Who will watch Watchmen?

As of right now, based on Zack Snyder's work in directing 300, I am.

Let me explain.

I think it's a fair statement that Watchmen is to comics what Lord of the Rings was too fantasy: the groundbreaking, genre-redefining work that fans want to see made into a movie, but are openly horrified that it is just too "unmakeable" and the end result would be a horrific bastardization of the source material.

I am sure it also does not help that Alan Moore's works have never translated well into film, either because they took too many liberties with the material (see League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), just did not capture the deep, dark essence of the material (see From Hell), or just an inability to make nice with Mr. Moore on a personal basis (see V for Vendetta, and the backstory of why Time Warner even has the rights to Watchmen, still). And Alan Moore is in the pantheon of gods as a comic book writer, and EVERYONE wants to see his work done right. Heck, I hope that The Dark Knight (the sequel to Batman Begins) will be based partly on The Killing Joke - one of my favorite Batman works ever.

But I digress.

Going with the assumption (backed by Zack Snyder's comments), that this will be a faithful adaptation to the comic book, then the onus will really fall on the director, the casting directors, and the actors to make this the movie it could be.

And based on rumors and what-could-have-beens, then so far so good.

Snyder has gone on record that he had offered the role of Ozymandias to Tom Cruise, but was turned down. Now, I know it's en vogue to hate Tom Cruise at the moment, but this would have been perfect casting, if for no other reason it would have been life imitating art in a LOT of ways. But it's encouraging to see Snyder looking along those lines for his Ozy; to me, at least, it means he gets it.

Gerard Butler - King Leonidas in Snyder's 300 - is rumored to be The Comedian. Good call - after seeing him as Leonidas, he could totally be The Comedian. He has the body type, the look, and the needed badassness. Who woulda thunk The Phantom of the Opera could be so?

The key to the casting really is who will be the Night Owl and the Silk Spectre, as a lot of the narrative focuses on them. Rorschach - it's not that big a deal who will play him, even though he is a key character. But I remember a young Kevin Spacey from 7even and think, hmmm....

Dr. Manhattan - 3 letters: C.G.I.

All in all, congratulations Zack Snyder. 300 has earned you a lot of slack in the Benefit of the Doubt department from the geeks and the freaks. Now don't waste it.