Damon Lindelof‘s vision of Watchmen, which will appear on HBO, will not be like the traditional comic book adaptations we are accustomed to seeing. Instead, the series will have a modern day spin on the Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons comic, which focused on themes of time, patriotism, lies and deceit, and modernization. So while it won’t be a direct adaptation, it looks like some of those themes will carry over into the show, which we still know very little about.

HBO has released a new trailer that should give us a slight idea of what to expect. Check it out below.

Tick-tock is a sound that you will hear throughout the trailer. Of course, that specific sound has always played a huge role with Watchmen, and not because it’s a sound we associate with clocks and watches. It signifies that the end is nigh, and it is only a matter of time before doomsday hits.

Based on what we can see, the show will take place in an alternate universe. The one similarity that we see is that superheroes are still outlawed, so it’s up to vigilantes to protect the cities from various criminals. And it looks like Rorschach has a following. In the trailer, we see a mass group of people who wear white masks with Rorschach ink-blots on them. And he isn’t the only character whose presence we will see.

It looks like Jeremy Irons is playing an older version of Adrian Veidt (aka Ozymandias). Although, he had a hand inspiring the world to come together through great tragedy that he created. It is unclear if Rorschach’s journal that detailed Veidt’s plans ever made the impact it was intended to make. Perhaps that will one of the subjects that the show will deal with.

But as far as any juicy plot details go, you can’t expect to see any of that in a mere teaser trailer. Though, it does set the anticipation bar pretty high.

In addition to Irons, Don Johnson, Jean Smart, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Hong Chau, Andrew Howard, Tom Mison, Frances Fisher, Jacob Ming-Trent, Sara Vickers, Dylan Schombing, and James Wolk also have starring roles.

HBO has scheduled Watchmen for a fall release.

Trailer

[source: HBO YT]