Zack Snyder’s “Watchmen” came and went, definitely making an impact on the world of comic book movies. Some feel it taught producers and directors that making a slavish adaptation to a comic book might be a little too much for mainstream moviegoers to accept. However, it made back its budget and then some, which means it was a success to Hollywood.
Apparently one thing the movie did was help DC Comics make a decision about those follow-up comic books the publisher has been wanting to do since the original “Watchmen” graphic novel became such a huge success. Bleeding Cool has announced it has been informed “quite conclusively from a reliable source at DC Comics” that there is not one but four different “Watchmen” prequel miniseries heading our way. It looks like each one will focus on one of the principal characters of the Watchmen and tell a story from before the events in the first book.
Fans might find this news to be a little familiar; there were plans for a series of prequels to the original right after it was published in 1986. Creators Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons had already discussed doing a 12-issue prequel series called “Minutemen” that would concentrate on the 1940s superheroes from the book.
DC wanted prequels that would be tied directly to the characters in “Watchmen,” throwing ideas out at Moore and Gibbons with titles like “Rorschach’s Journal” or “The Comedian’s Vietnam War Diary.” The publisher also hinted at the idea of other creative forces working on the “Watchmen” universe. Moore was totally against anyone else helming “Watchmen” stories, whereas Gibbons was just interested in focusing on the “Minutemen” concept.
DC Comics ultimately owns the rights to “Watchmen,” and this ultimately caused Moore to sever ties with the publisher. Moore told Wired magazine that DC had offered to give the rights to “Watchmen” back to him in 2010 if he agreed to do prequels and sequels to the book.
Moore stated, “If they said that ten years ago … then yeah it might have worked … But these days I don’t want ‘Watchmen’ back. Certainly, I don’t want it back under those kinds of terms.”
DC co-publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee responded to Moore by saying: “DC Comics would only revisit these iconic characters if the creative vision of any proposed new stories matched the quality set by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons nearly 25 years ago, and our first discussion on any of this would naturally be with the creators themselves.”
Well, it looks like DC feels it has something that matches the “creative vision” of Moore and Gibbons’s original “Watchmen.” Names being thrown around in regards to these new prequel series are some heavy hitters in the comic book world.
Andy Kubert (“Batman & Son”) is mentioned as being one of the artists on the new project. Other names brought up were artist J.G. Jones (“Final Crisis”), writer Brian Azzarello (“100 Bullets”), and writer/mastermind J. Michael Straczynski (“Babylon 5″). Original co-creator Dave Gibbons is rumored to be involved as well.
It’s a given that any sort of sequel or prequel to “Watchmen” would end up selling well enough to make it a moneymaker. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good idea. Personally, I don’t see the harm in it. I can only imagine at some point the idea of a movie sequel might come up as well. I’d be surprised if that ever got off the ground considering how long it took to get the first one made.
Sources:
Tom Heintjes, “Alan Moore On (Just About) Everything,” The Comics Journal
Rich Johnston, “Andy Kubert To Draw Watchmen 2,” Bleeding Cool
Matthew Jackson, “Those new Watchmen comics are coming whether we want them or not,” Blastr
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Eric Shirey is the founder and editor of Rondo Award nominated movie and comic book news websites MovieGeekFeed.com and TheSpectralRealm.com. His work has been featured on Yahoo!, DC Comics, StarWars.com, and other national entertainment websites. Besides his three decades long obsession with everything sci-fi, horror, and fantasy related in TV and movies, Eric has what some would call an unhealthy love for comic books. This has led him to interviewing and covering legendary writers and artists in the medium like Geoff Johns, Scott Snyder, Steve Niles, Bernie Wrightson, and Howard Chaykin.