Watchmen 2 Might Happen

The thought of a sequel to the feature adaptation of last year’s Watchmen makes my head hurt, but that’s not stopping the boardroom brass over at DC Comics from making it happen. According to Bleeding Cool, Watchmen 2 could be on the horizon and there’s nothing any of us can do to stop it.

Paul Levitz was the former DC Comics President and Publisher, and one of the few people at the company who wanted to keep Watchmen as a single property, not the victim of mass spin-offs or sequels. He knew that making such moves would go against everything creators Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons believed in, and we all know how much Moore hated the idea of Zack Snyder adapting the comic in the first place. Now, Levitiz has stepped down from his position and Dan DiDio the SVP-Executive Editor for DC Comics has decided to pursue several Watchmen sequels/prequels despite all those who are against it.

When Levitz was in office, any new properties based on the Watchmen material was restricted including video games. Here’s Bleeding Cool’s report regarding Didio’s plans for the future…

I understand that both Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons have to be offered first refusal before any of these titles could be published. But if they don’t want to work on them themselves (and Alan Moore is never going to agree), DiDio has been sounding out people who might be willing to take on the task.

While some creators are reticent, the argument goes if there are a number of Watchmen spin-off projects, any blame or shame can be spread on many shoulders. The sales are expected to be massive, whatever the hardcore fanboy reaction and such expected sales benefits will be shared amongst the creative teams.

Moore threw in the towel a long time ago when it came to Watchmen, but the very thought of a major franchise brewing makes my skin crawl. If all of Didio’s plans come to fruition, the Watchmen sequel might be headed our way, which would blow because the first film was a hit or miss. We should have known this was coming after reading the fine print on those film contracts that had movie and television spin-offs listed as fair game. Don’t do it DC, just don’t.

Do you think Didio is wrong for trying to expand the Watchmen universe? Do you want to see a film sequel made?