DC Comics recently announced that they will creating prequels to Alan Moore's "Watchmen," and neither Alan or Dave Gibbons will be involved. The prequels are currently known as "Before Watchmen."
The news of the prequels has been met with quite a bit of negativity from comic book community. They believe Alan Moore's twelve-issue series is a masterpiece and to add anything more without Moore's involvement is Sacrilege.
IFC caught up with Jeffrey Dean Morgan at the Spirit Awards Saturday night and asked him if he had any interest in returning to the role of The Comedian.
"It would have to be the right people involved. I would like Dave Gibbons, the creator of the [comic], to be behind it. I'd love to work with Zack again. But we always said when we did 'Watchmen' it was a one off. There's no way there can be a prequel so I don't know. It makes me nervous that they're even talking about it."
That being said, it seems as though this is the only way fans would be able to see Morgan as the Comedian again as he died in the first film. Since he played the Comedian in a variety of eras in 'Watchmen,' Morgan agreed that it would make sense for him to return to the role in a prequel.
"If there was a way [Warner Bros] could squeeze a movie out of it they'd probably try to find a way. I don't know honestly if they'd recast but since I play the Comedian from 18 to his demise at 60 I guess I would fit in there somewhere."
The Comedian is Edward Morgan Blake. The Comedian was based on the Charlton Comics character Peacemaker, with elements of the Marvel Comics spy character Nick Fury added. Moore and Gibbons saw The Comedian as "a kind of Gordon Liddy character, only a much bigger, tougher guy".[2] Gibbons went with a Groucho Marx-style appearance (mustache and cigar) for the Comedian in his design, deciding that the "clown" look had already been appropriated by the DC Comics supervillain the Joker.[3] His costume itself was noted by Gibbons as being particularly problematic; he was initially designed with a more militaristic costume which was later dropped for a black leather outfit with a "rapist mask".[3] He believes that humans are savage in nature, and that civilization can never be more than an idea. He therefore chooses to become a mockery of society, fighting and killing without reservation.
Blake's murder, which takes place shortly before the story begins in 1985, sets the plot of Watchmen in motion. The character appears throughout the story in flashbacks and aspects of his personality are revealed by other characters.[4] Richard Reynolds described The Comedian as "ruthless, cynical, and nihilistic, and yet capable of deeper insights than the others into the role of the costumed hero".[4] Nicholas Michael Grant said the Comedian is "the only character in the Watchmen universe who is almost totally unlikeable."[5]