HBO’s ‘Watchmen’: Jeremey Irons Character Possibly Revealed

Early this week it was reported that Jeremy Irons is heading to HBO’s Watchmen in a starring role and now a new report may have revealed what that role is.

According to That Hashtag Show, Irons will be playing a character referred to as the “Blond Man” and a breakdown of the character has a description that sounds an awful lot like an older version of Adrian Veidt, better known as Ozymandias. Deadline previously reported that Irons is set to play an “aging and imperious lord of a British manor” while That Hashtag Show notes a breakdown for the character describing him as “highly intelligent and won’t let you forget it. Think William Hurt with slight Asperger’s. He’s used to being obeyed and always correct. Arrogant, erudite and patrician. Physically fit, he’s never missed a workout in his life.”

This description is very similar to that of Ozymandias in the original Watchmen comics. While the character is of German heritage and not British, he is highly intelligent, blond, and extremely physically fit — part of his story is that, as a young man, he trained himself to achieve peak physical condition and even became a world-class gymnast.

It’s also worth noting that using hair color to describe a character without giving away their identity before their debut is something that DC has done before. Colin Salmon, who plays the infamous General Dru-Zod on Syfy’s Krypton, told ComicBook.com that when he auditioned for the role the character was simply called “The Dark-Haired Man”. In comics, dark hair is one of Zod’s defining characteristics.

If Irons is playing Ozymandias, it will be interesting to see what role the character has in the overall series. Reportedly largely set in Tulsa, Oklahoma and appearing to follow characters who were not established in the Watchmen comics, set photos have hinted that the plot of the original Watchmen will serve as a sort of jumping off point for the television series.

“We have no desire to ‘adapt’ the twelve issues Mr. Moore, and Mr. Gibbons created thirty years ago,” executive producer Damon Lindelof wrote in a recent social media post. “Those issues are sacred ground and they will not be retread nor recreated nor reproduced no rebooted.”

“They will, however, be remixed,” Lindelof continued. “Because the bass lines in those familiar tracks are just too good and we’d be fools not to sample them. Those original twelve issues are our Old Testament. When the New Testament came along it did not erase what came before it. Creation. The Garden of Eden. Abraham and Isaac. The Flood. It all happened. And so it will be with Watchmen. The Comedian died. Dan and Laurie fell in love. Ozymandias saved the world and Dr. Manhattan left it just after blowing Rorschach to pieces in the bitter cold of Antarctica.”

Watchmen does not currently have a release date. ComicBook.com will provide more updates as they come about.

What do you think about Jeremy Irons potentially playing Ozymandias? Let us know in comments!