The end of the world is coming to HBO.
In the first teaser trailer for the miniseries “Watchmen,” released by HBO on Wednesday, a clock eerily ticks throughout the one-minute video as the town’s masked superheroes plan a revolt. Based on the DC comic book, written by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons in the 1980s, the drama series explores an alternate history in which the police force embarks on a killing spree of the town’s superheroes, who are treated as outlaws.
“We are no one. We are everyone. And we are invisible,” says what appears to be one of the superhero ringleaders, hiding behind a Rorschach-inspired mask covered in its iconic ink blotches.
Tension between the law and the “supes” rise as the leader of the police force, fitted in a yellow face mask along with his fellow officers, emerges to combat the fantastical powers. “We convinced ourselves that they were gone,” he says, “but they were just hibernating.”
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In Moore’s graphic novel, the police ultimately go on strike and propose an anti-vigilante bill to stop superheroes from taking their jobs. Whether or not Damon Lindelof, the series’ showrunner (of “Lost” and “The Leftovers” fame), strictly followed such plot points, it’s clear that similar friction is present in the small-screen adaptation.
“They came for everybody,” an officer says in the teaser. “All police.”
The sneak peek continues to show roles played by Regina King, Jeremy Irons, Jean Smart and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Additional cast members include Tim Blake Nelson and Louis Gossett Jr. Produced by White Rabbit in association with Warner Bros. Television, the series will stream on HBO in the fall of 2019.