Watchmen Season 2: Damon Lindelof Is Looking For The Right Idea

The world is ready for Watchmen Season 2. HBO won't just let that drop. Or will they?

By Faith McKay

The creator of the HBO television series version of Watchmen only ever intended for it to run a single season. His vision was for a standalone, limited series. What does his vision mean for a possible second season? Afterall, fans are in love. The critics are also widely supportive. The world is ready for Watchmen Season 2. HBO won’t just let that drop. Or will they?

Or will they?

This is what we know so far about Watchmen Season 2.

The Creator of HBO’s Watchmen

HBO’s Watchmen was created by Damon Lindelof. This screenwriter has a hefty resume, including his time as the co-creator and showrunner for Lost. He was also one of the writers for the acclaimed HBO series The Leftovers, as well as movies like Star Trek Into Darkness and World War Z.

In more than one interview, Lindelof has clearly stated he always envisioned Watchmen as a one-season show. He promised fans at New York Comic Con that the show would have a complete ending with no loose ends. He added however that there is a potential for “further exploration of the world”, but that if it did go further, he didn’t know if he’d be working on it. Later speaking to USA Today Lindelof confirmed that he will not return to Watchmen for a second season. He’s officially done… probably.

There is a chance Lindelof will come back if someone comes up with the story for him to get involved in. But if they don’t, he seems to be giving the show his blessing to move on without him.

In an interview with Collider Damon Lindelof had this to say about Watchmen season 2: “Suffice it to say that I just feel like what’s best for Watchmen, this thing that I love, is for someone else to take their shot at it. I think that that’s just gonna be much more interesting than anything that I would do moving forwards. And it’s not that I take the opportunity for granted. I’ve learned that not working with actors again is stupid, so I would love to work with Carrie Coon again and I would love to work with Regina King again and Jean Smart and Tim Blake Nelson and Justin Theroux and Kevin Carroll and Jovan Adepo, who I’ve worked with twice now. These actors in the world of Watchmen. But at the same time, unless I have an idea that is as important to me as Tulsa ’21 was, then I shouldn’t do it. And I haven’t had that idea, and I want to create the space versus people waiting for me to change my mind. I want to create the space for people to come forward and say, ‘I have an idea.’“

Regina King On If She’d Return

Watchmen was an ensemble cast but if there was a main character in the first season, then it was the character played by Regina King. She’s also probably the actress it would make the most sense to bring back for Watchmen season 2, should it happen.

When asked if she’d come back for Watchmen season 2 by the Trades she had this to say: “You know, I don’t know. Honestly, I feel like I think HBO would want it back in a heartbeat, but if Damon Lindelof doesn’t see an entry point for Season 2 — I think that the possibilities are infinite, but I feel that if Damon doesn’t see it, then it’s going to be a no for me.“

Sounds like the only way they’ll get her is if they get Damon Lindelof back, and that could be a problem. More on that as we continue digging in to the Watchmen season 2 problem.

A Watchmen Season 2 Director

Nicole Kassell did an interview with Business Insider, where she said there is plenty of content for future seasons of Watchmen and expressed an interest in being able to see that happen. 

Kassell directed three episodes from season one. Her desire to see more has given fans someone on the inside rooting for more of this new series.

Watchmen Season 2 And HBO

HBO was tight lipped, but when they aired the finale of season one, they referred to it explicitly as a “season finale” as opposed to a series finale. The official episode description released by HBO said “Season 1 Finale”. 

It’s not much, but it’s something. In indicates they were at least thinking about making Watchmen Season 2 a reality. Now though, that seems to be over with.

In an interview with USA Today HBO exec Casey Bloys confirmed that HBO will not pursue a second season of Watchmen. Their reason? Damon Lindelof doesn’t want to do it. Even though Lindelof has given them his blessing to do it with someone else, Bloys says: “It would be hard to imagine doing it without Damon involved in some way.”

Watchmen season 2 could still happen, if the show got picked up somewhere else. It’s happened with other shows. Most recently The Orville was picked up from Fox and saved by Hulu and The Expanse was picked up by Amazon after SyFy dumped it. We’ll have to wait and see if anyone bites on Watchmen.

The Plot of Watchmen Season 2

Watchmen is based on the DC comics series Watchmen from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. The comic was released in the late 1980s and has already been previously adapted as a major motion picture. In the television series, Lindelof decided season one would take place a few decades after the ending of the comic series. Instead of taking place in a world dealing with the threat of nuclear events and the Cold War, season one of Watchmen is deals with white supremacy in the United States. 

While the main threads of the story were all tied up, there are still enough unanswered questions and potential to have fans demanding a date they can look forward to seeing season two of the series. The question is: If Watchmen season one was a complete story, where would season two go?

Anywhere it wanted to go, really. The ideas being briefly mentioned in interviews indicate that anything could happen, and that they don’t have a clear vision for a second season at this point in time.

There’s the distinct possibility that, similar to American Horror Story or Fargo, Watchmen could be an anthology series. There’s a clear advantage with this approach in that instead of simply adapting the comic book of the same name, the television series takes place after the comic series with its own self contained events. There is no one saying that this show has to use the same characters or even the same actors for a second season. In fact, there are few limits on what a Watchmen Season 2 could look like if someone picks it up. 

In fact, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lindelof discussed the idea of an anthology series for continuing Watchmen. He even mentioned the possibility of bringing on a new writer with a fresh vision for Watchmen Season 2. 

When Will Watchmen Season 2 Be Released?

Because we don’t yet know if there will be a season two, it’s hard to say when it would be likely we’d see it happen, however, it seems unlikely they would approve a season two, write, film, and get the show ready for release in 2020. Watchmen Season 2 is unlikely to arrive any sooner than 2021 given that it doesn’t have a network home, after HBO’s announcement that they won’t make it.