Since Alan Moore released Watchmen in the 1980s, the story has remained one of the most beloved works ever printed under the DC Comics banner. However, it appears that James Gunn has no interest in using the Watchmen characters in the new DC Universe. That’s actually great news, considering that Moore has been quite vocal about despising every adaptation, sequel, or spin-off of his magnum opus. So, Gunn skipping Watchmen in his multi-year planning of movies and TV shows underlines DC Studio’s commitment to respecting the wishes of the creative minds who crafted the brand’s stories.
Videos by ComicBook.com
In an interview with Josh Horowitz for the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Gunn spoke in length about his ambitious plans for the DCU, which includes multiple Elseworld stories. According to Gunn, DC Comics has traditionally explored numerous versions of its main characters more often than Marvel Comics, which means DC Studios has plenty of alternate universes to draw from when creating new movies and TV shows. In Gunn’s opinion, a great example of this is Watchmen, one of the best comic book stories ever written, which only exists thanks to DC Comics’ commitment to the Elseworlds initiative.
Mentioning Watchmen quickly prompted the question of whether Gunn intends to explore the superteam at some point in the DCU. Gunn struggles to find the most polite way to say “no.” He ends up underlining, “I really respect Alan Moore, I would say.” Gunn quickly adds that he “really loved the TV show,” referring to Damon Lindelof’s HBO sequel. Still, while Gunn is wise not to bash previous Warner Bros. Discovery’s Watchmen production, it’s clear he intends to let it rest for the foreseeable future.
[Related: Creature Commandos: The Sons of Themyscira Are Quite Different in DC Comics]
Alan Moore’s Love and Hate Watchmen History
After creating Watchmen, Moore has consistently opposed every attempt to expand his original story. The first adaptation came in 2009 with Zack Snyder’s theatrical film. While the movie closely followed the visual style of Dave Gibbons’ artwork, it drastically changed its ending, a divisive decision that’s still controversial among fans. Moore refused to watch the film and requested his name be removed from the credits.Â
DC Comics further expanded the Watchmen universe in 2012 with Before Watchmen, a series of nine prequel miniseries exploring the backstories of various characters. Moore called the project “completely shameless” and criticized DC for exploiting his creation without adding artistic value. The initiative was followed by Doomsday Clock (2017-2019), which integrated Watchmen characters into the main DC Universe, connecting them with Superman and other iconic heroes. His hatred for DC’s continuity exploring his work is so great that Moore even dismisses royalty checks from the publisher.
The 2019 HBO Watchmen television series proved to be another point of contention. When showrunner Lindelof sent Moore a letter explaining his intentions for the show as a “remix” of the original material, Moore responded with a categorical rejection. He reiterated his wish to have nothing to do with any adaptations of his work — Moore went as far as telling Lindelof to never speak with him again. Despite the series winning multiple Emmy awards and receiving critical acclaim for its exploration of racial injustice in America, Moore maintained his position of never watching it.Â
Most recently, Warner Bros. Animation released a two-part animated film adaptation. The project aimed to be more faithful to the source material by including elements previously omitted from other adaptations, such as the “Tales of the Black Freighter” comic-within-a-comic sequences. However, Moore’s position remained unchanged, as he repeatedly stated that Watchmen was explicitly designed for the comic book medium and that any adaptation fundamentally misunderstands the purpose of the original work.
Watchmen: Chapter I is currently streaming on MAX. Chapter II is available on digital and has yet to receive a streaming release date.
