WARNING: The following contains spoilers through the fourth episode of HBO's Watchmen, "If You Don't Like My Story, Write Your Own," which aired Sunday.
Virtually every time he spoke with the press before the premiere of HBO's Watchmen, series creator Damon Lindelof was adamant that his work would be a spiritual sequel of the seminal comic series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, not an outright adaptation. And with the first season nearly halfway over, the disclaimers of the Lost and Leftovers co-creator were, much like the words of Doctor Manhattan, prophetic. Through four episodes, Watchmen has taken its characters and turned them upside-down, creating a twist-filled experience for fans old and new.
"When it comes to character, emotion and how they interrelate, you have to cast the actors and not get too far ahead in the script," Lindelof told CBR. "Who these characters were on the page was a fixed thing in the pilot. But after that, I was watching what they were doing. I look at writing a character the same way a tailor looks at making any garment. You don't just make it, put it on someone, and hope that it fits. My job is to take measurements and then custom-make the outfit. When you cast incredible actors, the more you listen, the better you're going to end up."
And with that support from Lindelof, this show's ensemble has been able to build out an eclectic group of individuals. Leading the cast is Regina King as retired cop Angela Abar. Speaking with us before the show premiered, she offered one of the series' first big reveals, the fact that her seemingly innocent bakery is a front for her role as vigilante Sister Night.
"Angela and Sister Night are the perfect representation of human beings," King says on her dual identities. "We have to put on masks to protect ourselves through all different aspects of our life. I joke, but I'm serious when I say we put on masks at the family reunion. You have on a mask when you're at school. She represents that. The woman we're meeting at her son's school is not the Angela she really, truly is. The Angela who is the closest to the essence of Angela is when she's with [her husband] Cal."
Cal, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, seems to hold down the fort while Angela cleans up the streets of Tulsa. But a scene from the fourth episode dug into Cal's thoughts on the afterlife, as he talks with his children (revealed to be the adopted children of a deceased officer) about what can await them on the other side.
"Cal understands that life and death are very present and imminent," Abdul-Mateen II says. "He had just had someone die who was just in this kitchen a couple of nights ago. He's not naive, he's very much aware of reality. That's really the picture of a father who's very direct and real. That's his way of saying, 'I don't want you to ever get hurt. I don't want you to ever have to rely on these tools, these false mechanisms that are guaranteed to get you in trouble.'"
The "someone" Abdul-Mateen II is referring to is Don Johnson's police chief Judd Crawford. Audiences were stunned to see the character left hanging from a tree at the end of the pilot, and stunned again an episode later when Angela found an outfit from the racist regime the Seventh Kavalry in a secret compartment in his closet.
"I was like, 'This didn't really happen, right?'" says King, "'We're going to find out that he's still here, aren't we?' Because there's this wonderful relationship between Judd and Angela. Why are they so close? Why do they have this banter? Why do I love it so much? Why do I want to see more of them together? And just when you're feeling that, it's taken away."
Watchmen, in one of many departures from the graphic novel, focuses on the police of Tulsa, as they struggle to keep things afloat amidst investigating Judd's death while keeping the Kavalry at bay. Lindelof attributes this choice to a take on the face (or mask) value of the title.
"It's the providence of the title Watchmen," he explains. "Who watches the Watchmen, and what is a Watchmen? Who do we appoint to have authority over our society? Are they worthy of our trust? When you get into the area of superheroes and you match it in terms of vigilantism and policing, the ideas that are swirling around this season of Watchmen are putting all of those ideas under the microscope and seeing what comes out."
Judd's death came at the hands of a surprising character in Will Reeves, played by Louis Gossett Jr. The first scene of the pilot seems to link the character to the real-life Tulsa race massacre in 1921, an event that has seen African-American characters receiving reparations from the government in the world of Watchmen. At more than 100 years old, Will is full of surprises, including that he is Angela's paternal grandfather.
"With the history of America, it speaks more volumes," the Oscar winner says. "Each scene was a different reaction to that same thing. I use it as ammunition for this character. He's vaguely connected to [Bass Reeves], the most successful marshal in the west. He's that type of character who has to play all different types of roles to get his man. But underneath all that is many masks he has to put on."
Fans saw yet another side to Will in the most recent episode. At the end of Episode 2, he gets taken away from Angela's interrogation by a mysterious vehicle. That vehicle seems to belong to magnate Lady Trieu (Hong Chau), the most recently-introduced cast member. Currently camped out in Tulsa to work on the construction of the Millennium Clock, her smile hides a shrewdness that makes her a successful businesswoman.
"She's not crazy," Chau insists of her character, who she based on several real-life tech billionaires. "She's just very single-minded in her goal, which is to save the world. When you have such a lofty goal, you're going to do some very daring things. These type of idealists have wide-reaching benevolence, but they're also very forgiving in certain ways."
One of those idealists is Adrian Veidt, the antagonist from the graphic novel. Though the media announces the genius' death early in the show, many fans were quick to link the character to the casting of Jeremy Irons months before the show premiered, despite the fact that he was given the name "The Lord of the Manor." Episode 3 finally names Irons' character as Veidt, who currently seems to be simultaneously exiled and imprisoned on a palatial estate.
"It's bit like being an ex-president," Irons says, "You've been at the center of world-shaking decisions, and now you're asked what color you want your library. It's not the same, is it?"
Irons also notes the palpable boredom and frustration Veidt is experiencing. He's taken to copious experiments to plan his escape, testing them on his seemingly never-ending supply of cloned servants. His unfinished business may lie in Doctor Manhattan, who Veidt stages a play about in the second episode.
"I think there's great competition," says Irons. "At the point of our story, Adrian isn't doing too well. Like anybody who's in a position to have great power, someone else who also has power and different views, this is going to be a competitive and constantly questioning relationship. Adrian will think he was more realistic in his worldview and view of human nature."
Manhattan also has a profound effect on another holdover from the source material in Laurie Blake. Played by Jean Smart, the former Silk Spectre has joined the FBI in the intervening years, gone from wearing a mask to taking down masks. Episode 3 introduces and highlights her character by bringing her into the action in Tulsa, giving Smart the opportunity to walk a tricky tightrope in her performance.
"It's always a pressure when you're playing somebody who people have a lot of expectations about," she says. "Because there have been so many years and Damon has been using the graphic novel as a place to begin, that gives us a certain amount of freedom. Things have happened in Laurie's life."
Though the first four episodes have revealed plenty about the cast, there remain many questions to be answered. Perhaps the most come from the enigmatic officer Looking Glass, brought to life by character actor Tim Blake Nelson.
"Looking Glass is afflicted by trauma in his past that informs who and what he is and even what mask he chooses to wear," he teases. "What was great about getting to play this character was that I was learning about that as the show was going along. It's much like we learn more about ourselves in life as we're confronted with various challenges. It's going to be really intriguing and make the work quite exciting.
"I'm lucky with the character of Looking Glass," he continues. "Unlike a lot of the other characters I play, rather than being outlandish and verbose, this character is withholding, quiet, laconic. The task is to do the opposite of what you're saying might be difficult, which is to tamp down. I found that a really rewarding process after so many roles of extravagant talkers and revealers."
Fans get to spend five more episodes with those extravagant talkers and revealers, and it remains to be seen as to how all these seemingly disparate threads will be woven together. But no matter where they come from, the Watchmen cast can see a common theme running through all of their characters' journeys.
"All the characters use their historical, political and personal trauma," Chau says, "as ammunition to motivate them and seek restitution for everything that's happened against them. The show explores whether or not that's a good or bad thing."
"The main word is resentment," adds Gossett Jr. "So many people have such justified resentment in this world, it's going to destroy us. It's one of the monumental things we're going to have to overcome for mankind to survive."
Developed by Damon Lindelof, HBO's Watchmen stars Jeremy Irons, Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tom Mison, James Wolk, Adelaide Clemens, Andrew Howard, Frances Fisher, Jacob Ming-Trent, Sara Vickers, Dylan Schombing, Lily Rose Smith and Adelynn Spoon. The series airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.