DC Comics’ Doomsday Clock #1 is finally here, bringing with it a slew of mysteries, not least of which being: What are the heroes from the Watchmen universe doing mucking around with the likes of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman? Though Watchmen was published by DC Comics, the two universes have long kept their distance, with Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s story about washed up heroes trying to save the world from one of their own considered a neat, tidy, self-contained package. Those days are over, though, as Doomsday Clock looks to follow-up on the events of Watchmen’s conclusion, which saw the Earth hoodwinked in to a brief unity after the series’ primary antagonist Adrian Veidt, Ozymandias, orchestrated a faux alien invasion.

The final pages of Watchmen revealed Ozymandias’ grand plan. To bring the world together, he first had to force people to acknowledge the presence of a greater threat. For his plan to work, though, he had to ensure that none of his former hero allies would put the pieces together. Thus, he killed the Comedian, got Rorschach incarcerated and forced the omnipotent Dr. Manhattan into a self-imposed exiled after several of his former acquaintances came forward with cancer diagnoses.

RELATED: Doomsday Clock: How Ozymandias’ Watchmen Plan Unraveled

Cancer plays a major role in Doomsday Clock #1, though in a different way. The opening pages reveal that Ozymandias is stricken with brain cancer, evidenced by the X-rays pinned in his Antarctic retreat and, later, by his own admission. Ozymandias’ cancer leaves him with crippling, debilitating migraines, and the size of the growth indicates that it is likely terminal – he admits it’s spreading.

It seems petty to pose the question “Where did Ozymandias’ cancer come from?” Cancer is a real disease that comes in many forms, after all, and the cause isn’t always cut and dry. But this is the Watchmen world, and Watchmen is a series that necessitates misdirection as one of its core storytelling elements. Cancer was a means to an end in Watchmen, and Ozymandias had no qualms about exploiting the disease for his own benefit in the comics. Now he, or someone else, might just be doing it again.

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So, where did Ozymandias’ cancer come from? Who are the likely culprits, and what do they get from afflicting the megalomaniac with a terminal illness? And how does all that tie into the story Doomsday Clock is weaving? Let’s dive into all the possible sources of Adrian Veidt’s newly-revealed affliction.

Your Own Worst Enemy

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The most obvious answer is that Ozymandias’ give himself cancer. Perhaps not intentionally, but at least by accident. After all, at the end of Watchmen he fesses up to Night Owl that he was the one who orchestrated Dr. Manhattan’s exile, ensuring the hero’s former associates were exposed to the proper radioactive materials that would result in a cancer diagnosis. So, is it really that hard to believe that Ozymandias was a bit of a butterfingers with dangerous, noxious materials and that prolonged exposure left him with a brain tumor the size of a golf ball? No, it’s not hard to believe – but it’s profoundly unlikely.

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After all, we’re talking about a man with genius-level intellect, who knew enough about genetics to create his own cat hybrid and almost destroyed the world with an engineered space squid. Sure, there were plenty of chances for Ozymandias to encounter radioactive materials along the way, but it’s equally believable that he took the proper precautions and that someone else is responsible for his current affliction. All Ozymandias has to say about the diagnosis is that the cancer is “another reminder of my past mistakes.” Which mistakes might those be?

I’ve Got the Blues

Dr Manhattan on Mars

There are certainly quite a few mistakes to choose from. Ozymandias could be referring to his alien squid plot, inflicting cancer on numerous innocents or exiling Dr. Manhattan to Mars. He could also be talking about how he’s the reason why Dr. Manhattan left the Watchmen version of Earth for the DC Comics Universe. Ozymandias’ goal in Doomsday Clock #1, after all, is to find Dr. Manhattan, to bring “god” back to the world. That seems a little altruistic for the man who murdered millions in a grand, misguided experiment in world peace. Maybe, instead, he wants Dr. Manhattan to take away the cancer he gave Ozymandias.

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It’s a stretch, without a doubt. While Dr. Manhattan is no stranger to bloodshed, giving Ozymandias cancer does seem kind of… petty. But it’s also important to remember that we’re dealing with a Dr. Manhattan who is now extremely into poking and prodding at the natural order of things, tweaking pieces of the DC Comics Universe to try and produce new outcomes. So, maybe Dr. Manhattan giving Ozymandias cancer isn’t a malicious thing, but rather a catalyst to propel the hero-turned-supervillain into action – or even to get him back on the right path. Ozymandias is, after all, probably the only person with the scientific knowhow to track down Dr. Manhattan, and he’s certainly going to go through the pains of finding his former ally if that means he gets a stay of execution.

A Dish Best Served Cold

doctor manhattan cancer

There’s no denying that there are plenty of people who want Ozymandias’ head on a pike. That’s clear from the number of people pouring into his office at the start of Doomsday Clock #1. It’s possible that in the world of Doomsday Clock those violent sentiments have been growing for some time. If people have known what Ozymandias did for some time now, that would certainly be more than enough time for the families of the people he afflicted with cancer – or maybe even the one of the victims themselves -- to seek revenge. Maybe Ozymandias contracted cancer from a vengeful vigilante.

RELATED: Doomsday Clock’s Rorschach Resurrection, Explained

There’s not a whole lot of evidence in the text for this read, but it would certainly fit into the themes of Watchmen. The series is all about vigilantes run amuck, good intentions that are slowly eroded by the realities of human nature. It would be thematically perfect for Ozymandias, the hero now outed as the world’s most sinister villain, to feed into the classic vigilante cycle, for his wrongdoings to be the catalyst for someone to stand up and say enough is enough. That the means of execution is the cancer he inflicted on so many others is all the more poetic. That would be quite the cyclical journey for ol’ Ozymandias.

Big Twist: No One

Okay, strap on your tinfoil hats because this is a big leap. What if Ozymandias doesn’t have cancer at all. What if Doomsday Clock is a battle of wits rather than strength, of two behind-the-scenes players, Ozymandias and Dr. Manhattan, slowly maneuvering pieces on a playing field that spans two dimensions – the Watchmen world and the DC Comics Universe. What if Ozymandias is playing the reader again, forcing us to look upon all the evidence (the X-rays, his own admission that he has cancer) and believe, once again, that he’s just another honest player. This is a guy who lied his way through all of Watchmen and then arranged his own assassination so that no one would catch on to his master plan. The motive might not be clear yet, but he’s got the chops to organize such an elaborate ruse.

So, how does convincing everyone he’s got cancer aid Ozymandias in his goal of finding Dr. Manhattan? That would be impossible to tell from a single issue, but it’s a possibility worth keeping in mind as the series goes on. Cancer served as a way to distance Dr. Manhattan, “god” in Ozymandias’ mind, and now it could serve to draw the superpowered hero back from his dimensional tinkering. It’s a game of life and death, but Adrian Veidt has never been one to liberally take to the battlefield. He’s more comfortable on the sidelines, safe from harm. He’s a manipulator and he’s without a doubt up to his old tricks again. Even something as heinous as faking as fatal illness isn't off the table.