Comic Legend Alan Moore Denounces HBO’s “Watchmen”

Alan Moore is widely regarded as one of the best comic writers of his generation, with his works establishing much of the foundation for modern comic plots. Particularly, his Watchmen graphic novel being, perhaps, his most well-known work, which has received numerous follow-ups in print, as well as two cinematic adaptations.

The first was 2009’s film iteration from director Zack Snyder, which most applaud for its attempt to stay as true as possible to the source material with, with his casting choices being particularly well-received. And while it didn’t set the record books ablaze at the time, it has gained a strong cult following in the years since, which led directly to 2019’s HBO adaptation from Damon Lindelof, which was more of a direct sequel to the comic series and led to a bevy of awards for the series.

However, Moore is known to be particularly cantankerous and loathes adaptations of his works, famously insisting that he be left out of marketing and not contacted for any reason. But during a recent interview with GQ Magazine, the writer opened up that he had been contacted by Lindelof via a letter (though he doesn’t note the producer by name) and he was apparently none to happy about it. Specifically remembering the experience, Moore commented:

It went on through a lot of, what seemed to me to be, neurotic rambling. ‘Can you at least tell us how to pronounce ‘Ozymandias’? I got back with a very abrupt and probably hostile reply telling him that I’d thought that Warner Bros. were aware that they, nor any of their employees, shouldn’t contact me again for any reason. I explained that I had disowned the work in question, and partly that was because the film industry and the comics industry seemed to have created things that had nothing to do with my work, but which would be associated with it in the public mind. I said, ‘Look, this is embarrassing to me. I don’t want anything to do with you or your show. Please don’t bother me again.’

The 2019 Watchmen series went on to not only be a critical success, winning 11 Emmy’s, including Best Limited Series and Best Actress in a Limited Series for Regina King, but also a huge hit with audiences who flocked to the nuanced portrayal of superheroes and race relations. For his part, though, Moore remains utterly mystified as to why this happened, stating that:

When I saw the television industry awards that the ‘Watchmen’ television show had apparently won, I thought, ‘Oh, God, perhaps a large part of the public, this is what they think ‘Watchmen’ was?’ They think that it was a dark, gritty, dystopian superhero franchise that was something to do with white supremacism. Did they not understand ‘Watchmen’? ‘Watchmen’ was nearly 40 years ago and was relatively simple in comparison with a lot of my later work. What are the chances that they broadly understood anything since? This tends to make me feel less than fond of those works. They mean a bit less in my heart.

In the years since, Moore has asked that Watchmen be left out of any further adaptations, sequels, or prequels, being quite vehement that his work be left alone. However, the rights to the work remain with DC, and feasibly Warner Bros., so something could happen before long, though nothing seems to be in the works at the moment.