When you think of superheroes, chances are Superman, Batman and Spider-Man are the first names that spring to mind. But let's face it: none of them come close to how badass the Watchmen are.
GameSpot reports that HBO has finally made comic book fans' dream come true by announcing that the Watchmen will be developed into a TV show by 2019.
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How could this get any better, you ask? Well, the show will be written and produced by Damon Lindelof, who was the co-creator of Lost. Yes, we're talking about THAT Lost. You know, the one that was wildly popular, crazy successful, had a bit of absurdity behind it and took to TV to new levels of fandom.
Lindelof has since taken to Instagram to share his plans for the show, as well as saying that it won't be a sequel or reboot.
"Those issues are sacred ground and will not be retread nor recreated nor reproduced nor rebooted," he said. "They will however be remixed. We are not making a 'sequel' either.
"This story will be set in the world its creators painstakingly built... but in the tradition of the work that inspired it, this new story must be original. It has to vibrate with the seismic unpredictability of its own tectonic plates."
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Lindelof added that his vision for the show 'must be contemporary'.
"The Old Testament was specific to the Eighties of Reagan and [Margaret] Thatcher and [Mikhail] Gorbachev. Ours needs to resonate with the frequency of [Donald] Trump and [Theresa] May and [Vladimir] Putin and the horse that he rides around on, shirtless," he said.
"And speaking of Horsemen, The End of the World is off the table... which means the heroes and villains--as if the two are distinguishable--are playing for different stakes entirely."
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See, with anything that is held in such high regard in popular culture, you'll no doubt have some people throwing their full support behind it, showing a hint of pessimism or be in full-on charged mode behind their keyboards.
One Instagram user wrote: "Good luck and good speed, Damon."
Another wrote: "I have no clue what this project will bring, but perhaps it is something we need and don't even know. After all, the times they are a-changin'."
For those who need a bit of context on the Watchmen, this extract from an HBO blog post might help: "Set in an alternate history where 'superheroes' are treated as outlaws, Watchmen embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel while attempting to break new ground of its own."
Yup, the Watchmen isn't for the faint of heart. This isn't your average story about colourful superheroes coming to save the day. Instead, Alan Moore's beloved graphic novel paints a bleak look at an alternative history where the Cold War is at its hottest point.
No doubt Zack Snyder's 2009 adaptation left many people with mixed feelings, but you'll know in the golden age of TV that there's a second lifeline for almost anything.
Who watches the Watchmen? It looks like Lindelof will do that now.
Words by Adnan Riaz
Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros. PicturesTopics: Entertainment, TV and Film, HBO, TV Show