Watchmen

[mcbigski]

Ha. I can't be the only one who saw the thread title and thought that they cast Hayden Christensen, am I?

[DanteGabriel]

So... I haven't actually paid much attention to the development on this project. Is it still going to be set in the mid 1980s? With Nixon still President?

[Maltaran]

Ha. I can't be the only one who saw the thread title and thought that they cast Hayden Christensen, am I?

Nope.

[EHK for Darwin]

Ha. I can't be the only one who saw the thread title and thought that they cast Hayden Christensen, am I?

Eh...usually Keanu Reeves is the most common 'fanboy horror' casting. Figured it was him even before I read the thread all those months ago.

[Paddy]

So... I haven't actually paid much attention to the development on this project. Is it still going to be set in the mid 1980s? With Nixon still President?

David Hayter had written a draft of the script that was set in the present (post-9/11) day.

Zack Snyder decided to revert back to setting it in an alternate 1985

"I said, 'Is Watchmen better if it's updated? I don't know if Watchmen should go to the people, or the people should go to it.' People said, 'I think Watchmen speaks to our current climate,' and I said that's cool, but I said, 'Isn't it cooler to make a movie that the audience and people who are watching go, "you know what I think?"' I'd much rather do that than tell them what I think."

According to Wikipedia they've got a look-a-like with a prosthetic to portray Nixon, so it would seem he is still President

[Brandon Stark]

They've released a few photos of set design, one of which is the Nixon campaign poster on a wall.

[DanteGabriel]

Okay, that's a relief, I just would have hated having them move it out of the Cold War and into a modern political scenario.

[Brude]

So... I haven't actually paid much attention to the development on this project. Is it still going to be set in the mid 1980s? With Nixon still President?

They are trying to be as close as they can to the comic so yeah, it is set in the alternate world 1985 (or whatever year specifically). Since it was clearly an alternate history to begin with I don't know why they wouldn't set it in that period but I can easily see studio execs pushing for that sort of thing saying it needs to be all up to date or whatever. Glad they are doing it right.

[ytee]

I'm not frilled with Ozymandias, though. It's overdone. I'm sure they'll say he's hearkening back to the Classical world with that breastplate, but in the comic he's notable for being a hero who doesn't carry any hardware, unlike the Comedian or Nite Owl. It's all about him, the superman -- superior intellect, superior reflexes, superior physique. He should be sleek in appearance, not hefty.

Agree with you on some points. His costume's a little bit of a departure.

[Paddy]

They are trying to be as close as they can to the comic so yeah, it is set in the alternate world 1985 (or whatever year specifically). Since it was clearly an alternate history to begin with I don't know why they wouldn't set it in that period but I can easily see studio execs pushing for that sort of thing saying it needs to be all up to date or whatever. Glad they are doing it right.

Apparently there was a bit of a feeling of "OMGZ. The parallels with today are amazing!!!" amongst execs after 9/11.

So rather than let the unintended allegory remain subtle, they thought it would probably be better to whack the audience over the head with it.

Without doubt having Nixon still President was a great touch, with a good explanation that demonstrates the difference between that reality and our own.

It would be a great shame to loose that part.

[AverageGuy]

The guy playing Ozymandias is too scrawny. And that picture doesn't make me think "golden boy." If people in the audience don't fall for Ozymandias, the impact of the ending will fail.

[Ran]

I don't think the actor would be a problem as such. But if they're going to rather blatantly point out he's a bad guy (his costume certainly says "villain" to me), that's not a clever move.

[dajamieson]

if they're going to rather blatantly point out he's a bad guy

Depends on whether you think he IS a bad guy:p

[Ran]

Well, that's the point, isn't it? They give him bulky dark armor with a Roman Imperial bent -- it's a tip off to people that he's the main villain, IMO, which would suggest to people that they should immediately suspect him behind the key plot point which drives the narrative.

The story may be entirely faithful and not paint him as being the villain at all. But making anyone think he's particularly important, and holds a unique role in the film from the start, is not the right approach. Ozymandias shouldn't even have gotten one of these promo pictures, or maybe they could have given him something lighter, friendlier, more businessman-like to suggest he's a well-meaning technocrat or something (although he'd stick out like a sore thumb, given everyone else is in costume, and that in itself may be a tip off).

[Brude]

Well, that's the point, isn't it? They give him bulky dark armor with a Roman Imperial bent -- it's a tip off to people that he's the main villain, IMO, which would suggest to people that they should immediately suspect him behind the key plot point which drives the narrative.

I'm not too worried about that. All of them, except maybe Silk Specter, have a fairly dark and menacing look, even Night Owl is all Dark Knighted-out in his outfit and he's probably the most decent of them all.

[Maltaran]

Well, that's the point, isn't it? They give him bulky dark armor with a Roman Imperial bent -- it's a tip off to people that he's the main villain, IMO, which would suggest to people that they should immediately suspect him behind the key plot point which drives the narrative

I dunno, I think the Comedian looks more villainous in those pics. Very Joker-ish, especially compared to Night Owl and his Batman-esque outfit.

[DanteGabriel]

I'm not too worried about that. All of them, except maybe Silk Specter, have a fairly dark and menacing look, even Night Owl is all Dark Knighted-out in his outfit and he's probably the most decent of them all.

Nonsense. We all know Rorschach is the most morally righteous character in Watchmen.

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

Ozymandias shouldn't even have gotten one of these promo pictures, or maybe they could have given him something lighter, friendlier, more businessman-like to suggest he's a well-meaning technocrat or something (although he'd stick out like a sore thumb, given everyone else is in costume, and that in itself may be a tip off).

I see what you're saying, but I suspect that the part of the Venn diagram covering both "people who have yet to read Watchmen" and "people who are trolling the internet looking for Watchmen promo pictures" doesn't contain a huge number of people.

[Ran]

Maltaran,

Yeah, but the Comedian is killed at the start of the movie, I expect.

TFM,

Point taken.

I'll note that when I saw that you had posted, my first thought was, "He's going to note some error in my thinking ... oh yeah, it's probably about the fact that people seeing these promo pictures on the internet are fanboys who already know how Watchman goes. Touché".

[Nathanael]

Another point on Ozymandias's costume that I saw somewhere else was that while the artist of Watchman was looking to comment on the dark art in comics of his time period, these costumes are something of a comment on the comic movies of this time period.

You can definitely see that with Nite Owl's costume - they make sure to tie him in with the Batman costumes of Nolan's films.

Ozymandias, on the other hand, hearkens back to the excesses of Schumacher Batman, complete with the tiny nipples. That fits, to me: the excess, flippant, hyper-merchandized nature is definitely Veidt, who in the "present-day" time-line of Watchman is mostly concerned with selling his Ozymandias products (at least, that's what he projects to the world).