Deadline reports that Oscar winner Jeremy Irons (Reversal of Fortune, The Borgias, Justice League) has been cast in a lead role for Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen pilot which is now filming for HBO. The announcement comes not long after Regina King, Don Johnson, and more joined the series cast.
Originally published as a 12-issue miniseries beginning in 1986, Watchmen quickly become one of sequential art’s most acclaimed stories. The original story centers on a murder-mystery before unfolding into a planet-altering conspiracy that ultimately asks where the fine line is drawn between heroes and villains.
In the recent letter to fans, Lindelof made it clear that the Watchmen series won’t be an adaptation of the comics, but an original story with new faces and unknown characters introduced into the universe that he intends to remix.
Irons will star as one of those original characters, said to be an aging and imperious lord of a British manor. This role will be the second time the actor has worked on a TV series, coming after his Golden Globe-nominated run on Showtime’s The Borgias from 2011-2013. Irons recent feature credits include Justice League, Red Sparrow, and An Actor Prepares.
Zack Snyder’s feature adaptation of Watchmen was released in 2009 and brought in just $185 million at the worldwide box office. The cast includes Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Carla Gugino, and Patrick Wilson.
Since the film’s release, DC Comics released an extensive “Before Watchmen” comic line, telling stories from the pasts of the central characters. More recently, DC Comics has made efforts to integrate Watchmen into the broader DC Multiverse with their Doomsday Clock series.
Lindelof serves as creator, writer, showrunner, and executive producer on the Watchmen series, with Tom Spezialy also executive producing. Nicole Kassell will executive produce and direct the pilot.
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