Max Removes Then Adds Award-Winning DC Series From Streamer

UPDATE: Watchmen's departure from Max appears to be some sort of glitch, as all nine episodes of the series are once again streaming on the platform. The original story is as follows.

One of the most buzzed-about DC series in recent memory is no longer streaming on Max. As of Monday, December 11th, the television spinoff of Watchmen has been removed from the streaming service. The nine-episode series, which made its debut in the fall of 2019, quickly became critically-lauded, earning multiple Emmys and even a Peabody Award.

It is unclear at this point where Watchmen will stream next, but there is a chance that it could land at another platform, especially with how Warner Bros. Discovery has utilized short-term deals with other streamers. In particular, a number of their original DC movies have made their way onto other platforms, such as Netflix and Prime Video.

What Is Watchmen About?

A "remix" of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' original DC maxiseries, Watchmen is set in an alternate history where masked vigilantes are treated as outlaws. Set decades after the giant squid attack in the original series, the show follows a number of new and returning characters, and examines race relations across American history. 

The ensemble cast of Watchmen included Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Andrew Howard, Jacob Ming-Trent, Tom Mison, Sara Vickers, Dylan Schombing, Louis Gossett Jr., Jeremy Irons, Jean Smart, and Hong Chau.

"I was just like, I just want to see Regina King on a billboard with the word 'Watchmen' over her. Because that feels like it's going to work," series creator Damon Lindelof told ComicBook.com in an exclusive interview. "We wanted Angela's sort of story arc over the course of these nine episodes to understand herself, to be able to put some context to understand the pain and potential anger that she felt not just as a result of her own personal journey through life, but what it meant to be a black woman in the United States of America. Whether it's an alt-history or an actual history, it's impossible to be a black woman in the United States of America and not experience a significant amount of trauma at the hands of the forces of white supremacy. There's no avoiding it. Obviously, she hasn't gained that entirely, but she's definitely more aware of it through her sort of experience with Will then than she was at the beginning. We wanted to sort of dramatize that as much as possible. Also, I think that we can all admit as huge fans of comics that women and certainly people of color, and very specifically women people of color, have been underrepresented in this medium. I think that the idea of doing it again with sort of another kind of antihero white dude or even a heroic white dude was not as interesting and appealing and original feeling as doing it with a woman of color."

Will Watchmen Get a Second Season?

Despite ending on a pretty definitive footing, the success of Watchmen has led some to wonder if a second season is in the cards. Members of the cast and crew, as well as HBO executives, have indicated that that isn't in the cards yet.

"No change there. Never say never," HBO's Casey Bloys shared with Entertainment Weekly earlier this year. "But that adaptation was so from his brain it's hard to imagine somebody else doing it. But there are no active conversations, or courting anybody, or putting it out there in the way that we're doing, for example, with Game of Thrones."

What do you think of Watchmen leaving Max? Do you hope the series finds a new streaming home soon? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!