Now, we shouldn’t be surprised to know that seminal comic book author Alan Moore is not happy with HBO‘s decision to make a series based on Watchmen. Moore wasn’t happy with DC Comics’ publishing the collected comics in perpetuity, he wasn’t happy when they did a series of prequels based on the comics, he wasn’t happy when Zack Snyder adapted it for theaters, and he wasn’t happy when DC decided to cross it over with their main publishing line in Doomsday Clock.
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But Watchmen showrunner Damon Lindelof still respects the comic creator, even going so far as to label him “a genius ” at the Television Critics Association summer press tour [with TV Guide in attendance]. He then added that Moore has “made it very clear that he doesn’t want to have any association or affiliation with Watchmen.”
Lindelof went on to theorize that if someone told Alan Moore that he wasn’t allowed to do something, “he would say, ‘F–k you. I’m doing it anyway’… so I’m channeling the spirit of Alan Moore to tell Alan Moore, ‘F–k you. I’m doing it anyway.’”
Earlier in the presentation, HBO’s programming boss Casey Bloys was asked if Moore was still sour on the series, he responded “I think that remains the case. That he’s not thrilled.”
Moore has famously been at odds with DC Comics over the rights to Watchmen, which was originally made with the stipulation that the rights could one day return to the comics creators if they stopped publishing the title. But the comic — based on DC’s Charlton Comics characters like Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, Black Canary, and the Question — is a cash cow for the publisher, meaning those rights will likely never revert. And because of that, Moore has distanced himself from the project.
But his Watchmen co-creator, artist Dave Gibbons, was much more open to the series continuing in the HBO series.
“I do know a little about it,” Gibbons shared late last year. “I’ve had conversations with Damon, and I’ve read the screenplay for the pilot. I don’t think it’s my place to say too much about it, other than I found Damon’s approach to be really refreshing and exciting and unexpected. I don’t think it’s gonna be what people think it’s going to be. It certainly wasn’t what I imagined it to be. I think it’s extremely fresh. I’m really looking forward to seeing it on the screen.”
Watchmen is set to debut on HBO in October.
