‘Watchmen’ Boss Damon Lindelof Talks ‘Channeling the Spirit of Alan Moore’ in HBO Series

By Joe Otterson

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Damon Lindelof is taking a very Alan Moore approach to his series adaptation of Moore’s graphic novel “Watchmen.”

Speaking at the Television Critics Association summer press tour on Wednesday, Lindelof said that Moore has a “punk rock spirit” and that if someone had told him that he was not allowed to do something in his own writing, Moore would have said “F— you, I’m doing it anyway.”

So when it came to remaining completely faithful to Moore’s work versus taking risks with new story elements, Lindelof said, “I’m channeling the spirit of Alan Moore to say “F— you, I’m doing it anyway.”

Moore has notoriously said he wants nothing to do with any adaptations of his work. According to Lindelof, he reached out to Moore while he was working on the “” series to little effect.

“I have made personal overtures to connect with him and he made it clear that he didn’t want that to happen and I want to respect that,” Lindelof said.

Regina King stars in the series along with Jeremy Irons, Don Johnson, Jean Smart, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tom Mison, Frances Fisher, and Sara Vickers. It is set to debut on HBO this October.