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Watchmen Sequels and Spin-Offs a Possibility at DC Comics

by Alex Billington
February 3, 2010
Source: Bleeding Cool

Back when Zack Snyder was out promoting Watchmen, he would often be asked about a sequel, and his answer was always "not on my watch." But now, following a big regime change at DC Comics, it seems like a Watchmen sequel and/or spin-offs might actually be possible. Thanks to the movie, the graphic novel has become DC's top selling graphic novel of all-time, making it a hot property for even more money-making potential, that is if you don't care about the creators of the comic (who never wanted a sequel). According to a report on Bleeding Cool, DC Comics' SVP Dan DiDio is now looking at Watchmen's franchise potential.

Most of this news pertains to comic book side of things, not necessarily the cinematic side, but Bleeding Cool does remind us that "in those initial movie contracts with Fox, there was a clause that included sequels to a Watchmen movie." They say that former DC Comics Publisher and President Paul Levitz had always stopped any Watchmen sequels before because "he believed that as this would be against Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' wishes, it would cause a very bad feeling in the creative community and would be a creatively bankrupt move." Couldn't agree more. But Levitz recently stepped down and now DiDio is making his move.

They go on to say that Dan DiDio "is determined to impress new bosses by building on DC’s biggest selling comic book of all time with multiple prequel comic miniseries and spinoff ongoing projects." Now you're probably wondering how this can be stopped, and if you're thinking Alan Moore might prevent it, that's unlikely. "I understand that both Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons have to be offered first refusal before any of these titles could be published. But if they don’t want to work on them themselves (and Alan Moore is never going to agree), DiDio has been sounding out people who might be willing to take on the task."

For those hoping that this is nothing more than a rumor, SlashFilm says that they know Rich Johnston, the writer at Bleeding Cool who put this together, and they even "called him up and checked his sources and, let me tell you, this is solid stuff." Of course, this is only very early discussion, so if it ever does happen, it will probably be a long time before we see another movie actually put into production. But come on, we couldn't have just one comic book movie that stood alone and was complete without someone putting their hand into the cookie jar to fuck it all up? What the heck is DiDio thinking? Does anyone even want to see this?

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Mr Heat Mizer

No! Please just leave it alone! Hasn't anyone learned anything from Wolverine Origins?!
Cmurder

I know all the comic purists out there will hate me for this but I say bring it on. I loved Wacthmen and want more, as long as it is well written and as good as (or at least damn close) to the original.
Patrick

a bad fucking idea
Janny

alan moore is pre-emptively turning over in his grave I did enjoy the first movie, but subscribe to the group that advocates the original ending (ie. the graphic novel ending) which if it was included would have made the movie better. alan moore hasn't penned a prequel or sequel to the watchmen. he also hates that his work gets adapted to other media but thats besides the point. if alan moore ain't writting the whats the point. if they want to do something awsome why not adapt frank miller's dark knight returns (my all time favorite graphic novel, watchmen is second)
Stevo

Kill me now.
DEADPOOL,MERC WITH A MOUTH

i fucking loved the watchmen graphic novel & the very good film as well,BUT DC THIS A FUCKING BAD IDEA 1 GRAPHIC NOVEL = 1 FILM THAT'S IT.why don't just make films of charactors we haven't seen yet THE FLASH,LOBO,THE SPECTRE,WONDER WOMAN,POWER GIRL(tell me you wouldn't want to see a power girl film.),AQUAMAN,JUSTICE LEAGUE OR JUST MAKE BATMAN 3 & REBOOT SUPERMAN BUT PLEASE SEE SENSE,NO FUCKING SPIN OFF'S FROM THE WATCHMEN UNIVERSE.
nelson

#4 this is more about comic sequel not movie
DoomCanoe

AWWWWWSSSSSOOOMMEEEE god if suffering through the first wasn't enough torture
http://www.valeriewriter.com Valerie Atherton

I love this idea! At the end of the movie, the girl Watchmen and the Owl guy are dating, so it would be great to see them with kids who also have super powers. A whole family fighting crime would be pretty great. Don't be such grouches, you guys.
http://www.madeinreading.blogspot.com Matt

Valerie first off none of the characters other than Dr manhattan had super powers. And the reason why we are being "grouches" is because theres no material for it. The material for the first despite being a bit cut (understandable due to the sheer detail of the book) was what made it good, and the writers work are usually pretty self contained. P.s if you don't believe me on the source material thing, check out V for vendetta which is another of his good works p.s.s First film was fine nothing to brag about but sellable, offended at the idea of a sequel
filmguy

I loved the graphic novel and the Watchmen film by Zach Snyder, but this is a bad move. The original story is so rich in detail, history, and intelligence that nothing else can possibly measure up. Moore crafted the original like DaVinci did with his paintings. It is art and it cannot be replicated. All they will do is anger the fan base and the creators. I don't know if Moore will ever work for DC on a comic again if they spit in his face like this. Also what would be the point of doing a prequel or spin offs? Moore already incorporated all of the backstory and character development that any prequel or spin off could cover. All they would do is just either reiterate what was already done or butcher the original backstory. I would be all for more stories from Watchmen but only if Allan Moore was involved. He knows the world and the characters and only he can continue it. As far as a movie sequel goes, only if it's based upon a sequel that Allan Moore wrote and if Zach Snyder was back in the directors chair. Otherwise, forget it.
Xerxex

no, no, no! but to be honest I would love to see a Rorschach spin-off, but Moore did not write one...so I say scrap it.
sean

@ #9: WOW at that response. Valerie is a dumb bitch.
http://www.madeinreading.blogspot.com matt

13 no need for name calling, everyones entitled to their opinion, however ill informed it may be. (note i do very much disagree with her opinion but she is nonetheless allowed to have it)
sean

Sorry, that's the first thing that came into my head...
Colt

#14, not an opinion that ridiculous. tell you what lets just add a sequel to everything. titanic 2, Breakfast Club 2, anything else out there that's just a ignorant? worst idea ever. this proves Marvel is the better company and knows how to make fans happy. (wolverine and that crap fox puts out does not count, those aren't made by Marvel studios)
Al

Alex, I love how the image for this article is the screenshot when Nite Owl yells "NOOOOOO!" haha. anyway, this is a bad idea here folks. If Alan Moore ever wanted to do it i'd have reservations about it but still read it. I know he won't be involved, so this wont even be getting the time of day, as far as Im concerned.
SasQ

Oh no... How can anybody want to destroy Moore's greatest creation with puny sequels?
http://www.slicefate.com Andrew

I'm not at all surprised, but I wish they wouldn't do this. This is not the type of property that they should "f" with. But I guess its their choice to make. There is no way, that I can see, to make this work in that universe and still have it be as gripping a story as the first one..
ek

purely driven by the $$$ - something for the masses, who probably wouldnt care either way as a) its entertainment b) not a purist or fan of the original source material - cases hard to argue against the bottom line. DC are probably also thinking that with the Marvel production line cranking a few character title movies, that it needs to do the same or will lose out agree with #4 why'd they not stick with the novels ending? Especially when the movie progresses pretty close throughout
David Banner

Lol, what an idiotic idea. The comic is over 20years old, if not 25, no need to add more to it. Hope Alan Moore can send some curses. And guys, stop falling for no#9's joke
dove89

I hated the movie......please....please don't make more.
Luis M

"Watchmen 2: Watch Harder." Don't worry, this would be such a stupid move, it's as stupid as, say, giving Superman a kid or something. I'm pretty sure DC won't do such a thing. Oh wait...
josef

#6 AQUAMAN?
Kevin

Yeah, because the first movie was such a rousing success. PUH-lease.
SlashBeast

This is best left stand alone.
L

ugh...
SkaOreo

Oh god no. This is such an incredibly bad idea.
curtfrmcali

HA! see i knew they wouldnt leave well enough alone! what have we done! we let this happen! gooooddddddaaammmiittttt!!!!
Joe Ho

Who watches Dan DiDio...?
DRM

My only hope here is that any writers and artists who ARE tapped to do these 'Watch-verse" projects will turn down the offers themselves out of respect for Moore, Gibbons, and the original work. Thus forcing DC to use less prestigious talent (who wouldn't have the luxury to say no). But then in turn would force the company to realize that the endeavor would be less marketable with such a lower talent-pool, and then scrap the project.
Ravek018

#4 I would like to point something out that I have seen before. At an early convention, maybe comic-con before watchmen was released, Dave Gibbons, the artist of watchmen, laughed openly at one of the questions asked to him about why the alien wouldn't be in the movie. He claimed that the alien was more of a joke between he and Alan Moore. Now seriously, think about it... Dr. Manhattan, the U.S.'s greatest ally and the worlds greatest fear, makes everyone's nightmare come true and shocks the world into "carefully watched" peace... ...or... ...OH DEAR LORD AN ALIEN OH NO WHAT WILL WE DO! WHERE DID THIS COME FROM!! OH LORD NOOOOO!!! Honestly, if you hadn't read the graphic novel and you went to see watchmen, don't you think that after two hours of character development, a randomly appearing gigantic alien coming from nowhere would seem a little ridiculous... seriously? Because other than this, there was no difference between the book and films endings... I am a huge fan of both and beg for people to stop judging one over the other, at least without thinking it through... as for a sequel, I don't think it can be done, and if the company wants to kill itself, let it... just please... DO NOT READ OR SEE ANYTHING SPINOFF NOT WRITTEN BY ALAN MOORE!!
filmguy

#32, I have to agree with you on the giant alien squid monster. I've made the same argument to other people myself. I love the graphic novel but that just would never work in cinematic form. It would be jarring, ridiculous, and it would feel pretty random. In the book I loved it but in the film I just don't think it could work. Using Dr. Manhattan is a much more logical choice by Veidt since the world is already weary and fearful towards him. It just makes more sense cinematically and it creates the same effect and fear in the world's super powers. I thought that was actually a smart choice on the creative team's part. Otherwise, the movie is more faithful to the book than any other adaptation that I can think of. Again, I really hope that DC's plans for prequels and spin offs never materialize. Fingers crossed.
Scagginsvolley

I hope these gutless corporate fucks toss and turn in hell.
adrian

No...no way..NO. i won't see it in the cinemas, it's a spit in the face. i really don't care about Alan Moore fans or what he thinks for that matter, but Watchmen really must not have a spinoff, sequel, whatever. It's not Batman or Spiderman, it's a perfect creation, both book (thanks Moore) AND movie adaptation (thanks goes to Snyder).
Tom Dearsley

"Thanks to the movie, the graphic novel has become DC's top selling graphic novel of all-time" I'm pretty sure that it was already the best selling graphic novel and was in the Time top 100 list before the film was made.
justsomeguy

(Note to the above, I think Valerie was kidding.) What a lot of folks forget is that the reason Alan Moore did Watchmen is that he was asked to bring back some long-dormant Charleton characters, so he came on to revive what others had left behind. It was only at the last minute that they decided to change the names (Rohrscharch = The Question, for instance.) So he was willing to bring back someone else's character, same as he did with the Swamp Thing before Neil Gaiman got in So if we shouldn't mess with someone else's work, Alan should never have done Watchmen in the first place.
DEADPOOL,MERC WITH A MOUTH

@ 24 josef yes,aqua man just for the the justice league spin off & while i'm here time to promote the other film i would love to see POWER GIRL,POWER GIRL,POWER GIRL,POWER GIRL,POWER GIRL.
http://www.madeinreading.blogspot.com matt

#37 yes but what alan did was create something else, his own saga, based upon his own ideas obviously the characters are influenced and based on archetypes but the point was their situation. Itts one of the few "superhero" comics which successfully bases itself in a realistic environment (well realistic if manhattan existed). He didnt extend any existing characters beyond their tales and he did not try to expand a pretty self contained entity, the ending summed up what was probably going to happen and left it your own imagination, and i do not appreciate the film industries need to turn everything into unnessacary sagas. Sorry for lack of punctuation feeling lazy
K

NO! Bad idea! But the studios will because it will make them money. That's the bottom line!
Oldschool

NOPE, nadda, no way, don't do it! Can we just say we are sick of sequels and especially prequels already. If there is a big enough story that it takes several films to tell that's fine. They have purpose but if the story was told and it's done then leave it alone. Also when you start messing with the back story that was never fleshed out in the first place the character(s) become less iconic. We know there are people out there with original ideas, can we get some of those please. Say no to useless sequels, no to prequels and no to 3D! Protest now, protest loudly and protest often. Best thing of all do not give them our money. Don't go to these movies just so you can see that it's a horrible movie. I can't understand why a movie can't just stand alone if that's what was meant to happen. This is a horrible idea. Watchmen is done, leave it be.
http://www.liveforfilms.com Live for Films

Warren ellis has said in the comments on my site that he won't be involved in this in any way http://liveforfilms.wordpress.com/2010/02/04/watchmen-2-may-happen-hurm/
Mercedes

I would say this would be a great idea IF the two most marketable and like-able characters were still alive, Rorschach and The Comedian. Not to say the other characters weren't neat, but having a movie with just them would be terrible. I hope they abandon this idea, it's just not a great idea. Hopefully they'll leave it be.
ray

GAY! Someone needs to get rid of these fucken guys from the heads of this business.
jasonmd2020

"I love this idea! At the end of the movie, the girl Watchmen and the Owl guy are dating, so it would be great to see them with kids who also have super powers. A whole family fighting crime would be pretty great. Don't be such grouches, you guys." Uh yeah...#9... You've just re-hashed 'The Incredibles'
Jason

It could work if it was a prequel, it would have to have Rorschach in it. He was the coolest character out of all them.
Nessa

I would seriously fucking love to see a Rorschach spinoff.Not a TV show version, but an actual movie.But dont fuck it up like Wolverine.I seriously disliked the movie of wolverine
seriously?

@Nessa Rorschach is DEAD, as much as it pains me to say. Watchmen is the holy grail of comics. Adding anything to the myth would be like digging up Johnny Cash's corpse and raping it. Dan DiDio should be ashamed of himself. I hope this tanks hard. I hope DiDio can never find work again. This makes me sick. Also if this shit-pile ever does see the light of day I will be ignoring it completely. Watchmen is perfect and in my eyes then can make all the sequels they want cause they will still be cheap cash ins, Elseworlds tales masquerading as continuity. Didn't they make enough money from this book anyway? Didio make something new or kill yourself. YOU FUCKING SUCK.
ItsPosible

They NEED to make atleast a spin off !! The news paper publishes the jurnel an the world falls bak to anarchy becouse beleive the goverment tricked them an killed inicent people . It could be so possible that Dr.Manhatan has to return 2 save the day with the other superheros an posibly even new 1s. Any thing is posible if u atleast give it a try