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“Nothing Ever Ends”: Watchmen and the demise of superhero cinema

Written by Daniel Steadman
Thursday, 11 December 2008 00:00

It has taken 22 years, five potential directors and an unthinkable number of dollars, but it appears Paramount Pictures have done it. Along with director Zack Snyder (of 300 fame), they have filmed a piece of literary fiction that even Terry Gilliam twice deemed un-filmable. That’s the same Terry Gilliam who’s attempting to film Don Quixote for a second time, in spite of earning himself a $15 million insurance claim the first time. The novel in question is of the graphic variety and is perhaps the most revered example of the genre: the 1986, 12-part limited series, Watchmen, published by DC Comics, written by Alan Moore and drawn by Dave Gibbons.

Those unfamiliar with the comic book world may wonder at the excess involved in filming what is essentially a story about vigilantes and “superheroes”. In truth, the value of the project will only become clear if Snyder’s efforts successfully approximate the comic’s complex, apocalyptic beauty. If they do, then Watchmen could very well sound the death knell for superhero cinema as we know it: when faced with this dark, brutal tale of public disorder, international conflict and the threat of global terrorism, men in tights shooting webs or lifting planes begin to look a little preposterous.

The idea of legitimising the camp world of caped crusaders and dastardly villains is not a new one. Like any oppressed group, comic fans have, for decades, fervently defended the seriousness of graphic novels (the name given to comic art intended for publication as a whole), and their ability to tell stories as fluidly as any written novel or film. With the mid-80s success of comic writers like Alan Moore, Frank Miller (The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City) and Neil Gaiman (The Sandman, Stardust), these dedicated followers have been rewarded with an unending deluge of superhero-obsessed media, from column inches in mainstream print publications to Hollywood blockbusters. So far, as superhero cinema goes, Richard Donner’s 70s Superman and Tim Burton’s 80s Batman are crucial reference points, but it was Sam Raimi’s Spiderman, released in 2002, that heralded the ongoing glut of adaptations. In a bruised, post-9/11, Western world, Raimi’s film and others like it depicted an uncomplicated opposition between good and evil, a soothing balm for a confused international community. It seems that now though – like its predecessor on the page – the medium has come full circle, and superhero cinema has grown up.

Although Ang Lee’s ponderous Incredible Hulk adaptation (Hulk, 2003) and Bryan Singer’s xenophobia-examining X-Men series (X-Men, 2000 and X2, 2003) hinted at more grave possibilities for the genre, it was Christopher Nolan’s enthralling The Dark Knight (2008) that began the bid to make superhero cinema intellectual. Building on the focussed but (comparatively) light Batman Begins, Nolan’s sequel depicted a hero too bewildered by the shifting spheres of public responsibility and political corruption to even be heroic. Within this thunderstorm of cold, meaningless violence and hollow, deadening pyrotechnics, there was the suggestion that the men with the superpowers, the figures of public adulation, couldn’t save us anymore - that the film-makers had given up on heroes and that audiences around the world should follow suit.

It is this newly cynical, hardened cinema into which Watchmen will be born, and there is perhaps no better example of how a superhero comic – some bright ink drawings on a page, accompanied by scraps of spoken and written words – can encapsulate all the personal, political and international complexities of modern life. Much like Pixar’s canny The Incredibles, Watchmen begins in a world in which superheroes have played their part and have now become a dangerous, unpredictable liability; with a growing nuclear threat from the Soviet Union, the incumbent Richard Nixon-led government cannot afford to be accountable for impulsive, unregulated heroes. As a result, they have been banned by the Keene Act and must either conscript to governmental service or find new roles in society. When The Comedian (the alias of a member of a former superhero team) is mysteriously murdered, other former members of the team – led by the sinister vigilante Rorschach – suspect they are being targeted and covertly reunite. The crux of the story’s moral dilemma comes in the form of Ozymandias, a former superhero who has become the world’s wealthiest man, and whose utilitarian principles fuel the novel’s perplexing, terrifying finale.

Although a brief précis of the plot betrays a sense of flamboyance and even melodrama, it is the multi-faceted nature of the novel’s ambition that means that it is never easy to digest. The character’s choices – and consequently our own, as readers – are never straightforward; corruption and virtue run so close together they are barely distinguishable from one another. It is this refusal to paint in broad strokes and present an “answer” that will be the making of Snyder’s Watchmen adaptation. Early signs are not positive: his last film, 300, demonstrated that his visual flair can accommodate a comic-book world, but Alan Moore’s vision has none of the fanciful excess of 300 and requires much more of a sombre touch. Teasers and trailers reveal a worrying sheen to many of the costumes, and do not assuage the lingering doubt that 12 episodic comics cannot be made to fit comfortably into two to three hours of film.

Moore himself has become so disillusioned with seeing his work irrevocably butchered on screen (see The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, From Hell etc.), that the hype surrounding the March release of Watchmen will barely have dented his well-protected burrow of creativity. However, while the Northampton-born, bearded innovator may not be paying attention, billions of fans will be…concerted, obsessive attention. While they may quibble about the exact order of events and the precise colour of Ozymandias’ belt, they and all fans of this twentieth century masterpiece will be principally hoping for the same outcome. That is an intelligent, intricate film that acknowledges the sobering yet vital lesson of our overly advanced culture: that as values become less polarised and allegiances less certain, our heroes and villains become much harder to separate.

Post Script: Since the time of writing, it was reported in a national UK newspaper that Watchmen’s March 2009 release date is to be further delayed. This is due to a lawsuit filed against Warner Brothers and Paramount Pictures by 20th Century Fox – the original owners of the rights to the film. It seems that, as when any worthy-caped crusader is involved, the demise of superhero cinema will be lengthy and dramatic…