‘Watchmen’ Season 2 Still A Possibility At HBO, Despite Reports

Pretty much since HBO’s Watchmen aired its final minutes on December 15, 2019 with the ninth episode “See How They Fly,” the question on viewers’ minds has been: when’s Season 2? A report earlier today from USA Today seemed to nix a possible Season 2; but in fact nothing behind the scenes has changed, and conversations are ongoing.

Watchmen showrunner Damon Lindelof has been pretty open since the sequel to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ classic comic book began airing that the “first” season of Watchmen was his big idea, and he may not have an additional season in him. The notoriously mystery-friendly creator was careful to note in the pilot’s first public screening at New York Comic Con that the first season did tell a complete story, though joked that, “I certainly have a different idea of resolution than other people.” Lindelof then added that if people like the season and there was a strong idea, maybe there would be room for another story, or some sort of continuation.

By the time the finale aired, Lindelof still did not have a strong idea for a second season of Watchmen. Talking on the final episode of the official HBO podcast, he noted to host Craig Mazin that he was just finishing production and decompressing from making the show. “I’m going to put up my antenna, see if it’s receiving anything,” Lindelof told Variety soon after that. “If it’s not receiving anything in a reasonable period of time — and I’ll just say off the top of my head, it feels completely and totally arbitrary, but like a couple of months doesn’t feel unreasonable, you know, January, February, maybe March — then I think we move on to your question, which is, if not me, then who?”

A month later (January 15) at the Television Critics Association winter tour, HBO programming chief Casey Bloys gave a similar statement, noting to The Hollywood Reporter that, “Where we left it with Damon was he’s thinking about what he wants to do and I’m taking his lead on that. If he has an idea that he’s excited about, then I’m excited; if he wants to do something else, then that’s what I want to do.”

USA Today also talked to Lindelof this week, who said he has “given my blessing” to HBO to — as they tell it — potentially pursue Watchmen with another showrunner. Given that Bloys also told USA Today that, “It would be hard to imagine doing it without Damon involved in some way,” there’s a natural conclusion to make that HBO won’t continue the show without him.

Watchmen writer Lila Byock also weighed in on Twitter after the initial back and forth broke, saying “Actually some things *do* end, and that’s okay,” a reference to, “Nothing ever ends,” a phrase repeated throughout Watchmen the comic and the TV show.

Cord Jefferson, another writer on the show, tweeted his support stating, “Watchmen is one of the highlights of my professional life and I will miss it and I think this is a good decision by Damon.” Writer Claire Kiechel chimed in with a tweet retweeted by another writer, Jeff Jensen, with a joke about popular character “Lube Man”:

However, this is in fact the same holding pattern the show has been in since the finale. That means Lindelof is still unsure of a story for a potential Season 2 and feels he has told the story he needs to tell, that he understands if HBO needs to move forward, and HBO would prefer to continue with Lindelof into any potential continuation of Watchmen. Conversations are ongoing, and probably will continue until for a long time to come.

First published in 1986, DC Comics’ Watchmen is considered by many to be the comic book, due to its complicated themes, dark take on superheroics, and groundbreaking use of the artistic form. Lindelof’s Watchmen TV series garnered similar acclaim over its nine episode run, as the Regina King starring series remixed elements from the comic while functioning as a sequel to the comic. It was nominated for (and won) multiple awards, critical acclaim, and was even an audience hit. According to reports, the series was the most watched new show for HBO since Big Little Lies.

Given all that, it’s natural to think that HBO would want a second season of the series, particularly in light of the soon to launch HBO Max streaming service, and post Game of Thrones, the network’s (and one of TV’s) biggest hits. And of note, unlike other offerings from HBO, Watchmen wasn’t called a limited series; the moniker was “Season 1.”

It did not, however end on a “cliffhanger,” as multiple sites have called the Season 1 ending. Spoilers beyond this point, but the season ended with Angela Abar (King) ingesting an egg that may, or may not confer the genetic material and powers of Doctor Manhattan (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), who died in the finale. The final shot showed Angela, bathed in blue light, tentatively placing her foot on the surface of a swimming pool, as she had seen Manhattan walk on water earlier on. That it cut to black could imply that the plot was left hanging, but the shot was a deliberate shout-out to the final panel of Moore and Gibbons’ comic book. There, a hand reaches towards a book, either about to grab it and change the world, or miss it entirely. Here, a foot does the same.

“It felt very clear to me, if we had rolled another 10 seconds forward, what would have happened,” Lindelof said in an interview with Vulture, that of course Angela has these new powers. But in that interview, and multiple others, he argued that this was the ending point of Angela’s story — seeing her get powers was a new story — and ultimately it would be unsatisfying to see her fall face first into a pool.

So even with a second season of the show, it most likely would not pick up right at that moment, so much as pursue a new angle. As is, we may never know. Or maybe we will! Nothing, as they say, ever ends.

This story has been updated to include additional tweets from writers of the show.

Watch Watchmen on HBO Go and HBO Now