Who watches the Watchmen? Well, on November 22, every fan of Zack Snyder’s acclaimed comic book movie should. Despite author Alan Moore hating the movie (although Alan Moore hates almost every adaptation of his novels and comics), fans have flocked to Zack Snyder’s visually distinct interpretation of Watchmen. Before he brought Superman to the big screen in Man of Steel, and made Batman and Superman go blow-for-blow in, well… Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Snyder had already proved his mettle in the world of DC Comics with 2009’s Watchmen. The film is renowned for many reasons, but one of its most memorable elements is the fact that it gave fans the most powerful character in DC movie history.
Rorschach and The Comedian might (worryingly) be fan favorites, but Doctor Manhattan is inarguably the most iconic character from the comics and the movie. Played by Billy Crudup in Zack Snyder’s Watchmen, Doctor Manhattan gained his powers the way many superheroes do: through a science experiment gone wrong. However, after an excruciatingly painful death, Jon Osterman was eviscerated from the world only to re-appear as Doctor Manhattan on… You guessed it, November 22.
‘Watchmen’ Fans Need to Watch the Watchmen This November
Watchmen is currently streaming on HBO Max, and many fans are planning to watch Zack Snyder’s beloved comic book movie this November, in honor of the first appearance of Doctor Manhattan. In the first three issues of Watchmen‘s 12-issue run, Doctor Manhattan is established as the most powerful creature in the universe, with the ability to shift and rearrange atoms. In Watchmen Issue #4, as he sits in isolation on Mars, Doctor Manhattan contemplates his life before becoming omnipotent.
No one in Watchmen is safe from the classic superhero trope of a tragic backstory. But Jon Osterman/Doctor Manhattan’s might be one of the most torturous ever put to print. Barry Allen received the powers of the Speed Force almost instantly after being struck by lightning. But for Jon Osterman, it was an excruciating few months of repeatedly being torn apart at an atomic level and slowly pieced back together. In August 1959, Jon Osterman accidentally stepped inside an Intrinsic Field Test Chamber. As his colleagues watched with horror, the test countdown began, and particle canons dismantled him atom by atom.
In September, a faux funeral was held. There was nobody to bury. In November, a brain and nervous system appeared out of nowhere in the old test center. By November 10, the anatomical specter had gained a circulatory system. On November 14, muscles and skin began to appear. Finally, on November 22, as his former colleagues watched in even more horror than during his death, Doctor Manhattan appeared for the first time, with sky blue skin and a glow of light that gave sunburn to all who were in the room. Doctor Manhattan’s appearance changed the world of Watchmen (and comic books) forever.
Zack Snyder’s ‘Watchmen’ Adapted the Unadaptable
In recent years, Zack Snyder may have become one of the more controversial figures in the comic book movie space, thanks to the divisive DCEU, which literally tore the DC fan base in half. However, in 2009, many comic book fans (if not many critics) were praising Snyder for adapting a comic book that was once thought to be unadaptable. Like any Alan Moore story, Watchmen is incredibly rich, nuanced, and incredibly heavy-going and high-brow. Snyder’s Watchmen is far from a faithful adaptation. While many panels from the comic were directly translated to the big screen, many plot points were written out altogether, with fan favorite characters (like Walter and Berny) written out completely.
However, from Snyder’s many changes to the source material came the key to adapting Watchmen to the big screen: losing the giant green space monster. Watchmen‘s ending is regarded as one of the best in comic book history. But it’s also the biggest roadblock to bringing the story to the big screen. In Alan Moore’s comic, Ozymandius discovered a way to transport an interdimensional space monster to the US. As a result, the US and Russia would have to work together to eliminate the larger threat that could wipe out all of humanity. But, in a dark and gritty story inspired by real history and international tensions, a big green alien seems a bit surreal. So, Zack Snyder and screenwriters David Hayter and Alex Tse twisted the story’s ending to something a bit more realistic (which is a strange word to use when one of the characters is a naked blue immortal). Instead of a nigh-immortal space creature, Ozymandius turned the world against Doctor Manhattan. The blue hero acted as the perfect common enemy to end the prolonged Cold War. There are some elements of Zack Snyder’s Watchmen that fans of the comics dislike. But most agree that Snyder made the right call in changing the story’s ending.
- Release Date
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March 6, 2009
- Runtime
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163 minutes
- Director
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Zack Synder
- Writers
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Alex Tse, David Hayter, Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons
- Producers
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Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin, Deborah Snyder