Damon Lindelof‘s ‘Watchmen’ series for HBO just got a heavy dose of Iron– or rather Irons, as in Jeremy Irons, who will be lending some major star cred to this ensemble drama series, inspired by the 1986-87 12-issue comic book maxi-series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Irons, who recently starred as Bruce Wayne/Batman’s butler Alfred Pennyworth in ‘Justice League’, is lending his imposing presence to another DC Comics property. Though his exact role (like everyone else’s) is a mystery, he is believed to be playing “an aging and imperious lord of a British manor.” This is intriguing, in that there was not really any mention or depiction of England in the original story.
The nature of the ‘Watchmen’ HBO series is a bit of a mystery, but it is not an adaptation of Moore and Gibbons’ comic book which was already turned into a movie in 2009, directed by Zack Snyder. Lindelof stated that the series would “remix” the content of the original comics but there has been some evidence that the show will take place in the aftermath of that tale. If that is the case, it’s entirely possible that the surviving superheroes from the comics/movie– Dr. Manhattan, Nite Owl, Silk Spectre– won’t even appear.
The cast already includes the likes of Adelaide Clemens, Louis Gossett Jr., Andrew Howard, Don Johnson, Regina King, and Tim Blake Nelson. But of course, it hasn’t been revealed who any of them are playing. Nicole Kassell (‘Westworld’, ‘Claws’, ‘The Americans’) is directing the pilot.
Provided that ‘The Watchmen’ gets picked up to series and Irons’ character recurs, this will mark his second ongoing TV series, after ‘The Borgias’ which ran from 2011-13 on Showtime. Irons has won numerous awards in his career including the Academy Award in 1990 for his lead role in ‘Reversal of Fortune’.
Source: Deadline
