HBO's Watchmen cleaned up at the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards on ABC Sunday, and DC's Chief Creative Officer couldn't be happier.The 2019 limited series was nominated in 26 categories, walking away with Emmys for 11 of them, including Outstanding Limited Series. DC's Publisher and CCO Jim Lee retweeted a post from Variety's Adam Vary, who noted Watchmen was the first comic-related series to win television's top honor. Lee expressed his happiness with a series of emojis.
The series also had other notable winners. Regina King, who played Angela Abar/Sister Night, won an award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who played Cal Abar/Doctor Manhattan, also took home an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series. The show also won awards for cinematography, writing, and music composition, among other categories.
Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' original Watchmen graphic novel was first published by DC in 1986. The story received critical acclaim and was long considered a standalone story, and save for Zach Snyder's 2009 film and several Before Watchmen prequel series in 2012, the franchise was largely dormant until DC integrated Watchmen into continuity with its Rebirth initiative. This development led to Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's Watchmen sequel Doomsday Clock beginning in 2017.
Executive Producer Damon Lindelof, meanwhile, independently developed HBO's Watchmen, also a sequel to Moore and Gibbons' series. Both the comic and television sequels concluded late last year.
Developed by Damon Lindelof, HBO's Watchmen stars Jeremy Irons, Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Jean Smart, 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.