Doesn’t sound like we’re getting another season of Watchmen

Late last year, HBO made a splash with Watchmen, Damon Lindelof’s sequel/reimagining/homage to Alan Moore’s classic 1986 graphic novel. The first season told a mostly self-contained story, but there were questions at the end. What happens now to Ozymandias (Jeremy Irons), the psychopathic superhero who helped save the planet from his equally crazy daughter? Are the stories of Agent Laurie Blake (Jean Smart) and Looking Glass (Tim Blake Nelson) finished? And does Angela Abar (Regina King) have superpowers now or what?

Unfortunately — or fortunately, depending on your point of view — it looks like these questions are going to remain unanswered. “I never wanna close the door [on another season] completely because if two, three years from now I say, I just had another idea, it will be that much harder to open,” Lindelof told Deadline at the Writers Guild of America Awards. “But I would say it’s barely ajar. I think that there are no current plans to make any more Watchmen. If the idea comes, I would be enthusiastic about it, the idea may not come from me. I would be super excited about it coming from someone else. So my position hasn’t changed.”

Watchmen won the award for Best New Series at the WGAs, by the way, which might be strange considering it may not ever become a “series” in the way we often think about them. You know that’s gotta grate on HBO executives like Casey Bloys, who has a potential ongoing hit on his hands but has limited options when it comes to capitalizing on it. “It is really up to Damon at this point,” Bloys said last month. “Truly, I don’t know at this point whether it is a returning drama series or a limited series. I think one of the things Damon did so brilliantly was, he opened up this entire world. So maybe there is another version with a whole new set of characters. I don’t know because Damon doesn’t know, and I’m taking his lead on this.”

"If it’s a season two — great, if it’s a new take on the world — great, if it’s something else completely, I’m just going take his lead."

At this point, it seems more likely that we won’t get anything new at all, which is also good. I like that HBO trusts their talent and doesn’t foist a second season on us just because, but I also want to know whether Angela falls in that pool, so…

HBO was on a hot streak in 2019, with Watchmen, Euphoria, Chernobyl, and His Dark Materials all making waves as new series worth watching. Now that Game of Thrones is over, I want to see the network find another longterm hit they can lean on, but considering their track record, I guess I can afford to relax a bit.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Watch Game of Thrones for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels