Walter Kovacs Was Right

Image source: HBO

 A series of reverse zooms focus on a group of men in homemade Rorschach masks. “We are no one, we are everyone, and we are invisible,” says one. It seems that in the alternate present of HBO’s Watchmen, the troubled and morally obstinate vigilante Rorschach has gained a cult-like following. “Tick tock,” they chant throughout the teaser trailer.

Time Is A Flat Circle

Image source: HBO

 There’s no way of determining whose hands hold this pocket watch, but it definitely feels like the fixation on time is a shout out to Jonathan Osterman, the physicist who would become Doctor Manhattan. The omnipotent superman saw time as a fixed property in which all things are inevitable.

Cowls On Patrol

Image source: HBO

All the police officers in the new teaser appear to be wearing masks, hiding their faces under yellow cowls. Could it be that in the absence of masked adventurers – outlawed in 1977 by the Keene Act – the police have adopted the very measures that allowed vigilantes to act with impunity while retaining their freedom and privacy?

Gaze Upon Me And Despair

Image source: HBO

 The big link between the TV series’ alternate 2019 and the 1985 of the comic is Ozymandias, or Adrian Veidt. As a younger man, he engaged in mass murder, psychic terrorism and deception to bring about world peace. As an older man played by Jeremy Irons (Reversal of Fortune) it appears he’s not entirely out of the game. Though an apparent recluse, he’s still planning shenanigans it seems.

Law and Disorder

Image source: HBO

We’re introduced to one of the leads of the series, Angela Abraham, played by Regina King (American Crime). Described as “fiercely intelligent, unapologetically independent,” Abraham “wears many masks as mother, wife and cop.” And apparently she dresses up in a costume too, complicating the relationship between law enforcement and mask imagery.

Into A Mirror, Darkly

Image source: HBO

It’s safe to presume that the man in the silver mask is Looking Glass, played by Tim Blake Nelson (Netflix’s The Ballad of Buster Scruggs) Described as a cop who “isn’t simple as his rural accent makes him appear to be,” he’s a “top interrogator and behavioral scientist, [who] may also be a bit of a sociopath.” Lindelof beefed up the role after Nelson signed up for the part.

Tides of Darkness

Image source: HBO

This flag can only be a shout-out to Tales of the Black Freighter, the comic within a comic of Watchmen. With costumed vigilantes in existence, pirate adventures became the bread and butter of American comics instead of superheroes. If HBO wants to evoke this neat Easter egg, it should have a TV show within the series that serves a similar function of juxtaposing the themes of the season with those of in-universe entertainment.

You Wouldn’t Steal A Shotgun

Image source: HBO

It’s hard to be certain but the bandanna suggests that this our first look at Pirate Jenny, (played by Rectify’s Adelaide Clemens) who takes her name from the song that inspired Tales from the Black Freighter. Her outfit and police issue longarm closely matches her official description as a “bisexual cop” and an “anarchist at heart.”

 How excited are you for this show? Tell us below!