Who watches the Watchmen? Well if one was talking about the HBO Series from this past year, it seemed like a good amount of people, including a lot of critics and industry folk who really enjoyed creator Damon Lindelof’s take on the world of the classic graphic novel. The series earned a number of awards and nominations such as a stunt ensemble nomination from the Screen Actors Guild, a PGA nomination, two Critics Choice awards, and a DGA win. So clearly HBO and Lindelof are moving ahead with Season 2, right?
Sadly, it’s more complicated than that. Lindelof said all along that he and his staff were only concerned with a single season and were putting everything into that season, not leaving any dangling threads for future seasons. This point was stated many times by Lindelof even on the ‘Watchmen’ Series Podcast, and while many fans hoped he was simply playing for time, now it seems he was not kidding, claiming he has few ideas for a Season 2.
While speaking to Collider recently, Damon Lindelof stated the following regarding the hope of a Season 2:
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“I wish that I had an idea for Watchmen Season 2, and I really wish that there is going to be a Watchmen Season 2; I just – we put it all on the field for Season 1. And every great idea we had, I was like, what if we just put that in Season 1 versus, ‘Oh, let’s stick it away for later.’ And so, could there be a second season of Watchmen? I personally hope that there is but I don’t think it should exist just because people liked the first season.”
So it seems there is still hope that a second season could happen, though that hope seems very small, especially if Damon Lindelof has publicly admitted to having no ideas and not wanting to move forward until he does. It is admirable to see a creator not wanting to just milk his series for all its worth and wanting to maintain the quality of the first season. But as a fan, it is still a little disappointing to know we may never see more in that world.
In regards to HBO recently reclassifying the series from a “Drama Series” to a “Limited Series” and whether that decision came from his announcement about not having ideas for Season 2, Lindelof told Collider:
“That decision actually happened well above my pay grade. I think that when we went and pitched the show to HBO we said, ‘We’re just gonna do one season and then see where we are. And just so you know, it’s more of a Fargo model or a True Detective model where, if there were other seasons of the show, it would reset. It’s not the continuative adventures of these characters.’ And they were like, ‘Cool, cool, cool.’ And then when the series ended, they were like, ‘Are you gonna do a second season?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t have any ideas,’ and they were like, ‘Oh, so you meant what you said before.’ And so I think that because there’s only gonna be one of them, it feels more appropriate to call it a limited series than a drama series. But again, I get consulted on these decisions but I don’t make them.”
For now, if you would like to see more of Lindelof’s work, he has a new movie in theaters this week titled ‘The Hunt’ (opens on March 13th). As for the future of ‘Watchmen,’ clearly, anything can happen, but I would not hold my breath while waiting for this one – especially since Damon Lindelof has no reason to rush out another season and can take his time coming up with some new ideas.
A Southern California native (which seems to be a rarity as everyone seems to migrate here from outside the state, and everyone else born here ends up leaving for less crowded spaces), but for Nick, he loves it here. Nick has been writing since he was a teenager, self-published his first book trilogy, 'The Legacy of the Roras' back in 2011, and in 2014 published the inaugural issue of his first comic book, 'The Shadow of Aquaterra.' While not working on my own projects, he is working as a technical film editor at a major television network in their digital media division and recently began writing news and recap articles for ScienceFiction.com, a position which he has found extremely rewarding.
