Alright, Watchmen fans; here we go again.
After rumors that Zach Snyder was going to helm the HBO series adaptation, many, many people were not exactly pleased, even though the choice kind of makes sense, given that Snyder directed the 2009 version on the big-screen. It has now been reported that he isn’t, much to the glee of the internet.
Now, I enjoyed Snyder’s version. I know, I am a moron who knows nothing and blah, blah, blah. But hear me out. I thought that Snyder’s “gritty” take (and let’s be honest, everything he does is over-saturated, rain-soaked and “gritty”) worked on this particular project. The source material is pretty damn gritty, so I thought it was a good fit. Sure, the ending screwed the pooch, but overall, I thought it was pretty good.
That said, why the hell would he make the series? We already saw what he could do. You don’t have someone make you a cake, and then ask him back to make cupcakes, do you? No. You do not.
So, good news (maybe)! Damon Lindelof (co-creator of Lost and The Leftovers) is taking the helm. Now, I thought that Lost was great for a couple seasons before it went off the rails, but I legitimately enjoyed it while I was…enjoying it. It was creative and inventive and ambitious, so I’m on board to see what Lindelof can do here, plus, he seems to respect the property enough to try and stay true to the book. When there were rumors that he was going to adapt The Dark Tower series in 2009, he told USA Today that, “…the last thing I want to do is spend the next six or seven years adapting one of my favorite books of all time. I’m such a massive Stephen King fan that I'm terrified of screwing it up.”
Let’s hope he feels similarly about The Watchmen.
He tweeted this yesterday with the hashtag “Day One”, and if you’re a Watchmen fan, you’ll know what it means.
