The cast of Damon Lindelof‘s pilot for the Watchmen series at HBO keeps growing, and it just added another A-list actor–one who already has some experience with DC Comics based properties. According to Deadline, Oscar winner Jeremy Irons has been tapped for a lead role in the pilot episode of Lindelof’s reinvention (or is it a sequel?) to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ seminal comic book series. Irons joins previously cast Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Adelaide Clemens, and Andrew Howard. Of course, the DC role Irons is most famous for is his recent stint as Alfred Pennyworth in Batman v Superman and Justice League.
Right now, the only details of Jeremy Irons’ character we have are that he is playing “an aging and imperious lord of a British manor.” This doesn’t line up with any Watchmen characters from the original comic book series, but it seems the majority of the characters in this new television version will be all new. The show is rumored to take place in the present day, a present day in which the history of Watchmen (which takes place in 1985) is some thirty years in the past. So it is unlikely that Irons is playing an older and wiser Ozymandias, which would be perfect. Or could he…? It’s just pure speculation, but Ozy did survive the events of the comic series.
The pilot for Watchmen does not have a guaranteed series order, but most insiders think its prospects for going full series are good. It will be interesting to see if this Watchmen sequel contradicts what DC Comics is doing with Doomsday Clock, the Geoff Johns and Gary Frank series that is itself a “many years later” Watchmen sequel. Could the two line up in some way?
Are you excited about acting royalty like Jeremy Irons joining Watchmen? Be sure to let us know in the comments.
Images: Warner Brothers / DC Comics
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