Is HBO’s “Watchmen” Really Not Gonna Have A Second Season?
Watchmen is an American superhero drama limited television series based on the 1986 DC Comics series of the same title, created by Alan Moore, Damon Lindelof, and Dave Gibbons for HBO. The series premiered on October 20, 2019, before concluding its nine-episode run on December 15 and since then HBO has made no comment on the future of the series.
“Set in an alternate history where masked vigilantes are treated as outlaws, Watchmen embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel of the same name, while attempting to break new ground of its own.” per IMDB. Watchmen has won 11 Emmy awards out of 26 nominations this year.
Possibilities For A Second Run
Even though Watchmen was a big hit last year and demands for another run are sky-high, chances are very slim that there would be a second season because Lindelof is adamant that the Watchmen era has already ended.
On Wednesday, in a post-Emmys interview with Variety, Lindelof talked about the challenges of creating his award-winning Watchmen series. “It took us two years to make nine episodes of Watchmen, and in that same period of time we made almost 50 episodes of Lost,” Lindelof said. “I honestly don’t know how it was done.”
As far as Lindelof is concerned, his Watchmen story is finished and he has no interest in continuing for a theoretical “Season 2.” At the same time, Lindelof is open to letting another producer take the reins.
“This was the story that I wanted to tell, but it could be much more expansive than this,” he said. “Not that I see myself as Willy Wonka, but it’s time to bring some other kids into the factory. I couldn’t imagine a greater focus for me than to throw open the doors to the factory and say, ‘I will show you around and tell you what I learned here, but you’ve got to bring the ingredients that you want to mix up here and make your own candy.’”
“It would feel like a huge betrayal of winning limited series to come back and say ‘it was only a limited series’,” teased Lindelof about Watchmen‘s future.
But…
“ Watchmen is something I’ve loved since I was 13 years old. Someone else created it, and this was my run on it. I’ve invited any other artist who wants to take the baton,” said Lindelof sticking to his guns.
In an interview, Lindelof stated, “The legacy of Watchmen is Alan (Moore), and Dave (Gibbons) created it, and it sat for 30 years. Obviously, Zack (Snyder) made his movie which was a pretty canonical adaptation of the 12 issues, and then we made our season of television. That was my turn. I got in the middle of the dance floor for a minute and got to make my move, but then you retreat to the edge of the circle, and it’s someone else’s turn to dance.”
Here’s the thing, Lindelof has given HBO his blessing to continue the story without him, but if he isn’t down for a part two, neither is his lead actress.
“Honestly, I sense like I think HBO would want it returned in a heartbeat. However, if Damon Lindelof doesn’t see an entry point for Season 2. I suppose that the opportunities are infinite. But I sense that if Damon doesn’t see it. Then it’s going to be a no for me.” she shared with Reese Witherspoon during their ‘s Actors on Actors interview.
“If I would do it again, it would be with Damon. So there’s no conversation about a future of Watchmen just right now. It’s just about settling and enjoying this strange moment,” said King in the virtual backstage Emmy press room about her fourth Emmy win. “We’re coming to a close on this chapter of the Watchmen series. It’s bittersweet and emotional.”
“I couldn’t even begin to speak on that,” she told The Hollywood Reporter about a second season. “All I can say is if season 2 came back, I would want it to be comparable to season 1. That sounds like a tall hill to climb!”
King told The Hollywood Reporter that she would do a second season if it was “really smart.”
“I would need to know the beginning and the endgame, unlike how this season was,” she added. “I don’t know. There’s a part of me that feels like … it’s just really hard to think we could top Season 1, you know? There’s that part of me, probably the ego side, that thinks, ‘Yeah, I want to see what I can do with all those powers.’ But the storytelling lover in me, the side that loves watching and reading a good story, wouldn’t want it to [happen] unless it was so smart, with a possibility of hiding Easter eggs, creating new places to go, that it made sense and still connected to the world that was created in the first season. That would have to happen. I don’t know. It seems kind of hard to accomplish that.”
When asked by Vulture about who should be in charge of the next iteration, Lindolf replied:
“I would love to see someone who is not a white dude taking a shot at Watchmen- a woman or a person of color or both. Most of the good ideas that ended up in this season did not come from a white dude.”
During the Collider interview, Lindelof tossed this last chestnut to the masses, stoking speculation once more:
I think you and I both know there’s going to be more Watchmen. That’s going to happen. And whether or not the individuals who decide that they want there to be more Watchmen pick this story up where it left off or they do an entirely different kind of Watchmen story, that’s up to them. But I am seeing a lot of people who respond to the show are catalyzed and interested in what the world would look like if it were being reshaped by Angela Abar. I don’t have a good answer to that question, but that’s why it cut to black when it did [ Laughs].
However, Watchmen Can Be Modified Into An Anthology Series
While a follow-up season with Angela and co. may not be in the cards, a second installment could be. HBO programming chief Casey Bloys told that the show could become an anthology series. “It’s really in Damon’s thinking about what he wants to do,” Bloys explained. “If there’s an idea that excited him about another season, another installment, maybe like a Fargo, True Detective [anthology] take on it, or if he wants to do something different altogether. We’re very proud of Watchmen, but what I’m most interested in what Damon wants to do.”
So that’s that, Since continuing the first season seems downright impossible; HBO could modify the limited part to anthology but there’s no say that that’s gonna happen. Nevertheless, let me know if you’re bummed out that this masterpiece isn’t getting picked up for another go and I will see you guys later.
Originally published at site:theweeklydiversion.com on September 25, 2020.
