“Watchmen” ended up as one of the most critically and commercially successful TV series in 2019 but Damon Lindelof isn’t convinced he will return for a season 2…
When Damon Lindelof was finally convinced to create his version of a “Watchmen” sequel, he crafted a meticulous story that included numerous times to the original comics by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons while also building a modern world with new character that could help carry on the legacy.
The result was one of the most well received seasons of television in recent memory as “Watchmen” became a massive critical and commercial success for HBO.
The season finale — spoilers ahead — ended with the death of Dr. Manhattan, his powers likely being passed onto his wife Angela Abar, Adrian Veidt being arrested by Laurie Blake and Looking Glass for killing 3 million people and the truth about the “alien squid” attack from 1985 about to be revealed.
Almost immediately after the last episode of “Watchmen” aired, the question became will there be a season 2?
It seemed like Lindelof told a complete story with a beginning, middle and end that didn’t necessarily need to move forward and by all accounts that was the only “Watchmen” story he had in his head when he created the series. Now that he’s had some time to reflect on the show, the co-creator behind “Lost” and “The Leftovers” isn’t shutting down his involvement in a second season of “Watchmen” but he’s also not ready to commit to anything just yet either.
“I’ll say it’s still too early to answer that question,” Lindelof told Variety about making a second season of “Watchmen.” “Right now the space that HBO is in and that I’m in is we’re asking the question, Should there be another season of “Watchmen”? And if there should be another season, what would it be? I’m not saying I don’t want to do it, or it shouldn’t exist. I’m just saying, “Boy, every idea that I had went into this season of ‘Watchmen.’” I’m going to put up my antenna, see if it’s receiving anything.
“If it’s not receiving anything in a reasonable period of time — and I’ll just say off the top of my head, it feels completely and totally arbitrary, but like a couple of months doesn’t feel unreasonable, you know, January, February, maybe March — then I think we move on to your question, which is, if not me, then who?”
While Lindelof isn’t shutting down his involvement in a potential “Watchmen” season 2, he is now conceding that he believes the show should continue even if it doesn’t have any direct ties to the show he just produced.
The “Watchmen” universe is vast, which means a different creator could come in with a totally different idea that takes place in the past or far into the future. The key is telling a compelling story that much like Lindelof, pays homage to the original material while still managing to push the narrative forward.
“I actually do agree with HBO that this should be a continuing series,” Lindelof said. “Maybe it’ll continue in a year or two, maybe they’ll continue it in four years or whatever, but I want to see more “Watchmen.” I always said to them, I do see “Watchmen” as “Fargo,” as “True Detective.” They were ongoing anthology shows, but each season had a design with a beginning, middle and end that allowed subsequent seasons to feature entirely different characters, or even be set in entirely different time periods.
“That’s why I think HBO is calling it an ongoing series. I didn’t say to them, “Guys, this is going to be nine episodes, and it’s going to be like ‘Chernobyl,’ and then we should just walk away.” And so it’s unfair for me now to say, I’m changing the rules.”
Some of the actors involved in “Watchmen” have commented on the possibility of returning for a potential season 2 including Regina King and Tim Blake-Nelson. King has said she would only be interested in returning for season 2 “if it was really smart” while Nelson stated that he would “love” to return but he ultimately leaves that decision up to Lindelof and HBO.
For now, Lindelof is going to take some time to see if he can strike up another story worthy of telling under the “Watchmen” umbrella but don’t expect him to break the news any time soon because those conversations with HBO will be private and may take a while to hash out.
“I do think that there has to be space for private, personal conversations that happen between HBO and I. My guess is some of those conversations are going to start happening this week, and I probably won’t be sharing them with the press,” Lindelof said. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to do so.
“But I can tell you, at this moment in time that you and I are talking, I haven’t said anything to you that I haven’t said to HBO, and vice versa.”
The first season of “Watchmen” is now available on HBO.
