In the world of film and TV, most people tend to think of the director as the one in charge of everything. While they play a huge role, it’s super important to remember that the screenwriter is also a key player in creating the project. Sometimes, the same person fills both roles, but often the director is just the director, and the writer is someone else entirely.
Zack Snyder was seen as a visionary from the beginning, but when Watchmen was released, that perception kind of changed. The movie didn’t resonate with the general audience, and many laid the blame on the director. However, it turns out that Snyder wasn’t responsible for the issues with the production at all. He merely directed the filming and had no role in developing the plot.
Zack Snyder Did Not Write The Script For Watchmen
Famous for his director’s cuts and regarded as a visionary genius by many, it’s fair to say that not all of Zack Snyder‘s productions have lived up to that reputation.
With that in mind, it’s accurate to say that Snyder doesn’t seem to be the same professional he once was, but it’s unfair to blame him for the failure of Watchmen. The film did receive a low score on Rotten Tomatoes, but that wasn’t due to the director, and very few people are aware of this.
The DC superhero movie was released in 2009, and to this day, if it’s remembered at all, it’s mainly seen as a flop within this cinematic universe. The plot is quite complex, largely because it incorporates real-life events. However, the film’s biggest criticism was that it sacrificed the essence of the story for the sake of aesthetic enhancement.
The comic book story was a huge success, which led to it being considered for a film adaptation. However, in the movie, the essence was lost because the segment known as Tales of the Black Freighter was removed, along with a change to the original ending, which served as the crucial link to all of Ozymandias’ actions.
However, important events occurred before Snyder was hired that influenced the very details that many fans disliked.
In an interview with the Script Apart podcast, screenwriter David Hayter revealed that the changes fans complained about weren’t actually Snyder’s idea, but rather came from a friend of filmmaker Darren Aronofsky. He also mentioned that adapting the story’s ending would be very challenging, especially after September 11, as he didn’t believe it would be appropriate to depict images of dead bodies in Times Square.
Aronofsky was initially set to direct the film but had to turn it down to complete another project. However, after learning about Hayter’s idea, he shared it with a friend who was a professional physicist. The screenwriter said:
Aronofsky sent me a note saying, ‘I have a friend who’s a physicist who had an idea for the ending of the movie.’ And it was: what if Doctor Manhattan was the agent of destruction? And that just clicked into place in my brain and I was like, ‘Of course that’s what it should be.’ There’s only one element of supernatural magic in this story and it’s Doctor Manhattan. So — and Adrian has been taking his energy to create, you know, clean energy around the world. So why couldn’t he replicate it to make it look like Doctor Manhattan was destroying all these cities?
But it wasn’t just the fans who hated the movie version; a big name also shared the same opinion: Alan Moore.
The Creator Of The Watchmen Comic Hated The Adaptation
Even before the movie was released, Moore, the creator of Watchmen, was unwilling to discuss it. He had a strong stance on cinema and TV, stating that “nothing good can come of almost any adaptation.” (via Entertainment Weekly):
There are things that we did with Watchmen that could only work in a comic, and were indeed designed to show off things that other media can’t.
The truth is that Moore never watched the movie, so convinced was he that the production wouldn’t satisfy him. The same happened with the HBO series; after its premiere, he stated that he had disowned it and requested that no one from the production contact him again. (via GQ)
Apparently, for him, Watchmen should never be adapted for film or TV, as it feeds a system that legitimizes everything he hates the most. It’s almost as if he didn’t even like the idea of the story being part of pop culture.
Watchmen is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
