HBO has finally revealed when fans will be able to watch their highly anticipated Watchmen series. The first episode will premiere on October 20th at 9 pm. The show’s Twitter account revealed the date and time earlier today. And it was accompanied by an ominous “Tick Tock” message and a video with the words “Everything Begins” moving like the hands of a clock. If you’ve read the graphic novel, you know the Doomsday Clock to be counting down to a certain cataclysmic event. So the teaser is spot on Watchmen.
10/20. Tick Tock. #WatchmenHBO pic.twitter.com/RsEq8Fh3es
— Watchmen (@watchmen) September 3, 2019
The first trailer for Watchmen was revealed back in May, which confirmed a Fall release date. It’s based on the 1986 graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. It takes place during an alternate history where superheroes used to act as government employees before disbanding. Nuclear war and the murder of one of their own brings them back together. Fans and critics alike praise the book. It won a multitude of awards and received a film adaptation in 2009 from director Zack Snyder.
So, yes, it has a bit of hype to live up to. While writer Alan Moore has expressed his concern about seeing Watchmen adapted for the small screen (which isn’t anything new), it isn’t exactly his story HBO is adapting. Sci-fi alum and showrunner Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers) will tell a story set far after the events of the original graphic novel. It will address these events in a modern landscape and include a couple of Moore’s characters, but the story itself will be fresh.
This isn’t the only follow up to Watchmen currently happening. DC Comics began their Rebirth relaunch in 2016 with the promise of bringing Watchmen into their main universe. The HBO series looks to be much more grounded in reality, however, so we shouldn’t expect anything too supernatural. And with the way things are going, we’ll probably see the show wrap up before Doomsday Clock.
