The new “Watchmen,” which premiered Sunday, reverses that dynamic in startling fashion, centering an African American woman, known as Sister Night, as its caped crusader protagonist, while injecting hot-button political issues — race and racism, white supremacy and police brutality against African Americans — into its main plot lines.
Even more striking, the fantastic world of “Watchmen,” with science-fiction flavored elements like flying ships and raining squid, has been merged with a story arc based on historical events, one that includes horrific images of black men and women being tortured and killed.
The opening scenes of the first episode, for instance, re-create the Tulsa, Okla., race riot of 1921, in which a prosperous African American community was savaged by angry whites, including the Ku Klux Klan. Black men are shown being dragged by cars. In a scene from a later episode, a black man is strung up, and the scene is shown from his point of view as he looks down in horror at his attackers, gasping desperately for air.
While hopeful that this fresh, progressive spin on the material will attract and engage an audience beyond the franchise’s existing fanbase, those responsible for HBO’s version are acutely aware that the series is a leap of faith, one that risks turning off both “Watchmen” devotees and potential newcomers who might feel the show is trivializing racism’s painful legacy.
Damon Lindelof, who created the nine-episode series, was determined to explore the long history of — and current furor over — racial tensions in America in “Watchmen,” a direction he admits was a scary choice.
“That scared the [expletive] out of me,” he said. “But everybody I talked to thought it was a potentially exciting idea. It would need to be handed delicately and [responsibly]. Simultaneously, the show is about to drop and I’m still thinking, ‘Should we have done it?’ ” He smiled while adding, “Even though I’m well-intentioned, I’m probably going to step in it a bunch of times.”
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