Watchmen: Chapter I Movie Secures R Rating

The newest adaptation of DC’s Watchmen has been shrouded in quite a lot of mystery, with only a single teaser trailer being unveiled recently, after the project was first announced last summer. The animated film will split the events of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ DC maxiseries of the same name into a two-movie saga — and now we have a new detail of exactly what that will entail. According to a new listing from the MPAA’s Film Ratings board, Watchmen: Chapter I is “Rated R for violent content and some graphic nudity.”

This news will surely be a positive development for Watchmen fans, as it signifies that the comic’s graphic violence will not be watered down in the animated adaptation. It is unclear at this point what exactly the “graphic nudity” is a reference to, and whether that will involve Doctor Manhattan’s proclivity for appearing naked.

What Is the Watchmen Animated Movie About?

While a plot synopsis has not officially been given by Warner Bros. Animation, it has been safe to assume that the Watchmen animated movie will adhere to the plot of Moore and Gibbons’ source material. In it, a group of retired superheroes in an alternate 1985 America must join forces again, after one of their own is murdered.

No cast members for either part of Watchmen have been confirmed at this time, or a release date. 

Will Watchmen Get a Season 2?

The Watchmen movie marks the latest attempt to adapt the events of the maxiseries, following Zack Snyder’s 2009 movie, and later HBO’s award-winning television series in 2019. According to previous comments from HBO executive Casey Bloys, there are no current plans to continue the Watchmen series in any way, and it would ultimately be up to series creator Damon Lindelof to return to the project.

“Watchmen was so much his creation,” Bloys previously told Variety. “If he doesn’t think there’s a story that he wants to put his heart and soul into, it’s hard for me to think that it would be worth doing. It was a very special limited series for us. I would put it in the pantheon of HBO greats. If Damon ever wants to revisit it, he knows that it’s an open door. But it is hard for me to imagine doing one without him.”