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Alan Moore, co-creator of Watchmen along with Dave Gibbons, doesn’t spare any words he has for his former creative home at DC and Warner Bros. His groundbreaking comic series essentially reinvented superhero comes in the mid-1980s and has become one of the most important pieces of comic book history ever.
Watchmen, originally released as a 12-part maxi-series, now one of the best-selling graphic novels ever, was adapted in 2009 by Zack Snyder, who even then caught wind of Moore’s displeasure with the adaption. Moore and Gibbons were promised the rights back to the characters from DC should it ever go out of print. Well, the success caught both the creators and the publishing behemoth off guard with DC obviously never letting go of the Watchmen anytime soon. Moore has held a grudge towards DC and has removed himself from any and all adaptations of his work.
Recently, the author revealed to GQ magazine that he’s also disowned HBO’s Emmy-winning adaptation of Watchmen and told the showrunner never to contact him. According to Moore, the showrunner sent him a letter during the HBO show’s development and wrote, “Dear Mr. Moore, I am one of the bastards currently destroying Watchmen.” In the piece, Moore didn’t point fingers at exactly who sent it, but Damon Lindelof was in that position.
“That wasn’t the best opener, it went on through a lot of, what seemed to me to be, neurotic rambling. ‘Can you at least tell us how to pronounce “Ozymandias”?,” Moore explained. “I got back with a very abrupt and probably hostile reply telling him that I’d thought that Warner Bros. were aware that they, nor any of their employees, shouldn’t contact me again for any reason.”
Moore continued to elaborate on his history with the entertainment industry and its lack of respect when it comes to creatives. “I explained that I had disowned the work in question, and partly that was because the film industry and the comics industry seemed to have created things that had nothing to do with my work, but which would be associated with it in the public mind. I said, ‘look, this is embarrassing to me. I don’t want anything to do with you or your show. Please don’t bother me again.'”
Moore did not watch HBO’s Watchmen, which was more of a sequel that takes place 34 years after the events of the comics within the same alternate reality. He’s also not watched any film or television based on his work.
“I would be the last person to want to sit through any adaptations of my work. From what I’ve heard of them, it would be enormously punishing. It would be torturous, and for no very good reason.”
HBO’s Watchmen ended up being one of the most well-reviewed shows of the year in 2019. The series, led by Regina King, was nominated for 26 Primetime Emmy Awards and won 11, including Outstanding Limited Series.
