Watchmen producer Joel Silver has revealed the ending to the original script by writer Sam Hamm when he attempted to adapt Alan Moore’s blockbuster comic book for the big screen.
According to Silver: “What he did was he told the story as-is, but instead of the whole notion of the intergalactic thing which was too hard and too silly, what he did was he maintained that the existence of Doctor Manhattan had changed the whole balance of the world economy, the world political structure.”
Hamm believed that by having Ozymandias convince Doctor Manhattan to go back in time and prevent himself from being created he could drastically alter the ending of the film.
As a result of Doctor Manhattan’s actions, Hamm would have created an alternate universe where the three main characters would have ceased to exist as real world super heroes.
The veteran producer explains: “So the three characters, I think it was Rorschach and Nite Owl and Silk Spectre, they’re all of the sudden in Times Square and there’s a kid reading a comic book. They become like the people in Times Square dressing up like characters as opposed to really BEING those characters. There’s a kid reading the comic book and he’s like, Hey, you’re just like in my comic book.”
Silver felt Hamm’s ending was simply smart, articulate and offered a satisfying resolution. But, the V for Vendetta producer does admit that he enjoyed Snyder’s version of events as well, despite believing that Hamm’s script would have made for “a much, much better movie.”
Do you agree with Silver, or do you think Watchmen should have stayed as a comic book?
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