Posted on: February 3rd, 2010 The Threat of a WATCHMEN Sequel

Now, now, put away your kerosene-soaked torches, this is only a wild rumor. But keep them close in case this sheer lunacy turns out to be true…

Rich Johnston at BleedingCool.com posted a shiver-inducing article today which points out the possibility of a Watchmen sequel (or prequel or spin-off) becoming a reality sooner than you think.

The idea of more Watchmen surely isn’t a new one. Let’s face it, as a comic-book executive you would most certainly want to exploit one of the most successful stories of all time. Frankly I’m surprised we haven’t seen one already. And it’s not up to Alan Moore or Dave Gibbons, the suits at DC have their finger on that trigger. According to Johnston’s report, what kept more Watchmen shelved was DC Publisher and President Paul Levitz, who wished to honor Moore and Gibbons and the story itself by keeping it contained to the twelve issues. Since then, Levitz has stepped down from his position – to head the new DC Entertainment company – and now Senior VP Dan DiDio is gung ho on continuing with Watchmen.

Johnston also reports that Moore and Gibbons must be offered first refusal on any new Watchmen projects. While it’s highly unlikely that Gibbons would return, there’s a snowball’s chance in hell of Moore getting involved. Apparently DiDio has some names kicking around that would be a good fit, but with the politics and community surrounding the comic book industry, you have to wonder if writers and artists would be hesitant to meddle with one of the most celebrated stories of all time. On the flip side, that could be what entices them.

Aside from the Watchmen film, we’ve already come dangerously close to the expansion of the Watchmen universe. A spin-off video game, Watchmen: The End is Nigh, was released along with the film last year, though the creators were under strict limitations to adhere to characters and situations seen in the book and film. Rorschach also appeared in a splash piece shown in Wizard magazine to promote the DC series Countdown. The plan was to include the Watchmen universe and characters as one of the alternate Earths, but was ultimately scrapped.

In a perfect world, all this Watchmen sequel talk would remain just talk and live out it’s life in debate and discussion, but we most likely won’t be so lucky. There is a good chance we will see something happen within relative time. At this point we can only pray for the best, lower our expectations, or just plain don’t read it. Regardless, when it does hit, it will be huge. And don’t forget that the contracts the actors signed with Fox for the film did include a sequel clause.

That being said, do I really need to explain why this is a fucking terrible idea?

4 Responses to “The Threat of a WATCHMEN Sequel”

1. katie Says:
   February 4th, 2010 at 8:16 am

   nice catch on the simpson’s pic, you clever monkey.

2. katie Says:
   February 4th, 2010 at 8:19 am

   can i start making rory sequel suggestions? rory meets hannah montana and they bond over the difficulties of leading a double life. then they fight some crime, sing a song, and disney makes millions.

3. Auburn Says:
   February 4th, 2010 at 12:48 pm

   Katie, I don’t know whether to hug you or punch you in the face. I never use “lol” but I totally just did.

4. katie Says:
   February 4th, 2010 at 1:59 pm

   hug, then punch. then buy me a drink.

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