Watchmen co-writer David Hayter revealed that director Paul Greengrass’ version also featured an ending that differed from the graphic novel.
Zack Snyder’s Watchmen film has become a cult classic over the years, especially when it comes to the 186-minute director’s cut. Before Snyder ended up with the project, a Watchmen film had been in development hell for years with Paul Greengrass attached to direct at one point. Snyder’s Watchmen notably features a squid-less ending and it sounds like Greengrass’ version would’ve made some more changes to the source material as well.
During a recent episode of Script Apart, Watchmen co-writer David Hayter revealed Paul Greengrass’ modern day version would’ve seen Nite Owl killing Ozymandias with his “Archie” Owlship after the world’s smartest man killed millions in multiple cities with a projection of Doctor Manhattan. Hayter also talked about how 9/11 altered the ending:
“We knew it was going to be very difficult to do the ending of the book. Plus 9/11 had happened and I didn’t think we should have images of bodies in Times Square, I felt that was not appropriate. So that inspired me to say, people should just be blown to shadows, like the Hiroshima shadows that are painted in the comic book.”
Would’ve you have been in favor of this alternate Watchmen ending? Let us know in the comments section below!
Here is the synopsis for Zack Snyder’s Watchmen:
In an alternate 1985 United States, superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the Doomsday Clock — which charts the USA’s tension with the Soviet Union — moves closer to midnight.When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the outlawed but no less determined masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion — a disbanded group of retired superheroes, only one of whom has true powers — Rorschach glimpses a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future.Their mission is to watch over humanity… but who is watching the Watchmen?
Directed by Zack Snyder with a script from David Hayter and Alex Tse, Watchmen stars Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson.
Watchmen is available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD, and digital. Stay tuned to Heroic Hollywood for all the latest news surrounding Watchmen and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more exclusive video content in the future!
Source: Script Apart
