I do feel like the spirit of Alan Moore is a punk rock spirit, a rebellious spirit, and that if you would tell Alan Moore, a teenage Moore in 85 or 86, Youre not allowed to do this because Supermans creator or Swamp Things creator doesnt want you to do it, he would say, Fuck you, Im doing it anyway. So Im channeling the spirit of Alan Moore to tell Alan Moore, Fuck you, Im doing it anyway.
Fuck you, Alan Moore? Bold move. Lindelof was, of course, half-kidding (Thats clickbait, guys! Clickbait!). Alan Moore (responsible for work like V for Vendetta, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and Batman: The Killing Joke) may be one of the most prolific comic writers ever. And Lindelof remains in reverence of Moores opinions, which he recently told Vulture has kept him up at night.
He also said Moore has been on his mind for other reasons. Im about to say something very ridiculous, he told Vulture, but in all sincerity, I was absolutely convinced that there was a magical curse placed upon me by Alan. Im actually feeling the psychological effects of a curse, and Im okay with it. Its fair that he has placed a curse on me.
Moore has been known to distance himself from filmic adaptations of his work. (He has also been known to place curses on other directors , himself a practitioner of magic.) Still, Lindelof seemed somewhat miffed about Moores apathy for his project. (Even before the started filming, HBOs president of programming Casey Bloys said Moore was not thrilled.) I dont think that Ive made peace with it, Lindelof said back in July.
Watchmens end credits will not use Moores name, but instead say co-created for DC by Dave Gibbons.
Despite his partners qualms, however, Watchmen illustrator Dave Gibbons agrees that Lindelof very much is channeling the spirit of the graphic novel. As he told Entertainment Weekly : I don't think it's gonna be what people think it's going to be . . . I've been resistant to the comic book prequels and sequels, but what Damon's doing is not that . . . While it's very reverential and true to the source material (by which I mean the Watchmen graphic novel that Alan and I did), it's not retreading the same ground, it's not a reinterpretation of it. It approaches it in a completely unexpected way.