Watchmen & Zack Snyder Fans Slam First Trailer for the Animated Adaptation

Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ seminal comic book, Watchmen, has been adapted for the screen once again, this time in animated form. The first trailer (which you can check out below) for Watchmen Chapters 1 & 2 has now been released by Warner Bros. Entertainment, and fans have quickly taken to social media to react to what they’ve seen. The best-known adaptation of the comic is, of course, Zack Snyder’s live-action effort, with fans of the divisive filmmaker wondering what the point of the upcoming animated project is exactly…

“This feels like a very safe entry and animation style. Kinda disappointing. Just watch Zack Snyder’s film,” said one fan, with another adding, “It’s a straight copy from Zack Snyder Watchmen’s movie with a low quality.” Others have called the animated movie a “copy paste” of the Zack Snyder movie (which was, largely, a copy and paste of the source material), while others are simply questioning why another adaptation is necessary.

“Everything in that clip was in the film, just going on what I am seeing. Animation style looks cheap. Nobody was asking for this really, would have rather seen an animated Question or Spectre film or just about anything other than this. Fan of the original but it’s been done.”

Snyder’s adaptation remains a favorite among fans of the filmmaker behind the likes of Man of Steel and Rebel Moon. A live-action adaptation had been in the works for decades, with directors David Hayter, Darren Aronofsky, and Paul Greengrass all attached at one time. While the story had been hailed as “unfilmable,” Snyder used his slow-mo, stylized approach to bring Moore’s acclaimed superhero tale to life and was met with somewhat mixed reviews upon release.

Do We Need Another Adaptation of Watchmen?

Some of the reactions to the trailer have been pretty scathing, with one fan saying, “Rorschach’s Journal: June 13, 2024. This looks like sh*t,” while another adds, “I’ll give it a shot, but we already have the perfect adaptation with the Motion Comic.”

Others feel that we have “progressed past the need for Watchmen media,” with some fans hoping that people will simply read the Watchmen comic:

“I’m starting to feel like Watchmen adaptations, as they get increasingly more faithful to the source material and replicate it in motion, exist purely so that people don’t have to read. just read the comic. it’s all there on the page. it’s in a book, take a look. reading rainbow.”

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Zack Snyder’s Watchmen Was ‘Ahead of Its Time,’ According to Christopher Nolan

The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan wonders how Watchmen would have fared in a post-Avengers world.

First announced back in 2017, Warner Bros. Entertainment’s Watchmen Chapters 1 & 2 has been described as “a faithful animated adaptation of the iconic graphic novel.” This time, the superhero story will be brought to life in CG animation, and you can check out the synopsis below:

“Rorschach, a half-psychotic vigilante must convince his ex team-mates, now middle-aged and retired, that he has uncovered a plot to murder the remaining superheroes – along with millions of innocent civilians…Even reunited, will the remnants of the ‘Watchmen’ be enough to avert a global apocalypse?”