New Watchmen Footage Might Reveal Ozymandias’ Comic-Accurate Costume

HBO surprised DC fans over the weekend with the release of a new trailer for the Watchmen TV series — and it looks like some of the footage was much more than meets the eye. As Instagram user @hbo.watchmen recently pointed out, there’s a chance that the comic-accurate costume for Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias (Jeremy Irons) could be hiding in plain sight. In a shot of Veidt behind prison bars, he appears to be wearing a gold collar and a purple shirt, similar to what he traditionally wears in the comics.

If this does end up being Ozymandias’ comic-accurate costume, there’s no telling exactly how it factors into the events of Watchmen, seeing as the series will be paving a new narrative ground not previously covered in the iconic graphic novel.

“I’m not creating this world; I’m adding to a world already created… all I can do is stay true to the spirit of Watchmen and pray that it all works out. I owe everything to Watchmen, and it’s an honor to officially get the chance to pay off that debt,” showrunner Damon Lindelof recently explained. “Everything that happened in [that graphic novel] is canon. We can’t replicate the brilliance of it, but we can honor it by trying to do something original… Watchmen celebrated the legacy of superheroes that inspired it — then trolled them mercilessly. It broke every rule of the genre and invented an entirely new one in the process. To say I was inspired is an understatement.”

Watchmen will also star Regina King as Angela Abraham, Don Johnson as Chief Judd Crawford, Tim Blake Nelson as Looking Glass, Lous Gossett Jr. as Old Man, Adelaide Clemens as Pirate Jenny, Andrew Howard as Red Scare, Jean Smart as Agent Blake, and Robert Redford as President Robert Redford.

“I do know a little about it,” Dave Gibbons, who co-created the original maxi-series, said 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.”

“I’ve been resistant to the comic book prequels and sequels, but what Damon’s doing is not that at all, it’s very far away from that,” Gibbons says. “While it’s very reverential and true to the source material (by which I mean the Watchmen graphic novel that Alan [Moore] and I did), it’s not retreading the same ground, it’s not a reinterpretation of it. It approaches it in a completely unexpected way.”

What do you think of this Watchmen Easter egg? Are you excited to possibly see Ozymandias’ comic-accurate costume? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Watchmen will debut on October 20th on HBO.