Zack Snyder's 2009 film adaptation of Watchmen received mixed responses during its release. While there are some who admired the director's adaptation of the comic series, there are also some who thought that it didn't live up to the quality of the source material.
The film's release came during the dawn of the superhero movie genre in cinemas as it was years before the MCU reached its peak and the DC franchise tried its attempt on becoming a shared universe as well.
The source material eventually became the subject of another adaptation as HBO aired a limited series back in 2019 that garnered a lot of acclaim and followed the events of the comic series years later.
Whether you like the adaptations or not, there's no doubt that the source material itself was a predicament of the comic book genre and where we are now in that form of storytelling as it has populated the public consciousness nowadays.
Now, one of the film's stars has chimed in on the adaptation's stance years later and the legacy after its release.
Patrick Wilson Opens Up About Zack Snyder's Movie Years Later
In an interview with ReelBlend podcast, Patrick Wilson, who played Nite Owl in the 2009 adaptation of Watchmen, reflected on the film's legacy years later where he expressed his belief that fans were not ready for it back when it was released.
He also added that the film's dark tone paved the way for the MCU films such as The Avengers to go on a lighter tone.
"Watchmen is the only movie of mine that I’ve watched front to back since a premiere. That movie's awesome," he said.
"I wanted to look at it as an older guy, as a filmmaker. I knew Zack was kind of ahead of the curve. You know, it’s weird to say that audiences weren’t ready for it, but you need a movie like that.
Wilson added, "You need movies to go so dark so that then Avengers can go so light. You know, I believe in that. But yeah, I love that movie. I mean, I’d love to do that movie now. Honestly, I think that would be so awesome to just do it now."
Whether you agree with Wilson's take or not, he is right about the fact that the movie audience around 2009 might not have been ready to see a comic book film go in a darker tone the way it did and they might have preferred the usual flair from the genre.
However, a year before, we also saw a rapid change to how comic book movies can be told as The Dark Knight and Iron Man showed the possibilities of a grounded and character-driven superhero story even with the superhero fantastical elements.
In the end, there's no doubt that Snyder took a different approach to comic book movie storytelling with Watchmen and, while the film might not be successful for some, it was still admirable for its unique flair.
Also Read: Christopher Nolan No Longer Wants Anything to Do with Superhero Films
Watchmen is available to stream on Max.