‘Watchmen’ Ending has been changed for the Movie
Comments(18)
- By drvenkman
I am a huge fan of ‘Watchmen’. the graphic novel is amazing this movie looks like it will be incredible. Everything I have seen looks fantastic. Zack Snyder has said time and time again that he was going to stay true to the source material, and everything that has been released it looks like he has stayed true to his word.
‘Watchmen’ recently had a test screening last week and reports are leaking out that the ending of the film is not the same as the ending in the graphic novel.
Before I move ahead in the article I have to tell you that I can really discuss this without revealing the ending. So this is a Major Spoiler. If you don’t want to know then stop reading!
SPOILER
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If you have read the graphic novel then you know it ends with a giant squid that is released in New York City by Veidt. Is that the ending you wanted for the film? Apparently WB and Snyder didn’t.
So, the new ending that has leaked which has been pulled off of IMDB message boards is that Dr. Manhattan and Ozymandias build a machine that mimics Dr. Manhattan’s powers and Ozymandia uses this machine to set off a bunch of atomic bomb explosions in various cities around the world.
Now I wonder if this is one of two endings that were shot because their have been people involved with the movie including cast members that mention a beast in the films climax. why would they say that is it’s not true?
I have mixed feelings about this new ending. I can imagine the general audience hating the giant squid ending. Even when I read the novel I didn’t expect it, but I thought it was great. I have a feeling it has been changed to appeal to the larger general audience that has not been educated in all things ‘Watchmen’. There is a possiblility this new ending will work better for the movie thematically. It’s important that it works in the context of the film. Look, I am trying to make myself feel better about all this. The hardcore fans are going to hate this news and are going to rant like no one has ever ranted before. I need to see it for myself before I make a final judgment. I hate that they feel they needed to change the ending. I just hope it doesn’t screw up the story to bad. If you think about it, by changing the ending it means they had to change some of how the story develops to come to that new ending point. It has not killed the movie for me, I still think the movie is going to be great. I just can’t get over the stuff I have seen so far. Has it killed the movie for you?
Eh, WHAT he does at the end isn’t as important as WHY he did it. The giant squid wasn’t important, merely a way to illustrate what great lengths he was willing to go to. I could see how it would be confusing for someone unfamiliar. You have a Batman/Daredevil vigilante style movie, then all of a sudden there’s a giant squid with psychic powers? The more I think about it, the more I’m actually relieved. To each his own though.
One of the only drawbacks I can see is that it’ll leave a fairly big plot hole; what, exactly, are the countries of the world going to unite against? What’s going to put an end to the Cold War? Oh well. Hopefully it’ll make sense in the context of the movie, but I can’t exactly say I’m thrilled about the change.
IDIOTS!
Something unknown, something alien, that unites the human race. If it’s just a bunch of nuclear blasts caused by something human, then veidt has failed. Still, let’s see how it plays out. I will murder Snyder if he royally fucks this up and me thinks he already has. I’ll kill him!
I like the cut of your jibb Ledouche.
I will swallow this goat shit like it could somehow save Geology from the crushing ban-hammer that was the Indiana Jones movie.
Or I might just go see it anyways and boo the ending…
Terrible news…..But Im gonna watch anyway…
As a fanboy, I’m torn. I always liked the giant squid, and was excited to see it on the big screen. I don’t think it was necessary to take it out. I think it could translate fine to film. Then again, it isn’t intrinsic to Watchmen’s ending… the result of it is. But other things I’ve heard have disturbed me more. I don’t like how the Minutemen are now literally referred to as, the Watchmen. I hope that was just something done in the trailer to make it more comprehensible to the mainstream audience. I’ve also heard something about Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan’s reaction to being duped by Veidt contradicts their character types. But the person who reported this wouldn’t elaborate. I also read David Hayter’s script (which they’re using, as well as Alex Tse’s), which is great, but he changed the ending quite a bit. SPOILER ALERT:
In Hayter’s script, Night Owl II witnesses Rorschach’s murder, and then he kills Ozymandias. I didn’t like that one bit.
I’m still very excited about it. From what I’ve seen… visually, it’s VERY faithful to the comic. But I have to see it for myself before I can critique it.
As far as the Minutemen being called the Watchmen, it just seems like a cut to the chase. I don’t mind it, especially when we are given under 3 hours to describe the elements of an Alan Moore universe while supporting a main plot. Especially while supporting a plot as complex as the Watchmen.
Changing the ending, however, gives me very mixed emotions. First off, I can understand changing it because I just don’t think the general audience is ready for that sort of moral and philosophical ambiguity. Most people do good to comprehend the moral implications when a member of Survivor “back-stabs” other members. Keep in mind I’ve never seen a single episode of Survivor, but judging from the water-cooler talk, people are apparently very taken back by human nature.
Second, changing it might make sense just based on the following conversation:
“Hey how was the movie?”
“Oh, the Egyptian guy teleported a giant psychic squid-alien he created on a remote island, into the middle of New York city, killing 3 million people and driving countless others insane so he could end the Cold War.”
But this idea of a series of atomic bombs just doesn’t capture the climax of the Watchmen. The concept of an incident that is 1000 times bigger than 9/11 used as a means to end terrorism rather than perpetuate it, is what always enthralled me.
However, like I said, I don’t think the general masses are ready for anything past a “generic superhero movie.”
I first read Watchmen back in ‘87 as a teenage comic geek. Reread it a few years later and was amazed at how much deeper the story was then I had realised.
When I heard they were making a movie I read it again. I think it’s completely unfilmable. I have major reservations about this. There are so many levels to the story that are necessary: the excerpts from books, the Black Freighter etc, I think the movie will be just a gloss of the top story.
If they get rid of the ending, wtf? Governments put aside their differences to unite against… what? Dr. Manhattan? A pseudo Dr. Manhattan? What did the Comedian see on the plane then to kick the story off? This is going to be a superhero movie like Spiderman or Iron Man and that’s all. And that’s a shame because Watchmen was so much more.
I’m going to quote Rorschach on this subject: STUPID, STUPID, STUPID. I fully agree with ledouche on this, what are the governments of Earth supposed to unite against if not some unknown power from beyond the stars? Changing the ending would be a royal screw-up on Snyder’s part, but considering what happened with 300, well, I’m not feeling too optimistic…
i always thought that watchmen’s ending is the best part of the comic, and saying that means alot. it’s a direct imitation of karl schmidt’s phillosophy – two enemies can unite only if there’s a greater enemy that they percieve as a threat. the feelings that follow from that ending, all the moral questions, all the political questions, that terrible feeling that rorschach is the only guy that really cares about humans, while veidt only cares bout humanity… ah, it’s overwelming. if he can achieve it without the space monster ok. but i really don’t understand why. if you have a piece of art that’s been praised unanumously as one of the greatest achivements of that medium i really don’t understand why change it. at the beggining of filming snyder seemed as someone that won’t allow others to change his vision, and that’s why he had my support (even though he’s a so-so director at best). but now, i don’t know.
ps sorry for the bad spelling/grammar
Hi, i’ve never written here before, but I am a very big Watchmen fan and love Moore’s work. I am quite the film buff, and have read some of the greatest comics in the world (as I imagine anyone who has read watchmen has read the other greats)
Watchmen was never meant to be a movie, Alan Moore wrote it as a comic book to stay as a comic book. He has hated every interpretation of his work and has asked to have his name removed from all the films that attempted to depict his work. I honestly dont blame him, has anyone actually sat down and watched From Hell? It fucking sucks. Same with The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the only thing in common was the title.
I am sad they changed the ending, but it will never be as good as the comic. Ever.
Well, TK, i personally think that having the regular vigilante thing going on then a massive alien space vagina destroying new york is one of the greatest things about watchmen – you just don’t see it coming, at all. I’m pretty pissed they’v changed it tbh, it’d be incredible to see everyones faces in the cinema when that shit happens.
I heard about the change to the ending and it went from the happiest news I’d had in years to something vile and unpleasant. For real I was going to geek out hard at the IMAX premiere in Miami. Now I don’t even want to see it. No respect for the work. Renewable energy? Seems like a movie with a contemporary political and social agenda. The ending to Spiderman was changed after 9/11 and even though it was nice to cheer something NY after that tragedy it changed what would have been an semi-authentic take on the classic Gwen Stacy story save for the use on Mary Jane and the fact that she doesn’t die, of course. Sorry bout the brit sentence I’m just saying that changing a story’s ending to please a huge audience out here in the future is dumb. It doesn’t let us appreciate the genius of a comic book breakthroug from 1985.
As a fan i agree with most of the comments here,
If its atomic bombs going off everywhere then its gonna be caused by humans.
So then war won’t end.
I was really looking foward to watching it until I heard the end was changed.
I mean even if it showed just a tentacle of the beast with dead all around i will be happy.
Im going to see it the day it comes out, I hope its worth it.
Dr. Manhattan knows the future like we know the present. I.e. he cannot be ‘dubbed’ as described. I hope there’s a lot more to this plot than is let on in this article.
But most of the story takes place in the immediate area where the squid arrived. Otherwise why do the newsstand and the street life matter? Why would the psychics die? The squid is integral to the structure of the novel. (I suppose they have also taken out the pirates. )
The ending in the original watchmen is one of the most mind blowing parts of the novel. What snyder has done to the ending leaves the population of earth thinking that manhattan was responsible instead of an Alien invasion. This is blasphemy!