Few fans had any hopes that showrunner Damon Lindelof’s retelling of Alan Moore’s legendary Watchmen graphic novel as a tv series would fare any better than the poorly received Zack Snyder film of the same name. But Lindelof proved the naysayers, which included Moore himself, spectacularly wrong with a season of superheroic drama that showed great devotion to the source material while saying something fresh and relevant about the present times. In an interview with Collider, when asked about a followup season, Lindelof explains that he feels he has already had his turn with the source material.
“It’s not even about being tapped out, it’s more about me wanting to honor what Watchmen was before I became a part of it. The legacy of Watchmen is Alan [Moore] and Dave [Gibbons] created it and it sat for 30 years, obviously Zack [Snyder] made his movie which was a pretty canonical adaptation of the 12 issues, and then we made our season of television. That was my turn. I got in the middle of the dance floor for a minute and got to do my move, but then you retreat to the edge of the circle and it’s someone else’s turn to dance.”
Damon Lindelof than goes on to invite other creatives to take a stab at new material in the Watchmen universe, which he believes belongs to the world as a whole.
“I issue this invitation to anyone out there: If you have an idea, figure out a way to pitch it. But probably not to me. Watchmen is not mine. It’s ours. And I want to see how someone else interprets this incredible story.”
Although Lindelof has repeatedly insisted that he has told the story he wanted to with the first season of Watchmen, the acclaimed tv producer has been in the business long enough to know something as well-regarded as the show he created is going to continue on, with or without him.
“I think you and I both know there’s going to be more Watchmen. That’s going to happen. And whether or not the individuals who decide that they want there to be more Watchmen pick this story up where it left off or they do an entirely different kind of Watchmen story, that’s up to them. But I am seeing a lot of people who respond to the show are catalyzed and interested in what the world would look like if it were being reshaped by Angela Abar. I don’t have a good answer to that question, but that’s why it cut to black when it did (laughs).”
Lindelof has already been burned once in the past, when his maiden effort as a showrunner, Lost, was forced to continue for ten seasons by ABC, well beyond the three seasons he had originally planned, leading to the series outstaying its welcome amongst fans. It seems Lindelof has learned his lesson from that experience, and now believes that when it comes to Watchmen, going out on top with high ratings and critical praise is the way to go. Collider brought these quotes first.