The post-apocalyptic future of HBO’s ‘Watchmen’ just got a bit bleaker, as HBO boss Casey Bloys says that he and the network aren’t interested in another season without mastermind Damon Lindeloff. And Lindeloff has gone on the record to say that he isn’t likely to oversee another installment.
Ahead of ‘Watchmen’s release, many weren’t sure how it was going to go. It was risky to attempt a live-action series inspired by– but not actually adapting– Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s seminal graphic novel. Some diehard fans of the graphic novel thought it might be a disgrace to the book, and many more wondered what was left to say about this classic story. But luckily, this series, overseen by Damon Lindeloff was both a ratings smash and a critical darling. AFI selected it as the Program of the Year, and just last weekend, the Broadcast Film Critics Association crowned Regina King and Jean Smart with the awards for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress on a Drama series, respectively.
RELATED: Damon Lindelof Again Stresses That A Second Season Of ‘Watchmen’ May Not Happen
But Lindeloff has been very candid about his lack of desire to continue the series. He has stated that he was unsure about the viability of ‘Watchmen’ as an ongoing series, so in a preemptive move, he devised it as a limited series.
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, Bloys said:
“Where we left it with Damon was he’s thinking about what he wants to do and I’m taking his lead on that. If he has an idea that he’s excited about, then I’m excited; if he wants to do something else, then that’s what I want to do.”
But after the release of the first season, Lindeloff flatly stated:
“I don’t think I’m interested in, nor do I think the audience is interested in, ‘Let’s just do more of the same. Because then it wouldn’t be Watchmen. It requires a new idea. Maybe that idea is going to come from someone else. I would welcome that, one hundred percent.”
But it doesn’t sound like HBO is interested in the tag-team route. As Bloys continued:
“I think Damon did a brilliant job. It is so much from his brain — obviously I know there was the underlying IP — but the reinvention and the world is so much from his brain that it’s hard to imagine somebody else doing it. Not to say it can’t be done but right now I’m just giving Damon the time he needs to think about what he wants to do, creatively, next.”
So the door isn’t 100% shut on the idea of letting someone else take the reigns. And there is always the possibility that Lindeloff will suddenly come up with a brilliant idea to further explore this reality.
What do you think? Should HBO just forego further seasons of ‘Watchmen’ if Lindeloff doesn’t want to do them? Or would you like to see new seasons created by different producers?
