‘Watchmen’ Director Explains Show’s Chilling Alternate Universe
Watchmen, HBO’s new series based on the graphic novel co-created by Dave Gibbons, takes place in an alternate history and involves masked individuals. However, the show highlights prominent political and social issues that take place in our world today.
Executive producer Nicole Kassell recently spoke with Collider about why Watchmen is so relatable to modern times and what it was like to direct Episodes 1, 2, and 8 of the series.
“Like a lot of us, I was left reeling from [the] election of 2016. So, wrestling, personally, with what’s happening in this country, when I read the pilot, honestly, I was shaking,” Kassell explained. “It felt like this is the answer, to me, for what I can do now to respond to this political time. As hard and scary as it is to take on, I’m so grateful to have been a part of it.”
Kassell worked with Damon Lindelof, the show’s creator, to establish the series’ alternate universe setting. From unique sets to continuous rules, the pair and crew developed a foundation for Watchmen, so viewers could understand the bigger picture with each episode.
“Once you land in 2019, we created a bible of what the world rules would be and what defines this place because it’s an alternate universe,” Kassell added. “So, for every episode and for every department to have things in place, there was a continuity to the rules of this place.”
Why do you wear the mask? New episode tonight at 9PM. #WatchmenHBO pic.twitter.com/675UQ3Kggy
— Watchmen (@watchmen) October 27, 2019
Watchmen’s pilot was a tough one to watch: It opened with the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, a real event that took place in American history. Following this tragic event, viewers are forwarded somewhere in the future, where a white supremacist organization dubbed the Seventh Kavalry is causing major problems in Oklahoma.
The series’ plot is full of twists, but Kassell urges viewers to watch the entire show first before sounding off on characters’ choices.
“I really believe, if you’ve got an avenue to talk about important issues, it’s your responsibility to do so, and Damon is an artist with a very big platform and a big megaphone, so whether or not he wants to, it’s his responsibility to,” Kassell explained. “He may be hated for it or loved, but my greatest wish, and this is where I’m very naive, is that people would hold off judging until they’ve seen the series, as a whole.”
Watchmen, which stars Regina King, Tim Blake Nelson, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, is now available to stream on HBO.
More on Geek.com:
- ‘Watchmen’ Season 1 Episode 2 Recap: Still Can’t Trust a Cop
- ‘Watchmen’ Series Premiere Recap: The Doomsday Clock Is Ticking
- Dave Gibbons on HBO’s ‘Watchmen’ and DC’s ‘Doomsday Clock’
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