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Two-Episode Watchmen Series Set as a Prequel

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the reluctantly-optimistic dept.

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."

19 of 65 comments (clear)

  1. Man... by millia · · Score: 3, Funny

    I hope Alan Moore's been taking his blood pressure medication today.

    Prequel. Good, bad, he's going to be grumpier than normal about things...

    --
    stored on computers from birth to the grave
    1. Re:Man... by frankie · · Score: 5, Funny

      Aw, shucks. If only they had pushed the prequel even farther back in the storyline, to its ultimate pre-clusion: Watchmen Babies: V for Vacation!

    2. Re:Man... by sesshomaru · · Score: 2, Informative

      His position on this has changed over time. Here's a source, MOORE SLAMS V FOR VENDETTA MOVIE, PULLS LoEG FROM DC COMICS.

      --
      "MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
  2. Ok, that's some good news at least by Weaselmancer · · Score: 3, Interesting

    when we heard the recent two-episode Watchmen series announcement

    I was wondering how in the hell you'd do The Watchmen in a single 2.5 hour movie. It'd be worse than the Fantastic Four movies. Here's the heroes, here's the bad guy, here's 10 minutes of action, there's the door.

    Anyone have a reference where it says The Watchmen will be two movies?

    --
    Weaselmancer
    rediculous.
    1. Re:Ok, that's some good news at least by sesshomaru · · Score: 3, Informative

      Hmm... yes, that's because they are doing The Black Freighter and Under the Hood as a seperate DVD set to coincide with the movies release.

      --
      "MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
    2. Re:Ok, that's some good news at least by mad.frog · · Score: 2, Informative

      Hmm... yes, that's because they are doing The Black Freighter and Under the Hood as a seperate DVD set to coincide with the movies release.

      Shameless self-promotion: see my re-creation of the Tales Of The Black Freighter story here:

      http://boredomfestival.wordpress.com/2007/12/11/tales-of-the-black-freighter/

    3. Re:Ok, that's some good news at least by LMacG · · Score: 2, Informative

      Although TFS is poorly written (hello, I must be new here), the "two-episode Watchmen series" mentioned would be the subsequently discussed games, not the movie, of which there will be just one. Not counting the Black Freighter stuff, noted elsewhere.

      My only worry at this point is that they've spent so much time and money recreating the look that they will have forgotten the story.

      --
      Slightly disreputable, albeit gregarious
  3. It's funny... by sesshomaru · · Score: 2, Interesting
    A while ago I bought the one only other Watchmen things (other than the comic) with Alan Moore's imprimature on it, the Watchmen Sourcebook. This was part of a selection of products for Mayfair's DC heroes game.

    .

    Too bad nobody thought to use these for a PC game... a Watchmen American style RPG could be fun....

    --
    "MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
    1. Re:It's funny... by Colonel+Korn · · Score: 2, Funny

      Too bad nobody thought to use these for a PC game... a Watchmen American style RPG could be fun....

      How about a Watchmen JRPG?
      "DAMNIT, ADRIAN, YOU CAN'T CATCH BULLETS FIRED BY DRAGONS FROM ORBIT."

      --
      "I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
  4. Chewing The Cud by ObsessiveMathsFreak · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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?

    --
    May the Maths Be with you!
    1. Re:Chewing The Cud by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Have you even _seen_ the trailer? The scenes in there are panel-for-shot recreations of the comic.

      http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/watchmen_trailer_to_comic_comparison

    2. Re:Chewing The Cud by millia · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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.

      --
      stored on computers from birth to the grave
    3. Re:Chewing The Cud by ZombieRoboNinja · · Score: 2, Insightful

      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.

    4. Re:Chewing The Cud by tedivm · · Score: 4, Informative

      The trailer already has Dr. Manhattan pretty close to nude (which seems to be a big deal for you) and the Comedian smoking a cigar (in Vietnam no less).

      Zack Snyder (director of 300) used the comic as his storyboard and even brought Dave Gibbons in to assist with artwork. While we all know there isn't a chance in hell of this happening, Mr. Snyder has said that his ultimate goal is to make a film that Alan Moore will watch and thing represents the comic.

      Is there a chance this movie will fail, and horribly so? Of course. I'm not going to be that jackass who doesn't give it a chance though. Watchmen is one of my all time favorite works of fiction (not just comic), and I will be very disappointed if it sucks, but if it doesn't then it will introduce that many more people to the ideas and world of Watchmen, something which I think is a good thing.

    5. Re:Chewing The Cud by David+Gerard · · Score: 4, Informative

      The movie of Fight Club was arguably better than the novel, and even the author agrees.

      --
      http://rocknerd.co.uk
    6. Re:Chewing The Cud by Tragedy4u · · Score: 3, Funny

      I disagree, the book was better...lets fight!

  5. Watchmen Motion Comics on iTunes by _|()|\| · · Score: 2, Informative

    Warner Bros. is also releasing an animated version of the actual comics on iTunes. The first chapter is available for free (for a limited time, I think). Alan Moore's name is absent from the credits of this one too.

  6. Superman to Brainiac, re: Kandor: Let my people... by JoshDM · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ... grow - Len Wein.

  7. Wish they'd do The Watchmen TV series by aapold · · Score: 5, Funny

    Then the nielsen ratings could tell us who watches The Watchmen.

    --
    "Waste not one watt!" - CZ