While HBO’s ‘Watchmen‘ included Hooded Justice, Laurie Blake, Adrian Veidt, and Dr. Manhattan, there was a surviving hero from the original graphic novel who was missing and that was Nite Owl. While the character of Dan Dreiberg was referenced, Laurie’s ex doesn’t make an appearance and showrunner Damon Lindelof has a valid reason for it.
Lindelof felt that if they included Nite Owl, it would lose the balance between referencing the past and pushing the story forward with the new characters:
“One of the things that we are constantly trying to solve for, was the ratio between old and new. And, I felt very strongly that Laurie needed to be in this show. And, I felt very strongly that Manhattan needed to be in the show. And, I felt very strongly that Veidt needed to be in the show. And, we knew that the central character of the show was Hooded Justice and his granddaughter. It felt like, if we added Dan into the mix, that the balance tipped too much towards the old, and not enough towards the new. But, we did discuss multiple versions of what it would look like for him to appear.”
I would almost argue that with how her character was used, Laurie didn’t need to be included in the story too. It felt that aside from being Dr. Manhattan’s ex-lover, her primary purpose was to reference her father and reveal what happened to Nite Owl and the world’s current views on masked vigilantes.
Who knows, if a second season were to happen, maybe we’d see Blake cut a deal to have Nite Owl freed. I think we’re just as likely to find out more about Lube Man as we are to see this happen.
Do you agree with Damon Lindelof that including Nite Owl wouldn’t have been a good fit for ‘Watchmen’? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Source: Collider
