Two-Episode Watchmen Series Set as a Prequel

We were a bit disappointed when we heard the recent two-episode Watchmen series announcement since it was to be set as a brawler. However, it seems that these two games will be set as a prequel with the ability to play either Nite Owl or Rorschach in the days before superheroes were outlawed. "If you're wondering who could possibly replace the much-revered Alan Moore in the scripting department -- as the story is the linchpin upon which the whole Watchmen experience pivots -- comic fans will be glad to know that respected comic veteran Len Wein (co-creator of DC's Swamp Thing and Marvel's Wolverine characters) is on board to provide the dialogue, and original Watchmen illustrator Dave Gibbons is lending his insights as the game's adviser. Due out around the same time as the film's theatrical release, the game will be released in multiple parts designed to lead the player up to the graphic novel/film's events."

Comments

Chewing The Cud

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

Why is it that the entertainment industry must chew the cud of its past successes over and over. Why is it seen as acceptable, and even desirable, that a work be "brought to the big screen". Frankly it's obscene.

Watchmen was a great comic. A fantastic graphic novel. No one "Should make a movie of this". Or a game. Or a TV show. Great works do not need to be paraded before the masses in order to be vindicated in some ridiculous fashion. Fans do a disservice to their favorite work by suggesting this.

Famous works that go to Hollywood are essentially just like the actors that go there. A minute few make it big, regardless of talent. Most end up washed out with their dreams; waiting tables, mailing second rate scripts or working in the adult industry. Is that what you want to happen to Watchmen? I don't.

Watchmen will not work on the big screen. They will defile it. Expect the Happy-Meal version, with Dr. Manhattan in a leotard throughout, A cigar-less Comedian, and a kung-fu fighting Rorschach who find happiness in the end. Silhouette will make an appearance, and you know in exactly what context. Ozymandias will probably die a brutal death after his plot is foiled at 6 seconds to midnight. It will be a gruesome spectacle, like watching a car hit a truck in slow motion. Why would anyone want this?

Re:Chewing The Cud

[millia]

Watchmen was a great comic. A fantastic graphic novel. No one "Should make a movie of this". Or a game. Or a TV show. Great works do not need to be paraded before the masses in order to be vindicated in some ridiculous fashion. Fans do a disservice to their favorite work by suggesting this.

There's a difference between exploitation and exploration. I saw a wonderful adaptation of Salman Rushdie's 'Haroun and the Sea of Stories' as a play, and it went places that even the (wonderful) original didn't. Every medium has compromises, and as long as the work is adapted well, it can be rewarding.

Well, by the way, does not include standard Hollywood tricks. Orson Scott Card's ruminations on the subject of why you change and when come to mind.

Watchmen will not work on the big screen. They will defile it. Expect the Happy-Meal version, with Dr. Manhattan in a leotard throughout, A cigar-less Comedian, and a kung-fu fighting Rorschach who find happiness in the end. Silhouette will make an appearance, and you know in exactly what context. Ozymandias will probably die a brutal death after his plot is foiled at 6 seconds to midnight. It will be a gruesome spectacle, like watching a car hit a truck in slow motion. Why would anyone want this?

Possibly. However, Manhattan is already showing up nude in the trailer and the Comedian has his cigar- I'm guessing you haven't seen the trailer, because those are poor examples. Or have read the recent articles, where they state explicitly that it still ends with the villain accomplishing his nefarious goal, in spite of studio pressure.

Alas, that goal might not be the squid, so I'm holding judgment on the subject.

I get your point, I really do. I've seen too many bad adaptations, too. But there can be good adaptations, and the odds look decent for this.

Re:Chewing The Cud

[ZombieRoboNinja]

First off, at least two of the things you mention are specifically disproven in the trailer.

But yeah, screw this adaptation to new media crap! What the hell was James Joyce thinking? Clearly the only way to do justice to a good piece of art is to shrink-wrap it in its original context so that only a privileged few are able to bask in its full glory.

The answer is....

[brunes69]

... no one cares about anything you just said because we all know you and everyone else will go see the movie regardless of how bad it is or is not, and they will all make a tankerload of money from it.