastard currently defiling something that you love,” Lindelof deemed the late-80s publication as “sacred ground” that he “will not…retread nor recreate nor reproduce nor reboot,” but rather, “remix.”

Lindelof, adjudging the groundwork laid by Moore as “just too good,” revealed that his adaptation will draw from The Original Writer’s universe to an extent, as he’d be foolish “not to sample them.” However, the Primetime Emmy winner reassured the Watchmen fandom that “the original twelve issues are our Old Testament,” and that his interpretation will never overshadow the graphic novel, saying, “when the New Testament came along it did not erase what came before it.”

Concurrently, Lindelof divulged that his HBO series, while “set in the world its creators painstakingly built,” will not be a sequel. This new story must be original,” he said, and most importantly, “must be contemporary.” Apparently, Lindelof will be creating an environment where the “heroes and villains – as if the two are distinguishable” will be “playing for different stakes entirely.”

Produced under the writer’s White Rabbit banner, in association with Warner Bros. Television, where Lindelof’s signed a multi-year deal to remain exclusively, HBO’s Watchmen series, having received an order for backup scripts, is expected to begin production sometime this year. As always, we’ll keep you up to date as details continue to roll in, so be sure to stay tuned!