Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen series for HBO has been so shadowed in secrecy that fans had to guess what might be in store for the series from bits and pieces of promotional items that have been released to the public. However, we have a really big hint at a direction the TV show might be going in.
/Film has the exclusive that Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons, cast in Watchmen months ago, will be playing Adrian Veidt, a.k.a. Ozymandias.
For those of you who might not know, Ozymandias was the villain in hero’s clothing (or, depending on your perspective, hero in villain’s clothing) who was an architect of a false alien invasion that killed millions in New York City but saved the world from an inevitable nuclear war. He was left alive at the end of the graphic novel to deal with the morality and consequences of his actions.The character was played by Matthew Goode in the film version of the story, but the TV series is following the graphic novel and not that film.
This information does seem to contradict what Lindelof said back in May about the TV series not being a sequel. Granted, any form of media set in the Watchmen universe would have to at least mention Adrian Veidt, but you don’t cast an actor the caliber of Jeremy Irons in the role and have it not be a big part of the narrative. And if Veidt is a big part of the narrative, then the TV show will be a sequel.
The article also states that Jean Smart has been cast as an FBI agent with the last name of Blake. That name might raise an eyebrow on many a Watchman fan. Edward Blake was the alter-ego of The Comedian, the anti-hero whose murder kicks off the narrative of graphic novel.
Smart’s character sharing the same last name as one of the major characters from the book might just be a coincidence, but odds are that it is not. This has cause the rumor factory to start working overtime. Could she be another daughter of Blake? Could she be his in canon daughter, Sally Juspeczyk, a.k.a. Silk Spectre, who has decided to claim her father’s legacy (and last name) while fighting crime in a new way?
The TV series is set to debut on HBO sometime in 2019.
