Following creator and showrunner Damon Lindelof’s letter to fans containing details on HBO’s series adaptation of the Watchmen comics, Variety reports that the cast for the pilot has come together! Emmy winner Regina King (American Crime, The Leftovers), Don Johnson (Book Club, Django Unchained), Tim Blake Nelson (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Lincoln), Academy Award winner Louis Gossett Jr. (An Officer and a Gentleman, The Reason), Adelaide Clemens (Rectify, Parade’s End), and Andrew Howard (The Oath, The Brave) have all been cast in the series.
King is said to be starring in the lead role, though the exact details of the characters are being kept under wraps. As Lindelof explained in his letter, there will be “new faces” and unknown characters introduced in the Watchmen television series.
Originally published as a 12-issue miniseries beginning in 1986, Watchmen quickly become one of sequential art’s most acclaimed stories. The original story centers on a murder-mystery before unfolding into a planet-altering conspiracy that ultimately asks where the fine line is drawn between heroes and villains.
Zack Snyder’s feature adaptation of Watchmen, meanwhile, was released in 2009 and brought in just $185 million at the worldwide box office. The cast includes Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Carla Gugino, and Patrick Wilson.
Since the film’s release, DC Comics released an extensive “Before Watchmen” comic line, telling stories from the pasts of the central characters. More recently, DC Comics has made efforts to integrate Watchmen into the broader DC Multiverse with their Doomsday Clock series.
Lindelof serves as writer and executive producer on the Watchmen series, with Tom Spezialy also executive producing. Nicole Kassell will executive produce and direct the pilot.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
