How the New Watchmen Brings the Legendary Graphic Novel to Animated Life

Warner Bros. has conscionable released Watchmen: Chapter 1, the archetypal fractional of a caller animated adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ groundbreaking superhero execution mystery. In grant of its VOD premiere, io9 sat down with manager Brandon Vietti, arsenic good arsenic actors Katee Sackhoff and Titus Welliver, who dependable brand-new takes connected Silk Spectre/Laurie Juspeczyk and Rorschach/Walter Kovacs.

As this was a uncommon opportunity, we couldn’t defy asking a fewer further questions astir their erstwhile work, including The Mandalorian, The X-Files, and Scooby-Doo! Wrestlemania Mystery. First up is manager Vietti, who was keen to sermon adapting the archetypal fractional of the 12-issue constricted bid into a deft, 80-minute feature.

Gordon Jackson, io9: You’ve been with Warner Brothers Animation for a agelong time, right?

Brandon Vietti: Twenty years.

io9: Twenty years, and you’ve worked connected galore antithetic incarnations of Batman—The Brave and the Bold, Under the Red Hood, Batman vs Dracula, the Scooby-Doo/Wrestlemania crossover… 

Vietti: I did.

io9: …and present you’re connected Watchmen. How bash you consciousness astir that?

Vietti: It was intimidating. But besides tremendous joy, due to the fact that I respect the worldly truthful much. I was a instrumentality of the book. The complexity of the storytelling, the characters, the world-building—it’s unmatched. And portion it was a daunting task to benignant of measurement into each of that world-building, astonishing craftsmanship, and the prestige that comes on with it, it was besides amusive for me. I emotion that benignant of puzzle-solving progressive successful trying to adapt. It works truthful good connected the printed page, truthful to bring it into the filmmaking medium—but specifically to the animated medium—to truly seizure each of the strengths of animation, the unsocial dependable of animation successful adapting this material. It was conscionable a batch of amusive for maine and my full group.

io9: Going into this, was determination thing you knew you wanted to bash otherwise than the Zack Snyder movie? Had you astatine immoderate constituent said to yourself, “This hasn’t been done before. I truly privation to accommodate this the mode I spot it”?

Vietti: I effort not to discarded excessively overmuch connected Zack’s astonishing movie oregon the astonishing question comic that came earlier us. Those are large adaptations, and with immoderate adaptation, immoderate creator that comes successful to accommodate large worldly is going to bring a antithetic dependable to it. I didn’t privation to disrespect immoderate of the artists that came earlier maine by straight-up copying, but my goal, our task that we acceptable for ourselves, was to absorption connected the archetypal comic and bash the champion we could successful adapting this to animation. To reply your question, though, I deliberation for me, the astir amusive is the series with Dr. Manhattan connected Mars.

© Warner Bros.

io9: Oh, really?

Vietti: Absolutely. I deliberation I had a batch of ideas for however to benignant of premix immoderate of that material, utilizing editing, utilizing transitions, utilizing dependable design, to hopefully let the assemblage to acquisition what Dr. Manhattan experiences successful perceiving aggregate points of clip simultaneously. That’s thing that I deliberation a comic publication would person difficultly portraying. A movie tin bash it precise well. I deliberation animation tin bash it best. So to me, that was the biggest originative propulsion successful trying to find a mode to merchantability to the audience, “What it’s similar to beryllium Dr. Manhattan?” How bash you get successful his caput and comprehend aggregate points of time? And that was an illustration of embracing the strengths of animation successful our storyline.

io9: Did you consciousness intimidated by Dr. Manhattan? The character’s been meme’d truthful much, successful caller years. He’s been parodied a lot. You didn’t consciousness similar determination was thing that you had to navigate around…

Vietti: I wanted to truly marque this travel through. I mean, hopefully what we did does travel through.

io9: It does. But the representation of him sitting connected the stone connected Mars—there’s a fashionable meme surrounding that. Were you warned against putting that representation successful there?

Vietti: I gotta say, it ne'er crossed my caput that the information that it’s been meme’d a lot. Again, my full absorption was capturing the tone of the archetypal book.

io9: The publication by J. Michael Straczynski is truthful tight, yet helium didn’t adhd oregon region a azygous word. Did you consciousness the substance itself was perfectly sacrosanct?

Vietti: Yeah, but there’s a batch of enactment that helium did. He truly was the cardinal to unlocking however to construe … I support saying … 12 books into a movie format. It’s difficult. The pacing that you bash for an idiosyncratic contented of 12 issues is antithetic than what you would bash for a movie. So with each of his immense acquisition successful TV and film, helium was capable to spell successful determination and find a amended mode for us, for the filmmaking media. Sort of reorganize immoderate scenes. Make precise hard cuts. We didn’t privation to chopped anything. We person truthful overmuch surface time. We had to marque immoderate hard choices for editing, enactment material, cutting material. And helium was truly the cardinal successful helping unlock the champion mode to format the movie for 2 chapters.

io9: The integration of the Black Freighter communicative was precise clever.

Vietti: Yeah, I retrieve 1 of our archetypal meetings helium was ace energized astir Black Freighter. The Freighter, arsenic Alan Moore wrote it, ever had these absorbing poetic resonances with what was going connected extracurricular of the comic and the characters. And Straczynski truly had a clump of different ideas excessively wrong our caller format due to the fact that of the challenges of the adaptation. And I benignant of integrate that worldly successful a somewhat antithetic way, but it inactive feels similar it was done successful the book. And of people that truly gave maine a large filmmaking accidental to- again, I deliberation works champion successful animation—cutting backmost and distant betwixt the events, the ocular of a comic publication panel, the ocular of an animated frame. Personally, I felt was thing that would enactment better, beryllium much successful, and doing the aforesaid instrumentality with unrecorded enactment arsenic a opposition of visual.

© Warner Bros.

After we spoke to Vietti, Katee Sackhoff was generous capable to sermon her show arsenic the Silk Spectre—among different things.

io9: So, Watchmen: How excited were you to articulation this?

Katee Sackhoff: Oh my gosh. You know, each clip I benignant of get asked to bash a voiceover animation, I look astatine the content. I look astatine if it’s thing that I’m intrigued to see. And erstwhile I saw Watchmen travel crossed my desk, I was like, oh, yeah, no, I person to bash this. I person to bash this. This is ace cool.

io9: When it comes to dependable acting, you’ve already been Poison Ivy, She-Hulk, Black Cat, and Robot Chicken‘s Bitch Pudding. Your show successful this felt legitimately anguished. 

Sackhoff: Thank you. I deliberation Laurie—I identified with a batch of the things that she feels. I felt her symptom and I felt what it’s similar to emotion idiosyncratic with each of your bosom and not consciousness enough. I cognize what those things consciousness like. And I wanted the assemblage to perceive it successful her. Because I find her to beryllium truthful strong, but incredibly vulnerable. And, you know, erstwhile you spot erstwhile she’s not getting what she needs, that her bosom breaks. So, yeah.

io9: Did you grounds each of your lines by yourself, oregon did you get to beryllium successful the aforesaid country arsenic Titus Welliver and everybody?

Sackhoff: I didn’t, sadly. You know, Titus and I person had the pleasance of moving unneurotic erstwhile successful idiosyncratic connected Mandalorian. And past we’ve done rather a spot of voiceover jobs unneurotic astatine this constituent but we’ve ne'er recorded together. So I deliberation that’s adjacent for us. We’re going to person to astatine immoderate constituent get successful a room. But wouldn’t that person been awesome? Every clip I bash a voiceover job, I ever deliberation to myself, “God, wouldn’t this person been awesome to beryllium capable to coordinate each these radical and get successful a country together?” But it ne'er seems to happen.

io9: So, speaking of Mandalorian, arsenic Bo-Katan, you person that celebrated representation of yourself sitting connected the throne. How hard was that to airs and however overmuch thought went into it? Was determination a batch of maneuvering? Were they like, “Katee, could you displacement here?” Or did you conscionable nail it successful 1 go? 

Sackhoff: Live-action is simply a batch much challenging than voiceover. And determination are times wherever I privation that Bo was inactive successful voiceover. Holding that presumption was incredibly hard and achy and not natural. But I deliberation it looked perfectly chill connected camera. So it was the close choice. But it was decidedly not natural.

io9: And speaking of Bitch Pudding—I’ve ever wanted to inquire you astir this. What was the root of that? How were you asked to play her? Was that a dependable you ever had connected deck?

Sackhoff: You cognize what’s comic is that voiceover enactment doesn’t travel people to me. And 1 of the things with Seth Green and Matt [Senreich] that is truthful awesome is that they bring you successful and they propulsion these voices retired of maine due to the fact that they’re there. We conscionable person to find them. Okay, and truthful Bitch Pudding was—I went successful to play [Battlestar Galactica‘s] Starbuck. And you know, they’re notoriously inexpensive implicit there. And I was done successful astir 5 minutes. And past they were like, “Well, possibly you should play these different characters.” Because we bought you for 30 minutes and 1 of the characters was Bitch Pudding. And I don’t cognize wherever that quality came from.

io9: Your guttural soul.

Sackhoff: Somewhere heavy wrong that anguish part. It’s a batch easier to play Laurie, I person to archer you.

io9: So Silk Spectre was thing you didn’t person to truly propulsion at?

Sackhoff: She was conscionable there. And similar I said, I understood her anguish. I recognize who she is arsenic a person. And this communicative is great. I emotion it. I emotion that they’re staying existent to the book. And I’m excited to spot what fans think.

io9: The integration of each the details was amazing. Did you get a publication first, oregon conscionable work your lines arsenic written connected the time you recorded?

Sackhoff: No, truthful I did get the script. As soon arsenic the thought came crossed of doing this, successful playing Silk Spectre, the publication does travel to you. And I work the publication and they benignant of practiced it successful the thought of like, you know, this is existent successful the book. And that was capable for maine to motion on. And I really, truly loved it. And past moving with Brandon was truthful great. And, you know, helium truly helped maine transmission into the symptom successful Laurie and making definite that that would travel across.

© Warner Bros.

io9: Did you person thing successful caput astir your show that you wanted to bash otherwise from the live-action movie and Malin Ackerman’s portrayal?

Sackhoff: Oh gosh. You know, what’s comic is I’ve had the pleasance aggregate times of taking characters that were not originated by myself and making them my own. And I deliberation that this is, you know, what makes Laurie peculiar is nary antithetic than that. I emotion what was established by the endowment to [play her] earlier me. And I deliberation that that comparison, though, would, for myself … is thing that I conscionable can’t do. So arsenic soon arsenic I signed connected to bash this, I did not spell and look astatine immoderate much Watchmen due to the fact that I knew astatine that constituent that I would beryllium trying to emulate alternatively of create.

Finally, we spoke to Titus Welliver astir his kinder, gentler show arsenic Rorschach.

io9: How excited were you to articulation this and dependable Rorschach? 

Titus Welliver: Oh, precise privileged and highly excited. I got the publication erstwhile it archetypal came retired and person been a immense instrumentality of it for years. And similar everyone other who was a instrumentality of the book, teasing implicit the years that determination would someday beryllium a movie … and finally, Zack Snyder makes the movie and [it’s] great. And truthful to beryllium a portion of this, which is fundamentally a, you know, the animated diagnostic and the astonishing occupation with the animation are fundamentally the panels travel to life. So it’s an honor.

io9: How overmuch tuning and calibration did you person to bash with the gravel successful your dependable earlier deciding “I’m going to spell this far, nary further”?

Welliver: It took a infinitesimal and we recorded a information of it connected the archetypal time and determination was thing that was nagging maine and we benignant of came backmost unneurotic and I conscionable said there’s thing that’s not right. So evidently I couldn’t bash I wasn’t going to bash a consecutive assistance of Jackie [Earle Haley]’s performance, but his show was great. And determination was thing determination and I wanted to wage homage to his work. It was incredible. We recovered it connected the 2nd time and present each the vocal grooming I had successful conservatory. None of that came successful the play due to the fact that it was all, “Raaah.”

io9: Yeah, it sounded similar your dependable indispensable person been changeable aft a mates hours.

Welliver: Right.

io9: So, your mentation of Rorschach felt a small much nuanced—almost arsenic if helium were connected the spectrum. He wasn’t precisely cultivating this persona to propulsion radical away, helium was being his authentic aforesaid and didn’t recognize people’s reactions to it. Was that thing you were aiming for?

Welliver: Yeah. And actually, the manager and I, we benignant of talked astir that due to the fact that I’d said, careless of characters [being] good, atrocious oregon indifferent connected a level, successful his journey, his motivation compass is moving successful the close direction. But he’s successful this process, and the information that he’s dealing with each the worldly that he’s dealing with … It’s not that you person to marque a quality likable, but I felt similar I wanted to permission thing determination that would resonate with radical that were watching it [and] that determination was thing determination with a level of humanity successful that character. And that’s hard … that portion of it was really, truly absorbing to do. So I’m gladsome that that came through.

© Warner Bros.

io9: His relationship with Dan truly shines through. When helium breaks into his location and apologizes, “Sorry, I ate your beans,” that felt similar a morganatic interest connected his portion and not conscionable a powerfulness move.

Welliver: Yeah. You’re you’re you’re spot connected with that. It’s hard erstwhile you’re successful something, you’re trying. That’s my intent. You know, process of signaling these things, there’s immoderate worldly that you person to benignant of withdraw. But we were truly fixed the magnitude of clip to truly find it and bash it properly. So it wasn’t conscionable like, “Yeah, it’s not good. Let’s go.” We really, truly took our time. And I deliberation having lone seen clips and worldly successful the trailer and not seen it, I’m truly excited to spot it. So I’m going to yet get to bash that.

io9: And you recorded each of your lines successful isolation, right? No 1 other was successful the booth with you?

Welliver: Yeah. No, I didn’t get to meet—I mean, I knew Katee from Mandalorian. And besides we some worked connected a Batman happening [Batman: The Long Halloween] …  So yeah, determination wasn’t immoderate of that interaction, unfortunately, but successful a mode it was benignant of chill due to the fact that everybody had the state to benignant of enactment connected what you needed to bash connected task.

io9: We’re immense fans of Deadwood. You didn’t travel backmost for the movie, though. You were filming Bosch, right?

Welliver: Yeah, yeah. That benignant of precluded me. I would person loved to travel back. But yeah, Bosch, I was shooting that. But I thought they did a large occupation with it. So it’s truly chill to spot those characters again.

io9: Were determination plans for Silas that you were privy to?

Welliver: There had been speech astir it ages ago, but you know, that’s been an ongoing speech for years. “Oh, they’re going to bash it. Oh, they’re not going to bash it.” … There [weren’t] immoderate further conversations beyond that. But I was disappointed lone due to the fact that I loved playing that character. It was specified a choky household of actors nether the superb umbrella of David Milch. So I was bummed, but I thought [the movie] was great.

io9:  You were besides successful a fan-favorite occurrence of The X-Files, “Darkness Falls.”

Welliver: Oh, it was a large experience, but it was hard. It poured rainfall the full time. Yeah, convey you. But it was fantastic and it forged a narration with David Duchovny and Jason Beghe and Gillian Anderson. It was a fantastic experience. I was a instrumentality of the show. I desperately wanted to bash it. I retrieve my manager astatine the clip said, “Oh, that show’s going to beryllium disconnected the air.” And I said, “I deliberation it’s a truly bully show. I privation to bash it.” So the accidental came on and I did it. And I fired that manager due to the fact that helium was precise wrong.

Watchmen: Chapter 1 stars the voices of Titus Welliver, Katee Sackhoff, Corey Burton, Adrienne Barbeau, Kelly Hu, Michael Cerveris, Jeffrey Combs, Phil Lamarr, Matthew Rhys, Yuri Lowenthal, Geoff Pierson, Dwight Shultz, Kari Wahlgren, John Marshall Jones, Max Koch, Jason Spisak, and Rick D. Wasserman.

It’s disposable to watercourse present connected Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and Fandango astatine Home; the 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray versions get August 27.

Want much io9 news? Check retired erstwhile to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s adjacent for the DC Universe connected movie and TV, and everything you request to cognize astir the aboriginal of Doctor Who.