{ "id": "ep7ewvjgqg", "slug": "watchmen-2009-film", "title": "Watchmen (2009 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations", "label": "Adaptations of literature, stage, and other media", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations.comics-and-graphic-novel-adaptations", "label": "Films based on comics and graphic novels", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations.comics-and-graphic-novel-adaptations" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations", "label": "United States · 2001 to 2020: Adaptations of literature, stage, and other media", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001", "label": "United States · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations", "label": "Adaptations of literature, stage, and other media", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Watchmen (2009) is Zack Snyder's film adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' DC graphic novel, released March 6, 2009 by Warner Bros. It runs 162 minutes, earned $107.5 million in the US, scored 64% on Rotten Tomatoes, and replaced the comic's squid ending with a Dr Manhattan-framed attack.", "snippet": "Watchmen (2009) is Zack Snyder's film adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' DC graphic novel, released March 6, 2009 by Warner Bros. It runs 162 minutes, earned $107.5 million in the US, scored 64% on Rotten Tomatoes, and replaced the comic's squid ending with a Dr Manhattan-framed attack.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations.comics-and-graphic-novel-adaptations", "markdown": "# Watchmen (2009 film)\n\n**Watchmen** is a 2009 American superhero film directed by [Zack Snyder](https://www.edgepedia.org/zack-snyder), adapted from the 1986–1987 DC graphic novel *Watchmen* by [Alan Moore](https://www.edgepedia.org/alan-moore) and Dave Gibbons. Set in an alternate 1985 America where costumed superheroes are part of everyday life and [Richard Nixon](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-nixon) is still president, it follows the outlawed masked vigilante Rorschach as he investigates the murder of a former colleague, the Comedian, and uncovers a plot to kill or discredit all past and present superheroes.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/watchmen) • [2](https://www.legendary.com/film/watchmen/) The film was released by Warner Bros. on March 6, 2009, after roughly two decades of failed development attempts, and it polarized critics while dividing fans of the source novel over its fidelity and its altered ending.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/watchmen) • [3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2009/mar/05/watchmen-critics-polarised)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | March 6, 2009, wide theatrical release (March 4 in France)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/watchmen) • [4](https://www.lemonde.fr/cinema/article/2009/02/26/qui-critiquera-les-watchmen_5980594_3476.html) |\n| Director and writers | Zack Snyder; screenplay by David Hayter and Alex Tse[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/watchmen) |\n| Source | The twelve-issue 1986–1987 DC comic series *Watchmen* by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons[5](https://doi.org/10.1093/adaptation/apaa024) |\n| Runtime and rating | 162 minutes (2h 42m); rated R for nudity, language, sexuality, and strong graphic violence[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/watchmen) |\n| Principal cast | Malin Akerman (Silk Spectre II), Billy Crudup (Dr. Manhattan), Jackie Earle Haley (Rorschach), Matthew Goode (Ozymandias), Patrick Wilson (Nite Owl), Carla Gugino (the original Silk Spectre), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (the Comedian)[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/watchmen-2009) |\n| Reception | 64% Tomatometer from 304 critics; 71% audience score from over 250,000 ratings on Rotten Tomatoes[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/watchmen) |\n| Box office | $107.5 million gross in the United States[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/watchmen) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise\n\nThe story takes place in an alternate 1985 in which the presence of superheroes changed history: the United States won the [Vietnam War](https://www.edgepedia.org/vietnam-war), Nixon remains president, and the Cold War with the Soviet Union continues, with the [Doomsday Clock](https://www.edgepedia.org/doomsday-clock) moving closer to midnight.[2](https://www.legendary.com/film/watchmen/) • [7](https://www.dc.com/characters/watchmen) [Superhero](https://www.edgepedia.org/superhero) activity has been outlawed, and the murder of the Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) draws the retired vigilante Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) into an investigation of a conspiracy against his former colleagues.[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/watchmen-2009) Of the group, only Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), a being created in a nuclear research accident who exists outside ordinary time and space, has true superpowers; the others are ordinary humans in costume, including Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson), Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman), and Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), described in the story as the world's smartest man.[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/watchmen-2009)\n\n## Development\n\nThe film spent close to twenty years in development. After five years of work that included a script draft by Sam Hamm, the writer of [Tim Burton](https://www.edgepedia.org/tim-burton)'s *Batman*, 20th Century Fox put the project into turnaround in 1991.[8](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/making-watchmen-what-took-so-long/) Directors including [Terry Gilliam](https://www.edgepedia.org/terry-gilliam), Darren Aronofsky, and [Paul Greengrass](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-greengrass) were attached at various times; Greengrass began pre-production at Pinewood Studios in England before Paramount withdrew as the budget figures came in.[8](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/making-watchmen-what-took-so-long/) • [9](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/features/watchmen-10-anniversary-zack-snyder-terry-gilliam-darren-aronofsky-paul-greengrass-a8792791.html)\n\n**Snyder takes over.** In June 2006, after the success of his film *300*, Zack Snyder was announced as director. He worked from [David Hayter](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-hayter)'s earlier drafts, assembling a new script with screenwriter Alex Tse, with uncredited polishes by [Roberto Orci](https://www.edgepedia.org/roberto-orci) and [Alex Kurtzman](https://www.edgepedia.org/alex-kurtzman).[8](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/making-watchmen-what-took-so-long/) • [10](https://www.hollywood.com/general/road-to-watchmen-from-book-to-screen-57177692) Production began in London, with Hayter's script as the foundation.[9](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/features/watchmen-10-anniversary-zack-snyder-terry-gilliam-darren-aronofsky-paul-greengrass-a8792791.html) Snyder storyboarded the entire film before shooting, his usual method, as a way of working out how to turn a book long considered unfilmable into a movie.[11](https://www.awn.com/vfxworld/zack-snyder-talks-watchmen)\n\nThe project was nearly derailed by a copyright lawsuit. On [Christmas Eve](https://www.edgepedia.org/christmas-eve) 2008, Los Angeles federal judge Gary Allen Feess ruled in 20th Century Fox's favor. The dispute was resolved in time for the film's release, with Warner Bros. distributing in the United States and Paramount handling distribution in Europe.[8](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/making-watchmen-what-took-so-long/) • [4](https://www.lemonde.fr/cinema/article/2009/02/26/qui-critiquera-les-watchmen_5980594_3476.html) The studios imposed a review embargo before the release date, which the London *Times* broke.[4](https://www.lemonde.fr/cinema/article/2009/02/26/qui-critiquera-les-watchmen_5980594_3476.html)\n\n## Adaptation and changes\n\nSnyder's approach was unusually literal for a comic adaptation. Reviewers noted that, with the exception of the ending, he and his screenwriters changed almost nothing from the original text, re-creating many of Gibbons's panel compositions on screen and retaining most of the subplots and peripheral details.[12](https://www.timeout.com/movies/watchmen) • [13](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/watchmen/) The opening credits sequence, set to [Bob Dylan](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-dylan)'s \"The Times They Are A-Changin'\", depicts the history of the Watchmen and their predecessors, the [Minutemen](https://www.edgepedia.org/minutemen), across several decades.[14](https://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/upload_documents/03.25.09_Issue.pdf) • [13](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/watchmen/)\n\nThe most debated change is the climax. In the graphic novel, the villain Ozymandias fakes an alien invasion of New York using a giant genetically engineered psychic squid; the film instead has him frame Dr. Manhattan, unleashing an energy attack that destroys New York and other cities. Critics who reviewed the film early generally judged that the new ending retained the spirit of the original and, in some views, worked better on screen.[15](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/tomatometer-watch-is-watchmen-a-triumph/) • [13](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/watchmen/) Other material was cut or moved to supplementary releases: the comic-within-the-comic \"Tales of the Black Freighter\" was adapted separately as a direct-to-DVD animated film, and the Nite Owl's fictional memoir was adapted as the featurette *Watchmen: Under the Hood* (2009).[13](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/watchmen/) • [16](https://www.dc.com/movies/watchmen-under-the-hood-2009) A longer director's cut, roughly three hours, restores additional material.[17](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/watchmen/?critic=creamcrop)\n\nAlan Moore, the novel's writer, took no part in the film. After earlier disappointing adaptations of his work, he disowned the project, denied any interest in its results, and refused to let his name be used in the credits; he had long said he would never watch a filmed adaptation of *Watchmen*.[18](https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2009/03/watchmen-fails-to-match-super-expectations-17814) • [19](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/watchmen/critic-reviews/) • [9](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/features/watchmen-10-anniversary-zack-snyder-terry-gilliam-darren-aronofsky-paul-greengrass-a8792791.html)\n\n## Critical reception\n\nThe film divided critics to a degree compared with the release of *The Lord of the Rings* trilogy. Geek-oriented sites that had followed the production praised its fidelity, while many mainstream reviewers were left unmoved, some objecting not to the adaptation but to the comic's own storyline and style.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2009/mar/05/watchmen-critics-polarised) On the aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes the film stands at 64% among critics and 71% among audiences.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/watchmen)\n\nIndividual reviews ranged widely. Roger Ebert, the longtime critic of the *Chicago Sun-Times*, gave it four stars, calling it \"another bold exercise in the liberation of the superhero movie\" and a film that would \"inspire fevered analysis\".[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/watchmen-2009) The *San Francisco Chronicle* and Salon both scored it 100 on Metacritic; Empire gave 80, and Time 80, while the *Los Angeles Times* critic Kenneth Turan argued that the core of what made the graphic novel significant was by nature impossible to re-create on screen.[19](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/watchmen/critic-reviews/) • [20](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-mar-05-et-watchmen5-story.html) Recurring criticisms included the running time, the dense narrative that assumes familiarity with the book, and performances from Malin Akerman and Matthew Goode that several reviewers found weak; Jackie Earle Haley's Rorschach was widely singled out as the strongest performance.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/watchmen) • [12](https://www.timeout.com/movies/watchmen) • [14](https://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/upload_documents/03.25.09_Issue.pdf)\n\n## Legacy\n\nThe film's commercial and critical performance was modest relative to its expectations, and later commentary has described it as a failure that was nonetheless prescient in its cynical depiction of a team of vigilantes just before superhero films came to dominate the box office.[5](https://doi.org/10.1093/adaptation/apaa024) Its reputation has remained contested: defenders point to its visual fidelity to Gibbons's panels and Haley's performance, while critics argue that it reproduces the novel's plot while missing its critique of the superhero genre itself.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/watchmen)\n\nThe story returned to screens twice afterward. HBO's nine-episode limited series *Watchmen* (2019), created by Damon Lindelof, acts as a continuation rather than an adaptation and was received far more warmly than the 2009 film.[21](https://time.com/5704708/watchmen-hbo-review/) In 2024, Warner Bros. Animation and Paramount released *Watchmen Chapter I* and *Chapter II*, a two-part animated adaptation of the original graphic novel.[22](https://www.dc.com/movies/watchmen-chapter-i-2024)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Watchmen, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/watchmen)\n2. [Watchmen, Legendary Entertainment](https://www.legendary.com/film/watchmen/)\n3. [Week in geek special: Watchmen splits the critics, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2009/mar/05/watchmen-critics-polarised)\n4. [Qui critiquera les Watchmen?, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/cinema/article/2009/02/26/qui-critiquera-les-watchmen_5980594_3476.html)\n5. [Appropriation Anxiety: Watchmen (2019), Adaptation (Oxford Academic)](https://doi.org/10.1093/adaptation/apaa024)\n6. [A quantum man in a universe of mere masked marvels, review by Roger Ebert](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/watchmen-2009)\n7. [Watchmen, DC Characters](https://www.dc.com/characters/watchmen)\n8. [Making Watchmen: What Took So Long?, Rotten Tomatoes](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/making-watchmen-what-took-so-long/)\n9. [Watchmen at 10: how the 'unfilmable' comic book series finally made it to the big screen, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/features/watchmen-10-anniversary-zack-snyder-terry-gilliam-darren-aronofsky-paul-greengrass-a8792791.html)\n10. [Road to 'Watchmen': From Book to Big Screen, Hollywood.com](https://www.hollywood.com/general/road-to-watchmen-from-book-to-screen-57177692)\n11. [Zack Snyder Talks 'Watchmen', Animation World Network](https://www.awn.com/vfxworld/zack-snyder-talks-watchmen)\n12. [Watchmen 2009, directed by Zack Snyder, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/watchmen)\n13. [Review: Watchmen, Slant Magazine](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/watchmen/)\n14. [Watch (film reviews), NYU School of Law, The Commentator, March 25, 2009](https://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/upload_documents/03.25.09_Issue.pdf)\n15. [Tomatometer Watch: Is Watchmen a Triumph?, Rotten Tomatoes](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/tomatometer-watch-is-watchmen-a-triumph/)\n16. [Watchmen: Under the Hood (2009), DC](https://www.dc.com/movies/watchmen-under-the-hood-2009)\n17. [Watchmen, Rotten Tomatoes (critics reviews page)](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/watchmen/?critic=creamcrop)\n18. [Watchmen fails to match super expectations, The Johns Hopkins News-Letter](https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2009/03/watchmen-fails-to-match-super-expectations-17814)\n19. [Watchmen critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/watchmen/critic-reviews/)\n20. [It was unfilmable, by Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-mar-05-et-watchmen5-story.html)\n21. [HBO's Watchmen Is the Smartest Superhero Story Since Black Panther, Time](https://time.com/5704708/watchmen-hbo-review/)\n22. [Watchmen Chapter I (2024), DC](https://www.dc.com/movies/watchmen-chapter-i-2024)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Adaptations of literature, stage, and other media › Films based on comics and graphic novels*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/watchmen-2009-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/watchmen-2009-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Watchmen (2009 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/watchmen-2009-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Watchmen (2009 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/watchmen-2009-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/watchmen-2009-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/watchmen-2009-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Watchmen (2009 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/watchmen-2009-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Watchmen is Zack Snyder's film adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' DC graphic novel, released March 6, 2009 by Warner Bros." }