Damon Lindelof Explains His Vision for HBO’s ‘Watchmen’ in Heartfelt Letter to Fans
Damon Lindelof, usually among the more secretive showrunners in the industry, opens up about his planned take on Watchmen in a lengthy five-page letter on Instagram. In the post, he asks for patience and understanding from fans of the comic book series and promises that his upcoming take on Alan Moore’s beloved work is not an adaptation but instead a “remix” of the original material. “First and foremost, if you are angry that I’m working on Watchmen, I am sorry,” he writes at one point in the letter, which explains both his history with the comic book series and his ambivalence in bringing it to the small screen. “I have an immense amount of respect for [Watchmen co-creator] Alan Moore. He is an extraordinary talent of mythic proportion. I wrote him a letter, parts of which are not dissimilar to this one, because I owed him an explanation as to why I’m defying his wishes [in working on the series].”
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HBO’s ‘Watchmen’ Pilot Casts Regina King, Don Johnson, Four Others
Damon Lindelof’s “Watchmen” pilot at HBO has set a number of actors in key roles, Variety has learned. Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Adelaide Clemens, and Andrew Howard will all appear in the series, with King in the lead role. King previously appeared on “The Leftovers,” the HBO drama series co-created by Lindelof and Tom Perrotta, based on Perrotta’s novel of the same name. The exact details of their characters are being kept under wraps. Lindelof on Tuesday posted a letter to fans in which he laid out his vision for the series, which he said will not be a re-telling of the story from the original graphic novel, but rather a new story in the same world with new characters set in the present day. “Some of the characters will be unknown,” he said. “New faces. New masks to cover them. We also intend to revisit the past century of Costumed Adventuring through a surprising yet familiar set of eyes…and it is here we will be taking our greatest risks.”
Spider-Man: Homecoming 2’s Villain Confirmed, Jake Gyllenhaal In Talks
While Marvel’s plans beyond next May’s still-untitled fourth Avengers movie are largely unknown, we do know that the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming will arrive a couple of months later. Tom Holland will return as Spidey, and it has now been reported that Jake Gyllenhaal is in talks to play the movie’s villain. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gyllenhaal is in negotiations to appear as the classic Marvel supervillain Mysterio. The character was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and is closely associated with Spider-Man, first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #13 back in 1964. He has also appeared as a major villain in Daredevil comics. Gyllenhaal is best known for roles in movies such as Donnie Darko, Prisoners, Brokeback Mountain, and Nightcrawler. Although the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel will be his first superhero movie, there were rumors last year that he was being lined to take over the role of Batman from Ben Affleck in the DC universe. However, he subsequently denied this was the case. Gyllenhaal was also close to being cast in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 back in 2004, after star Tobey Maguire attempted to negotiate a higher salary for himself.
Prairie nerds: Catwoman meets Tweety & Sylvester? More DC/Looney Tunes team-ups on way
Following the sales and critical success of titles like Batman/Elmer Fudd, more of Warner Bros’ classic cartoon characters will encounter characters from the DC Universe in special one-and-done comics crafted by some of the top names in the DC talent stable. Each 48-page issue will arrive on the shelves of comic book retailers on Wednesday, Aug. 29. The team-ups will include a main story and bonus story featuring the title characters with a price point of $4.99. The lineup?
Catwoman/Tweety & Sylvester Special No. 1 (written by Gail Simone wirth art by Inaki Miranda; backup story writen by Shea Fontana with art by Walter Carzon): In his relentless pursuit of Tweety, Sylvester suddenly finds himself with a new, human ally — Catwoman! Tweety realizes he’s going to need some help too, and recruits a super-hero of his own, Black Canary! It isn’t long before the scale of the conflict begins to get out of control and suddenly there’s a full-scale war between cats and birds that threatens to take over all of Gotham. (Cover by Emanuela Lupacchino.)
Harley Quinn/Gossamer Special No. 1 (written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner with art by Pier Brito; backup story written by Sholly Fisch with art by Dave Alvarez): A violent storm leaves a large crate washed up on the beach at Coney Island. When Harley breaks it open to see what’s inside, she suddenly has a new playmate to add to her cast of friends — a large, furry, orange beast called Gossamer. It’s all fun and games until a giant robot attacks them. But who sent it? Harley immediately suspects only one man, but is the Joker behind this destructive rampage? (Cover by Amanda Conner.)
The Joker/Daffy Duck Special No. 1 (written by Scott Lobdell with art and cover by Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund; backup story written by Joey Cavalieri with art by Luciano Vecchio): When Daffy Duck pays a call to the Acme corporate headquarters in Gotham City, he finds the company long gone and their abandoned building now occupied by the Joker. With a hit in progress, Daffy tries to sneak away, only to find himself in the clutches of the Clown Prince of Crime. But Joker decides there’s some potential in this manic bird and forces Daffy to join his gang. Will he find a way to escape, or will he become The Joker’s new right-hand duck?
