Watchmen Creator Alan Moore Says He Asked DC to Send His Royalty Checks to Black Lives Matter

Watchmen creator Alan Moore says he is no longer accepts royalty checks from DC Comics for film and television adaptations of his work and, instead, the creator — whose iconic work also includes V for Vendetta and Batman: The Killing Joke — has asked that DC send the checks to Black Lives Matter. Moore made the revelation to The Telegraph (via Variety) when asked it if were true that he was dividing his royalties money among the writers and other creatives on those projects.

“I no longer wish it to even be shared with them,” Moore said. “I don’t really feel, with the recent films, that they have stood by what I assumed were their original principles. So, I asked for DC Comics to send all of the money from any future TV series or films to Black Lives Matter.”

Moore Openly Disapproved of HBO’s Watchmen Series

Moore declining his royalties for adaptations of his works from DC and having them instead donated doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Moore has a fraught history with DC and has also been very open about his disapproval of the HBO Watchmen live-action follow-up series to the original comics by Moore and Dave Gibbons. Series showrunner Damon Lindelof himself even spoke out about how he was “absolutely convinced” that Moore had placed “a magical curse” upon him, though last year, Moore opened up about his response to a package he was sent ahead of the show’s premiere which included a letter from Lindelof that Moore says began, “Dear Mr. Moore, I am one of the bastards currently destroying Watchmen,” something he said “wasn’t the best opener.”

Moore adds, “It went on through a lot of, what seemed to me to be, neurotic rambling. ‘Can you at least tell us how to pronounce ‘Ozymandias’?’ I got back with a very abrupt and probably hostile reply telling him that I’d thought that Warner Brothers were aware that they, nor any of their employees, shouldn’t contact me again for any reason. I explained that I had disowned the work in question, and partly that was because the film industry and the comics industry seemed to have created things that had nothing to do with my work, but which would be associated with it in the public mind. I said, ‘Look, this is embarrassing to me. I don’t want anything to do with you or your show. Please don’t bother me again.’”

Another Watchmen Adaptation Is In The Works

This summer during San Diego Comic-Con, DC Studios announced that an animated Watchmen movie is in the works. Few details about the project have been revealed — including whether this will be a straight-up adaptation or if it will be more of an interpretation or an inspired sequel type project. Given that Hollywood is largely at a standstill due to the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, it may be some time before additional details about the project emerge.

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