WATCHMEN Showrunner Addresses That Jaw-Dropping Dr. Manhattan Reveal In Last Night's Episode

WATCHMEN Showrunner Addresses That Jaw-Dropping Dr. Manhattan Reveal In Last Night's Episode

Last night's episode of Watchmen delivered a shocking twist ending and a major Dr. Manhattan reveal, and now showrunner Damon Lindelof has shed some light on the thinking behind that. Read on for details.

By JoshWilding - Dec 02, 2019 03:12 AM EST
Filed Under: Watchmen
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Last night's episode of Watchmen was a complete game-changer, as we learned that Angela's husband Cal is actually Dr. Manhattan in disguise. Needless to say, this was a big shocker, and it's going to be very interesting to see how next week's penultimate chapter deals with this (we've seen the episode, and rest assured that there are many more shocks to come). 

The Hollywood Reporter caught up with showrunner Damon Lindelof to discuss this week's episode and after explaining that Dr. Manhattan's return had to be linked to new lead character Angela Abar, he shed some light on how the immensely powerful character factors into her story and the thinking behind having Manhattan take on a human form.

"[How] could Dr. Manhattan, a man with the power of  God, be in service of Angela's story as opposed to the other way around? Based on his past (and all the tropes of Greco/Roman mythology), the answer was intuitive… love. We knew this relationship could only work if Manhattan took the form of a human, and so, the idea of Cal was born. It came early. Almost from the jump."

We also learn that the Senator Keene's plan is to capture, destroy, and become the new Dr. Manhattan.

"In our Watchmen, there are more clear cut bad guys who represent an ideology that is almost impossible to defeat," he explains. "Bad guys always want the same thing: power. There's something fundamentally ridiculous about the idea of "white power" in its redundancy as if everyone in America was born onto the same playing field." 

"Sadly, almost every one of our institutions demonstrates that inequity, so the idea that a white, male senator actually wanted MORE power was equal parts absurd and irresistible. As is the case with most White Supremacists, Keene doesn't see taking Manhattan's power as appropriation as much as taking something he already feels entitled to."


Lindelof wouldn't reveal much about what's to come in the final two episodes, but he did confirm that we won't get to see another fan-favourite Watchmen character this year: Nite-Owl.

"I regret to inform you, and you have my word on this, there will be no Dan in this season."
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WackyBantha
WackyBantha - 12/2/2019, 3:44 AM
Could Dr. Manhattan put someone back together after he destroys them?
Kumkani
Kumkani - 12/2/2019, 4:07 AM
There's literally a blaxploitation film called Abar: The first Black Superman. Throughout last episode Angela (in her current and young self) was always wearing blue. So was Cal when he tried to see her the first time. He then starts wearing all black when she comes home and reveals the truth. Then there's Laurie thinking Cal was hot, and Cal explaining to his kids what happens when people die.

This show thought of EVERYTHING.
tmp3
tmp3 - 12/2/2019, 4:13 AM
@Necropolitan - Also: Laurie's dildo was called excalibur, since Dan was always big into Arthurian legend and he designed it. The name fits since it also looks large enough to be used as a weapon. Also due to Laurie's ex, Cal Abar. Cal like Kal-El, as in "the Superman exists and he is American", and yet another instance of the show using Superman iconography to further examine its points. Even their names, and the names of in-universe dildos, have deeper explanations.
Really the only thing I haven't liked in that respect is a hotel named "Black Freighter" showing up in the Laurie episode. That's like there being a hotel called "Batman" in Tulsa right now, would be very weird.
SethBullock
SethBullock - 12/2/2019, 5:54 AM
@Necropolitan - Name for next episode has been known for a while and it's "A God walks into a bar", into Calvin Abar, that was a huge clue. I guess this episode will explain how Manhattan became Abar.
LarryDee
LarryDee - 12/2/2019, 11:56 AM
@Necropolitan - Also: nuns are technically married with God.
Doomsday8888
Doomsday8888 - 12/2/2019, 10:45 AM
I feel like every week i repeat the same shit, so here we go ONCE AGAIN: I have mixed feelings.

I know ppl here don't really read comics, few do, and it's ok, this is not comicbook.com but cbM.com, so i get it.
But if you've been keeping up with Doomsday Clock (which is not easy, mind you) well, surely you can see lotta ideas popping up here in the tv show.
Sure, 2 different mediums, telling veeeeery different type of stories, it doens't make much sense to compare them, but still...some plot points are present here.

The very idea of Superman in general is played quite strongly in the show and that's one of the things i'm digging.
Not just because imma big Superman fan, but mostly because it's ACTUALLY written well.
I mean, there are things that only a nerd would catch, and trust me, they're not playing around.

So that's one thing, all the parallelisms.

They also tried to play with the concept of "Thermodynamic miracles" aand i felt -at times- it was just kinda forced, it wasn't as "smooth" like in the comic.
For example the very idea of Hooded Justice being Will, i thought that was just hella convenient for the writer...

And if these 2 last episodes were meant to be a sort of remix of Watchmaker (my favorite chapter of the comic) then i applaud them for their attempt, but it wasn't really all that much.
This Nostalgia business was just another plot device to quickly move forward with the story, very easily, one could even say that it was even lazy, but whatever, i did the job i guess.

Manhattan played by a black man, is just 1 of the 9999th things going around here, a lil bit too much on the nose.
As if it wasn't already clear from day one what Lindelof's been preaching.
Srlsy, just take another page from DClock and give us a black ass NuRorschach while you're at it.


As for the Adrian stuff....well, i was really trying to be generous with them, this is most definitely NOT what i was expecting, still...i was mostly ok, but after this episode, wow...

2 more ep, it could srlsy change everything, God is good, Manhattan ain't.
mpk1988
mpk1988 - 12/2/2019, 3:07 PM
Disappointed by the show a bit.. Some great ideas and performances mixed up with a preachy theme. I mean, reliving the past and the display of the Tulsa massacre was pretty great....
But... White supremacists as the main villains.. Needed something way better and more complex.. That part was just lazy and dumb..
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