When HBO’s ersatz Watchmen sequel was announced, it was framed, very clearly, as a miniseries. One season, in and out, one and done. But when asked the question now, the various answers given by the cast and crew of the show are… a bit different.
In a lengthy feature recently released, Variety goes in depth on the production of Watchmen in a (spoiler-filled) rundown of the show’s most important moments and the work and thought that went into them.
It’s a fantastic look at what has been one of the year’s most surprising television successes, compelling enough to enough people that it’s managed to overcome the (justified) controversy about making the show despite Alan Moore’s lousy deal with DC all those years ago.
That Variety piece, after looking at the show that has aired thus far, looks to the future, beyond the finale and to the possibility of a second season. And the responses are… confusing.
“I’m still kind of recuperating from production,” said Nicole Kassell, director of three episodes of the current season. “I just think it’s gonna take time to say what Season 2 would be.”
Regina King, star of the show as Sister Night, however, gave a more clear answer. Season 2? “Absolutely!” she said. Uh. Yeah?
Damon Lindelof, the show’s creator, is more circumspect, but no less confusing.
“Most comic book stories just go on and on and on and on,” he said. “Watchmen didn’t, and that’s what made it special. And so we designed this story to end.”
That’s pretty definitive. So the ending is coherent and satisfying, then?
“I certainly don’t feel like the season ends on a cliffhanger,” Lindelof said. “Although, I guess it’s possible that others might perceive it as such. I would be really interested in debating them.”
Oh. So. Maybe?
“I am deeply, profoundly appreciative for how well received the season has been up until now, and I don’t want to feel like I’m ungrateful, but I still don’t have any inclination whatsoever to continue the story,” he said. “And that is largely and almost exclusively based on the fact that I don’t have an idea. If I’m going to be involved in any more Watchmen, I should be able to answer the questions, why, and why now, and the answers to those questions shouldn’t be, ‘Well because that’s what you do, because the first one was good.’”
But then, Variety reports, Lindelof laughed. “I’m not saying there shouldn’t be a second season of Watchmen, and I’m not even saying that that season shouldn’t feature some of the characters in this season of Watchmen. I just don’t know what it should be.”
You know that’s confusing, right, Damon?
Personally, I like the answer given by director Stephen Williams. “[It’s] a question so far above my pay grade that I would not even know how to begin to venture an answer.”
Glad to know someone is as confused as I am.
The last episode of Watchmen’s first and maybe only season airs this Monday on Foxtel.