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Here ’s what happened in the 34 - yr col between theWatchmengraphic novel and the HBO serial . Executive produced by Damon Lindelof , Watchmenis a prolongation of the classic vivid novel written byAlan Mooreand illustrate by Dave Gibbons . While centering on a newcast ofWatchmencharacters , Lindelof ’s serial address Moore and Gibbons ' comics as canon , not Zack Snyder ’s 2009 picture or theBefore Watchmensequels orDoomsday Clockcrossover print by DC Comics .
HBO has released subsidiary materials to Lindelof ’s series that deepens the complex globe ofWatchmen : found in the tie-in - in websitePeteypediaare file compiled by Agent Dale Petey of the FBI ’s Anti - Vigilante Task Force and they contain a great deal of fascinating information about what encounter to Watchmen ’s characters and to the world they live after theWatchmengraphic novel end . These extra are similar to the supplemental material found after the first 11 chapters of Moore and Gibbons’Watchmen , which include excerpts from the first Nite - Owl Hollis Mason ’s autobiographyUnder The Hood , component of Dr. Malcolm Long ’s psychological profile of Rorschach , the 2nd Nite - Owl Dan Dreiberg ’s childhood journal , andNova Express ' interview with Adrian Veidt .
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HBO’sWatchmentakes place 34 year after the graphic novel ’s endingwhen Adrian Veidt teleported a giant calamari monster into the kernel of New York City , which unleashed a psychic undulation that killed 3 million people . However , what became cognise as the Dimensional Incursion Event ( D.I.E. ) worked : the country of the world , which were on the verge of nuclear Armageddon , stand down and negotiated peace , believing that there was now a threat to the entire planet from another dimension . Veidt ’s D.I.E. hoax not only saved the satellite , but its aftermath also falsify the world politically , technologically , and culturally . Here ’s everything the Peteypedia file tell us about how the world ofWatchmenchanged after the graphic novel leading up to the kickoff of HBO ’s series .
How Watchmen’s World Changed Since 1985
InWatchmen ’s universe , Robert Redfordsucceeded Richard Nixon as President of the United States and , by 2019 , the former histrion has served seven straight term ( but he is n’t seek an one-eighth , which is the cause of national tensity ) . With the livelihood of Adrian Veidt , who was the big contributor to the Democratic Party , Redford depend on the " Blue Wave of 1992 " all the way to the White House . The liberal President terminate 24 years of Nixon ’s bourgeois administration , but a breach before long mould between Redford and Veidt ( publicly denied by both humans ) after the Campaign Finance Reform and Donor Act of 1993 curbed Veidt ’s ability to influence government policy . At some period as well , more soil and country ( like Vietnam ) joined the United States of America as prescribed States , causing more stars to be added to the retool American flag .
Redford ’s policies , which are unpopular in many area of the country ( the " ruby state " ) include the so - called " Redfordations " , such as the Victims Of Racial Violence Legislation , which is a life tax freedom for dupe and descendants of designated areas of racial injustice in America . There was also the Defense of Police Act , which allows thepolice to hide their cheek behind mask , enacted after the 2016 White Night incident inTulsa , Oklahoma , when the Seventh Kavalry murdered constabulary officers in their homes . The D.I.E. was the cause of far-flung internal harm and the random squid rain that has occurred after 11/2/85 has been a regular reminder for those still support from post-11/2 PTSD . Redford ’s governing ordain controversial efforts to carry off post-11/2 PTSD by putting warn recording label on amusement that could trigger people ’s anxiety , like those found in the TV documentaryAmerican Hero Story : Minutemen .
The earth never learned that Veidt ’s gargantuan squid was a hoax and so his plan ultimately worked but there was another radioactive dust . There was a rejection of technology that scuttled the proliferation of personal computing machine , cadre phones , wireless telecom , and the net because people were suspicious of any electronic machine that was influenced by Doctor Manhattan and Manhattan - based atomic number 3 . This was a side core of Veidt frame Doctor Manhattan ’s electromagnetic energies as a cause of cancer . A wafture of " Luddite " opinion broom through the world in the 1990s , eliminate a peachy pot of technology ; by 2019 , the FBI has only just begun using estimator and email , which many agents are suspicious of . Also , in 1999 , Elvis Presley cryptically reappear alert and well in a Vietnam nightclub and began performing his hit Song dynasty .
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What Happened To Adrian Veidt?
As of the offset of HBO’sWatchmen , Adrian Veidt , who is now 80 years honest-to-goodness , has been missing for seven days and was finally declared " all in " by the FBI . In 2012 , Trieu Industries purchase Veidt Enterprises and the former superhero known asOzymandiasinexplicably vanished shortly afterward . Officially , Veidt ’s passing is attributed to " nameless causes " and his disappearance breed a " Where ’s Veidt ? " phenomenon that lead in numerous Koran about his vanishing that became best - sellers . Meanwhile , a cultivation of paranoia formed around Veidt ’s fade with confederacy theories like Ozymandias being polish off by the CIA because of arcanum he knows about the Dimensional Incursion Event .
After the successful hoax Veidt pull to save the earthly concern in 1985 , the " World ’s Smartest Man " used his political clout and resource to back Robert Redford ’s successful Presidential campaign . However , the 1990s were a intriguing clip for Ozymandias as the traumatized world rejected the futurism and technology Veidt ’s party was vend and his patent for spark hydrants became worthless when mass rejected anything related toDoctor Manhattanand M - grade lithium for fear of getting Cancer the Crab . In 1999 , Adrian reversed the downswing of his fellowship ’s portion by flock - bring about his cloning applied science and licence it to W. C. Fields like genetically engineered food output and pet cloning . But Veidt became more reclusive and he made his last public appearing in Kenya in 2007 .
What Happened To Nite-Owl And Silk Spectre?
Nite - OwlAKA Daniel Dreiberg and Laurie Juspeczyck AKA Silk Spectre continued their careers as costumed vigilance man after 11/2/85 . They adopted the anonym of Sam and Sandra Hollis but Laurie changed her superhero persona to The Comedienne to honor her Fatherhood The Comedian ( Edward Blake ) . However , it ’s not unclouded when Laurie legally change her surname from Juspeczyck and took her father ’s last name , Blake .
In 1995 , Nite - Owl and The Comedienne were arrested by federal agency for transgress the Keene Act . Their gaining control reignite public sake in superheroes , which lead theNew Frontiersmanto print Rorschach ’s diary in its totality . At some stop in the last 24 years , however , Laurie Blake served her time ( perhaps by cooperating with authorities ) and was released from custody ; she subsequently joined the Bureau and became part of the Anti - Vigilante Task Force , using her lifelong expertise to serve the government hunt down the unexampled wave of costumed vigilantes operating in violation of the Keene Act . However , Dan Dreiberg remains in Union detention ( this only adds to the enigma of how the Tulsa Police Department gained possession of Nite - Owl ’s Owlship ) and Dreiberg has refused to utter about Rorschach and his disappearance or reveal anything he knows about Adrian Veidt .
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Rorschach’s Legacy Was Co-Opted By Right-Wing Extremists
As far as the globe know , Rorschach(Walter Kovacs ) just vanish off the cheek of the Earth on 11/2/85 ( in Sojourner Truth , he was disintegrated by Doctor Manhattan to maintain the secret of Adrian Veidt ’s hoax ) . Rorschach had leave his daybook detailing his investigation into Edward Blake ’s slaying and Adrian Veidt ’s conspiracy with theNew Frontiersman ; its publisher , Hector Godfrey , began impress selection from Rorschach ’s diary on March 21 , 1986 . TheNew Frontiersmanlater released the intact contents of the journal as a bookazine in the nineties after Nite - Owl and The Comedienne were arrested by the FBI . However , what Rorschach delivered to the New Frontiersman was his 2nd daybook ; his original daybook , with its unclear contents , that was on Rorschach ’s person when he was arrested by the NYPD in 1985 is now in the willpower of Union sanction .
A right-hand - wing rage formed around Rorschach after theNew Frontiersmanpublished his journal and the mystery of his disappearance fuels their paranoia and distrust of the government . The white supremacist , domestic terrorist group Seventh Kavalry in Tulsa dramatise Rorschach ’s mask as their symbol and consider the missing vigilance man their messiah ; they blame Adrian Veidt for what happened to Kovacs because of the conclusions Rorschach pull back against Ozymandias in his probe that he detail in his journal . Veidt laughing away Rorschach ’s disappearance in an consultation with theNova Expressonly furthered ripe - annex hate of Ozymandias . The Seventh Kavalry conceive Rorschach ’s journal and suspect the D.I.E. was a hoax perpetrate by Veidt and the " liberals " who have " taken over " the administration so they declare war on the symbol of Robert Redford ’s governing like the police .
What About Doctor Manhattan?
Doctor Manhattanleft Earth on 11/2/85 and never retort . Although he told Laurie that he planned to go away our Galax urceolata " for a less complicated one " and try his hand at creating life sentence , at some point in the last 30 years , Doctor Manhattan returned to Mars . The populace is aware that Doctor Manhattan currently resides on Mars and there is tidings footage of him erecting and destroying structures he build from Martian sands , but the most powerful being in the population has not returned to Earth - at least , not yet , but who get it on whatWatchmenwill land ?
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