Damon Lindelof Talks About That Crazy Dr. Manhattan Reveal in WATCHMEN Episode 7; Watch the Trailer for Episode 8
There was a big, crazy, and unexpected surprise involving Dr. Manhattan that was revealed in the seventh episode of HBO’s Watchmen titled "An Almost Religious Awe". This was an incredible episode and I was pretty damn shocked with how it ended. If you haven’t watched the episode yet, you might want to skip this.
In a recent interview with THR, creator and showrunner Damon Lindelof discussed this big Dr. Manhatten plot point. You can read what he had to say below.
"An Almost Religious Awe" revealed that Dr. Manhattan was not on Mars and that he was actually walking around among the people on Earth. We then learned that Angela's (Regina King) husband Cal is actually Dr. Manhattan in disguise! This was a huge shocker and she had to bash poor Cal’s brains in to bring Dr. Manahattan out.
When talking about Dr. Manhattan's surprising return and the reason why he included her in Angela’s story:
"[How] could Dr. Manhattan, a man with the power of God, be in service of Angela's story as opposed to the other way around? Based on his past (and all the tropes of Greco/Roman mythology), the answer was intuitive… love. We knew this relationship could only work if Manhattan took the form of a human, and so, the idea of Cal was born. It came early. Almost from the jump."
We also learn in the episode that Senator Keene's plan is to capture, destroy, and become the new Dr. Manhattan. When talking about the inspiration behind the villain’s story arc, Lindelof said:
"In our Watchmen, there are more clear cut bad guys who represent an ideology that is almost impossible to defeat. Bad guys always want the same thing: power. There's something fundamentally ridiculous about the idea of "white power" in its redundancy as if everyone in America was born onto the same playing field."
"Sadly, almost every one of our institutions demonstrates that inequity, so the idea that a white, male senator actually wanted MORE power was equal parts absurd and irresistible. As is the case with most White Supremacists, Keene doesn't see taking Manhattan's power as appropriation as much as taking something he already feels entitled to."
I can’t wait to see what happens next now that Dr. Manhatten has entered the story! This is going to take things to a whole new level. There are two episodes left and Lindelof wouldn't reveal much about what's in store, but he did confirm that we won't get to see the fan-favorite Watchmen character Nite-Owl this season.
This trailer for episode 8, “A God Walks Into Abar”, gives us a little look at what we can expect from the next chapter of the story.
What did you all think of the Dr. Manhattan revel in Watchmen?