When Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons developed the Watchmen comic-series for DC, part of their contract stipulated that the rights to the comic would revert back to them after the initial publication, but a clause allowed DC to take advantage of a loophole and retain the rights. Due to this and other disputes, Moore would refuse to work for the company ever again, and the writer has famously expressed his displeasure of Hollywood's many adaptations of his work.
Another adaptation is set to debut this weekend in the form of Watchmen, an HBO series created by Damon Lindelof which actually takes place decades after the comic-series; less of a remake and more of a continuation. While speaking with Vulture, Lindelof was asked how he feels about running with the Watchmen story while also acknowledging that its creator has been exploited.
That’s something that I think about a lot. What are the ethical ramifications of this even existing at all when I completely and totally side with the creator? Acknowledge that the creator has been exploited by a corporation? Now that very same corporation is basically compensating me to continue this thing. I ask, “Is it even hypocrisy?” Then I say, as a fan, “Where would I come down on this thing if someone else was doing it? If I heard someone else was doing an HBO series called Watchmen that was not a strict adaptation of the book?” I felt that I’d be really angry about it and then I’d watch it. [Laughs.] I wonder how many of the angry people who don’t think it should exist will actually have the discipline to not even watch it. Those are the people that I really admire. The ones who are like, “This shouldn’t exist and I’m literally not watching it.” That’s an admirable position.
Damon Lindelof added that the moral quandary actually kept him up at night, so much so that he believes that Alan Moore, who is a practicing occultist and magician, actually placed a curse upon him. "I’m about to say something very ridiculous, but in all sincerity, I was absolutely convinced that there was a magical curse placed upon me by Alan [Moore]. I’m actually feeling the psychological effects of a curse, and I’m okay with it. It’s fair that he has placed a curse on me," Lindelof explained. "The basis for this, my twisted logic, was that I heard that he had placed a curse on Zack [Snyder]’s [Watchmen] movie. There is some fundamental degree of hubris and narcissism in saying he even took the time to curse me. But I became increasingly convinced that it had, in fact, happened. So I was like, 'Well, at least I’m completely and totally miserable the entire time.' I should be!" Lindelof continued:
When Zack was making Watchmen — and I only know this because I watched the DVDs — I was like, “This guy is having the time of his life!” And I did not enjoy any of this. That’s the price that I paid. Psychological professionals would probably suggest that I emotionally created the curse as a way of creating balance for the immorality.
Our own Alex Maidy has been fortunate enough to watch the first six episodes of the series, and called them a "worthy successor" to the original comic in his review. "There are few series that will challenge viewers in the way that Watchmen will," Maidy said. "Fans of the comics will find a lot to love here, including so many references and easter eggs that you will have to rewatch each episode to catch them all. Some are subtle and others are not, but they help make this series one of the most original to come around in quite a long time… HBO has had a solid run this year with their new shows and event series, but Watchmen feels like the first true successor to Game of Thrones and could easily eclipse Westworld as the network's best drama." Watchmen will debut on HBO on October 20th.