Regardless of what you think about it, WATCHMEN is a unique beast in the superhero movie canon. The essence of the Alan Moore book was indeed hard to capture, but the movie brought it to life with impressive visuals and great performances from the ensemble cast. Among the actors was Patrick Wilson as Dan Dreiberg/Nite Owl, a character the actor would love to suit up as again.
While promoting his new movie with Liam Neeson, THE COMMUTER, Wilson talked about playing Nite Owl and how he wants to portray the character once again. It would work out especially well considering he’s at the right age as the character was in the book.
It was such a joy shooting that movie, I wanted there to be more of them. I’ve wanted to play Dan again. I certainly think we’re all more age appropriate now!
HBO is currently developing a show based on WATCHMEN from showrunner Damon Lindelof, but Wilson says he has yet to be approached about reprising the character for the series.
There’s never been one conversation. I’m sure they want to stay as far away from us as possible but I love Damon Lindelof I’m so excited to see what they will do. I’d love to play [Dan] now but no there’s been no talk, I’m just a fan like you are.
Indeed, there has been no discussion about bringing back the other actors – Billy Crudup, Malin Akerman, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Matthew Goode – for the series. Chances are the show will try to distance itself from the movie, acting as a reboot/remake of sorts. It’s a shame the Wilson and the others won’t be back for the new show. Despite what you think about the movie the performances were undeniably great, and it would be great to see them explore the roles deeper.