HBO is the home of a sci-fi series that is simply the sequel to the genre’s greatest comic book to date, and the impressive work it did to not only continue that story, but also feel just as important and original, means HBO deserves a lot of credit for what was accomplished. HBO’s catalog of TV shows is quite impressive.

From fantasy series like Game of Thrones and its multiple spin-offs to engrossing thrillers like True Detective and Sharp Objects to many more, HBO understands what prestige TV shows are. When it comes to the sci-fi shows on HBO, that is no different. Over the years, HBO has kept experimenting with larger-than-life ideas, philosophical debates, cutting-edge visuals, and more in the sci-fi realm.

This has led to several incredible sci-fi shows on HBO, including projects like Westworld, His Dark Materials, and more. Recently, that expanded to a live-action DC TV show, Lanterns. The superhero series brought a sci-fi twist to HBO detective shows like the aforementioned True Detective, Mare of Easttown, The Outsider, and more. However, before Lanterns, another DC series gave HBO a sci-fi masterpiece.

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That show was Watchmen, named after the iconic comic book penned by Alan Moore. Instead of attempting to adapt the groundbreaking comic book series to live-action, as has been done before, HBO’s Watchmen served as a sequel series to Moore’s comics. The plan was ambitious, and it resulted in one of the best HBO TV shows ever, with Watchmen now sharing a connection to Lanterns.

Why HBO’s Watchmen Is A Genre Masterpiece

Before getting into why HBO deserves credit for its Watchmen series, it is important to understand how the original comic book run stands as a seminal release in the sci-fi/superhero genre. Created by writer Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins, Watchmen explored how superheroes would actually be if they existed in the real world, something that Prime Video’s The Boys found a lot of success with in recent years. This layer of realism, grounded with dramatic choices, an exploration of heroes’ psyches, and morally gray characters led to Watchmen becoming regarded as one of the best genre stories in any medium.

Cut to HBO’s Watchmen series, which was created by Damon Lindelof. From the moment he was announced to spearhead the DC series, what was already a high bar for the show was lifted even higher. After all, Lindelof had previously co-created the mind-bending sci-fi series Lost and the supernatural mystery series The Leftovers. Lindelof managed to surpass all of those expectations with Watchmen‘s 9-episode run. HBO deserves credit for how it enhanced what stands as one of the genre’s greatest stories to date. Watchmen managed to provide answers to what happened to key characters from the comics, while also treading new ground.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Doctor Manhattan, Jeremy Irons as Adrian Veidt — aka Ozymandias — and Jean Smart as Laurie Blake — aka Silk Spectre — were perfectly cast as the comic book characters. That is especially true of Irons as Ozymandias. The anti-hero is directly responsible for the reality that we meet in the HBO sci-fi series, and it is fascinating to see what became of the character years after his plan of killing millions to bring about world peace. As for Doctor Manhattan, his quest for connection leads to a nuanced relationship with Regina King’s Angela Abar, aka Sister Night.

Watchmen also made racism a central theme, with the sequel series exposing many to the horrors of the 1921 Tulsa massacre. The HBO sci-fi series holds a near-perfect 96% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 398 reviews. Watchmen is also connected in a way to DC and HBO’s new global hit sci-fi series, as its creator, Lindelof, is one of the three creators of Lanterns alongside Tom King and Chris Mundy. HBO deserves credit for creating a unique superhero series that tackles heavy topics and explores them with a nuanced approach and multi-layered characters to deliver a genre masterpiece like Watchmen.