HBO ‘Watchmen’ gets a series order: details, cast, release date

HBO

• HBO has ordered superhero show “Watchmen” to
  series.
• The network revealed in a video teaser on Twitter that
  it will premiere in 2019. 
• The show is based on the acclaimed graphic novel of the
  same name.
• The series is being developed by “Lost” and “The
  Leftovers” co-creator Damon Lindelof.

HBO has officially given a series order to its first superhero
show, “Watchmen,” based on the acclaimed graphic novel of the
same name by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons. 

The show was in the pilot stage until now, but HBO released a
short teaser video on the network’s Twitter on Friday to
celebrate the series order. The video shows the text “Nothing
ever ends” and the bloody smiley face that is the novel’s
signature image, before revealing that the show will premiere in
2019. 

“Nothing ever ends” is a reference to a quote from the graphic
novel, in which the “smartest man” on Earth Ozymandias asks the
omnipotent Dr. Manhattan if, in the end, he was right to
sacrifice so many lives for what he believes is the greater good.
Manhattan responds, “In the end? Nothing ever ends.”

The show’s source material is widely regarded as the best graphic
novel of all time. It takes place in an alternate reality 1980s
where the world is on the brink of war. A group of masked
vigilantes find themselves involved in a grand conspiracy after
one of their own is murdered.

After a long history of failed
attempts, it was finally adapted into a film by director Zack
Snyder in 2009 to mixed critical reception. “Lost” and “The
Leftovers” co-creator Damon Lindelof is developing the HBO
series.

Lindelof revealed plot details about the series in a letter on
Instagram in May. The show will be an original story with new
characters, but take place in the universe of the graphic
novel. He implied it would be set in a post-Trump world. 

Jeremy Irons, Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, and
more make up the cast.