Warner Bros. Entertainment has released a trailer for its two-part animated movie adaptation, Watchmen Chapters 1 and 2.
The company released a trailer for the cartoon version of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ classic graphic novel superhero story today. It’s a 40-second video that only shows a few snippets from the split story, highlighting characters like Doctor Manhattan, Nite Owl, and Rorschach as they question who’s behind a series of recent superhero murders. It shows more than enough of the project’s style and story to let viewers know they’re in for a two-part CG retelling.
Watchmen Chapters 1 and 2 will not premiere simultaneously. As revealed by Warner Bros. during a presentation at the Annecy International Film Festival (via @MidouMir on X/Twitter), Chapter 1 is scheduled to be released sometime later this year. Chapter 2’s release date will then follow in 2025.
Danger is on the horizon. #Watchmen Chapters 1 & 2 coming soon. pic.twitter.com/4oChoZ97dt
— Warner Bros. Entertainment (@WBHomeEnt) June 13, 2024
These new animated Watchmen movies were first announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2023. Though this first footage promises an adaptation that sticks relatively close to the source material, it’s far from the first project to pull from Moore and Gibbons’ story.
Perhaps the best-known adaptation is Zack Snyder’s live-action movie from 2009. Then, in 2019, HBO released its Watchmen TV show, which took a different direction by telling a story that takes place long after the events of the original narrative. Both projects have received their fair share of praise and criticism through the years, though for very different reasons. We, however, enjoyed both Snyder’s movie and the HBO show, giving the former a 7/10 and the latter an 8.5/10 in their reviews.
Whether Watchmen Chapters 1 and 2 will live up to fan expectations remains to be seen. For more, you can read Moore's recent thoughts on superheroes.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
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