Dave Gibbons on the "Squidless" Watchmen Ending

He didn't have to change it and really he shouldn't have, It wasn't justified in the same sense that the black freighter stuff was as a time issue.

The giant squid isn't an ooh ahh moment for me in the novel though so I'm not that upset, but it still bugs me that directors think they need to change things like this to make a movie good, the book was good the way it was and translates very well onto screen (comics are basically silent cartoon films) I really dont know why people thought this graphic novel was unfilmable (Moore's explanation is not at all convincing to me) it was impeccably filmable.

Anyhow I still expect the film to be far and away the best comic film ever and up there among my favorite films of all time period. (watch out big labowski youre about to get demoted)

YES I CAN!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm still torn between the squidless slo-mo Snyder version, if it sucks (I'm not saying it will, just have to leave that option open) well, I seriously doubt there will be a reboot of this graphic novel ever, so this would make this version the Watchmen movie, hopefully it won't suck.

As for it being unfilmable...there are so many underlying themes, which in a graphic novel you can flip back to recheck them (making it non-linear). In a movie, time is as it is, even if they use flashbacks it will still be linear (everytime you see it, the time-experience will be the same), so I think that is what Moore meant (or at least what I interpret from his words).

Don't know if I'm being clear on this. Anyway it has to have a tight explanation surrounding the squidless version, I mean numerous nuclear explosions around the world.... I'm sure that wouldn't bring world peace but instead fingerpointing in every direction. Will just have to wait and see.

yes.. but I think that it will still be a linear experience, it will be the same linear experience for everyone, just some people will want to repeat it. This has been one of films' weaknesses, you sit and experience the movie one way and if viewed in a movie theater, no matter how many times you see it, it will still be linear. There have been some interesting experiments with this (timecode pops to mind, some david lynch movies and yes definitely pulp fiction), but they are all giving the viewer the illusion of control and nonlinearity.

Also Watchmen uses a very powerful visual effect which is changing the panel from one story to the other, showing similarities and contrasts between them (think Docs' story), which pieces little bits together (many times I felt that while reading it I was reading 3 stories at the same time) that on film is really hard to do.

I do think that the complete Watchmen is indeed unfilmable, but mostly due to time isssues and the shifting times, and look at all the trouble Snyder (whom I still hate) has had to go through with details that very few movies go to, and still they have to cut out the tales of the black freighter.

As for the squidless ending... I'm not saying it won't work, just that the squid is tied to too many aspects of the story to just cut it, they better tie all those loose ends when cutting the squid. Will just have to wait and see.

ok guys, we need to clear this all up.
The Comic: Adrian Veidt clones the brain of a psychic, engineers a monster to fake an alien attack. In a flashback he revealed that he had been working with Manhattan with new technological developments (Jon and Laurie go to Karnak). This inmlies that he used Manhattan and studied him in order to learn how copy his abilities to build a teleportation machine. he uses his machine to teleport the monster to new york, the monster dies but the shock wave from it's massive brain causes millions to die and even more people who may have survived to be affected on a subconscious level.

The Movie: there are no multiple explosions as suggested before. in the movie, from what i can infer, it's going to be about the same, and this is what i think Dave Gibbons Meant. Adrian will use Doctor Manhattan just like he did in the comic, Now, there are a few scenarios that can result from this.
A. He uses manhattan to figure out how his powers work, just like the book, only, instead of focusing on how to harness his teleportation, he is focusing on the more violent destructive aspects. He builds a machine that uses manhattans destructive abbilites to destroy the city. this would cause fear in the hearts of bothe the soviets and the US. just like the book! the soviets would fear that manhattan would be all about world destruction (his exile during the cancer conspiracy as a motive) and the US would fear that manhattan was out to get them (motive for same reason) the two nations would have no choice but to work together JUST LIKE THE COMIC!!!!!!!!!!! instead of using a random alien, the movie would make Manhattan an Alien in the eyes of the world. this would bring a strong closing to Manhattan's increasingly emotionally distant attitude making him a total outsider once an for all. And, like in the comic, he would leave earth for good. SAME THING BUT THE ALIENS ARE DIFFERENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, scenario B is the same pretty much but here are the differences. The machine Adrian would use is still a teleportation machine like in the comic. Adrian would teleport some kind of energy bomb into the city that would kill lots of people. The rest would be the same though.

These endings are exactly like the boom except for kind of machine adrian would choose. Keep in mind that manhattan has been framed already because of the cancer thing. The world would still have some kind of fear of some kind of threat that brings them together, and these endings would even give manhattan his emotional closing he never really got in the book. For all those people that complain about the Rorchach journal ending being excised, i can tell you i'm pretty sure that it's in!!!!!!!!! i have seen pictures of Seymore online. also, the ending when Dan and laurie visit Sally is in too! i know this because the dialogue from that scene is heard playing over Silk Spectre's page on the Watchmen website. the only difference to the ending of the movie is that they change what the definition of "Alien" is. Manhattan is Made the alien, and alienated from the world once and for all. I cannot see how this explanation can be wrong. i have gone through and searched every bit of watchmen info i can find. I still hope there is still the chance it's all a conspiracy. Months ago there was info from an inside source that the squid was in. His/ her info contained a lot of other stuff that ended up being true. but the realist in me says that my scenario A. will be the ending to this movie. this ending leaves no holes in the story whatsoever. the whole "kidnapped artists" thing will probly just be exempt and the comedian will probly just find a bunch of scientists on the island. The Story is the SAME!!!!!!!!!!!!

Loved watchmen, on my second read thru. And i gotta say that the whole squid thing didnt blow me off my seat. So im not too fussed.

Yeah it just would not look good on screen, honestly its a little tweak for the sake of it being a better movie that anyone would like to see. For example spider-man, in the comic he makes the web shooters, in the movie its organic and he shoots a natural webbing. If the movie used the web shooter, u would say "how would a high school student be able to make that"? it would take the casual fan outta the movie and it would not have worked.

You have to consider what looks good and whats campy, Dark knight did not have campy parts to it. it was made in a realistic light which audiences liked. imagine an x-men movie where the wore the costumes exactly like in the comic books. we would totally scoff and tear it down because it just looks fake and campy.

I love watchmen, but read it again and look @ it like what would look good on the screen. Think of how a director would look @ this. you will surprised what u find.

I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it: it's one thing to trim out elements of the Watchmen like the Black Freighter storyline because of time constraints or to avoid having to go into things that will confuse the hell out of the audience. It's another thing entirely to change the ending of the story. It changes the entire point of the story.

I agree with Quagmire to a large degree here, but I disagree about not caring about non-fans of the book. Personally, I hope that the movie encourages MORE people to read the book. The Watchmen is one of the greatest things I've ever read, and I've actively spread the gospel about it for many years. I really hope that this film will show more people that comic books are not "just kid's stuff".

I also have to say, while I'm unhappy about the ending, I do plan to see the movie because so much of it IS done right, and for "bitching rights" if I find the ending unsatisfactory. Sadly, there is no way we'll ever see a perfect Watchmen, just like we'll never see a perfect Lord of the Rings. Both stories are too large and complex for the silver screen, so we have to accept that the versions that we DO get can be good, but they will be flawed. Further, we should hope that they will inspire the interested movie viewer to purchase the book(s) for the rest of the story.

Look if alan moore worte it as a movie i would say that it should not be changed, but as it is a graphic novel, synder has to do what he can to make it screen worthy

they should have just stuck with the source material. it kinda defeats the purpose to shoot the scenes to resemble the actual artwork so closely just to crap out on the ending. but i am nonetheless excited to see it anyway.

It's cool with me. Let us wait and see it.

point being that some things can and cannot translate to the screen, and they updated it to a genetically enhanced spider to give it a modern edge, again another thing that was changed that ppl didnt scream about, b/c it worked on the screen.

I don't really care if the squid works or not or if its belevable, I just think that that would be the most vissualy apealing thing to do, especialy seeing it on the big screen

Xaosjerk if it ranks 1 googleplex on that scale it would be better than two thumbs up from Ebert! Very astute answer!!

ok i am just going to come out and say it we all get pissed because synder is changing the ending to make it more "enjoyable for the audience". right because they wouldn't get the squid ending but what about the rape seen they still leaving that in and you can't tell me that it is not going to make people leave in the audience

you guys, the director doesn't have as much power as you think. Alex Tse and David Hayter wrote the script. Snyder fixed what he could, but chances are he had no choice but to cut the squid from the film. The director doesn't write the movie, i don't even know why they alwats attribute the director's name to the project because nine times out of ten, they don't have anything to do with creating the story. Snyder did as much as he could with what he was gven. it's like he said before, the squid was never in the original script he was given, and the studio probly never allowed it's entry.

but still he has limitations. he did not write the script, yes tweak it maybe, but it's not his fault the squid was omitted.

I understand the need or want to simplify a 2:45 minute movie with an already very complicated storyline. But the more I think about it, I just don't think making Dr Manhattan the unifying threat holds water. Think about it. The US has a weapon that gives it pretty much complete military superiority in the cold war environment. That weapon allows the US to win the Vietnam war in 2 weeks and the technology from that weapon threatens to destroy the wealth base of the oil producing nations. That weapon then attacks a whole bunch of cities around the world, including Moscow if I am not mistaken. An American weapon responsible for the deaths of millions, and instead of a multinational, anti-US backlash the world unites in peace? I can't think of much that would be more destabilizing to a cold war world on the brink of a shooting war. When the Soviets figure out that they were attacked by Dr. Manhattan, even with the US being attacked as well, don't you think that would be be more of a provocation for a launch than an invitation to join hands and sing Kumbaya? At least with a perceived alien attack, the threat cannot be attributed to any nation on earth and the unknown is always more frightening. It just doesn't work. I'm sure there was a way to keep it simple and possibly even squid free, but this wasn't it. Maybe there will be something in the DVD extended cut (5:20 maybe?) that will change my mind, but probably not.