Watchmen premiered on HBO on Sunday night and fans of the comics got a chance to see a great new story 30 years after the events of the comic book series (and Zack Snyder movie).
Watchmen Easter eggs
The Watchmen season premiere was also fun for long-time fans to pick out the Watchmen Easter eggs in the premiere.
Here is a look at the ones we caught while watching Watchmen on HBO.
Raining squid
The one big Watchmen Easter egg that fans of the comics caught that might have confused fans of the movie was the squids raining from the skies.
In the movie, Zack Snyder changed the end to have Doctor Manhattan kill millions of people to help stop the Cold War between the United States and Russia, knowing that an attack like this would present a much larger enemy than the political landscape.
However, in the comics, Ozymandias created a giant squid creature to attack New York City and created the facade that it was an alien attack. Millions died and the Cold War ended as nations knew they needed to work together to stop an alien invasion.
The raining of squids showed that, even 30 years later, the threat of an alien invasion was still a possibility.
Doctor Manhattan
It was small but there was a shot of Doctor Manhattan on Mars. See, in the comics, it was not Doctor Manhattan that killed the people so he was still in their memories as a hero.
The shot was just of satellite footage but since Silk Spectre is coming to Watchmen on HBO later in this season, there is a reason to believe we have not seen the last of the big blue hero.
The pocket watch
There was a moment later in the episode where the Lord of the Manor received a present from his loyal servents, Mr. Phillips and Ms. Crookshanks.
This present was a pocket watch that they put together for him based on his drawings.
The entire Watchmen comic book series included an image of a pocket watch that represented the Doomsday Clock — how much time was left before the end of the world.
This also was referenced in the end when the Lord of the Manor said he was writing a play and it would be called The Watchmaker’s Son. Yes, Doctor Manhattan was the son of a watchmaker.
President Robert Redford
In the world of Watchmen, Richard Nixon was not only never impeached but he had the Constitution changed so he could remain POTUS as long as he wanted and served until his death.
After that, Gerald Ford became POTUS and in the world of Watchmen in HBO, actor Robert Redford is POTUS. He is also a very left-leaning President and the Redford-rations mentioned in the HBO series is important.
Reparations are when people are given money to repay them for items lost or for pain and suffering after a tragic event.
In the real-world, the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 saw the victims, wealthy black families living in an area known as Black Wall Street, lost everything when white mobs attacked, murdered men, women, and children, and burned down their homes and businesses.
Watchmen recreates the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in series premiere and people are freaking out. pic.twitter.com/pDGHRwkoBo
— Scott Tobias (@scott_tobias) October 21, 2019
The Tulsa government refused reparations and courts backed them up because they called it the Tulsa Race Riots — the keyword being Riot, meaning both sides were to blame. They were not, as the black citizens in Tulsa were massacred.
In the world of Watchmen on HBO, President Robert Redford passed a law that allowed reparations to anyone who was the victim of a hate crime.
In the show, there was the Tulsa moment shown at the beginning, but also a moment in the past where the Seventh Cavalry showed up at the homes of police officers on Christmas Eve and massacred their families.
The victims of these attacks also received the Redford-rations.
Rorschach masks
It isn’t an Easter egg, but the Rorshach masks are an important part of Watchmen on HBO.
See, at the end of Watchmen, Doctor Manhattan killed Rorschach before he could reveal to the world what Ozymandias was planning.
However, as the comic book showed, his journal was delivered to a news office and it appears that his writings were revealed to the world.
Obviously, not everyone believed him, but it seems the Seventh Cavalry not only believed him but built their hate group around his writings, believing that those in control and power deceived the world and deserved to be punished.
This is not what Rorschach believed in, but it proves that racists and bigots can twist anything to fit their views.
The United States is … different
Richard Nixon was President for a long time. He almost made himself into a God for a group of people.
His face is on Mount Rushmore. Posters in school classrooms claim the most important Presidents in history are Washington, Lincoln, Nixon, and Redford.
The two where the white supremacists live is called Nixonville.
The U.S. won the Vietnam War thanks to Doctor Manhattan, and it is now part of the United States.
Cell phones and the Internet are illegal.
There will likely be more changes to what we know as the United States in future episodes.
Owlship
Owlman was one of the Crimebusters team with Rorschach, Ozymandias, Comedian, Doctor Manhattan, and Silk Spectre.
He was the one with the cool toys, a police officer who moonlighted as a superhero. He also had the Owlship, which was pretty much like any of Batman’s flying vehicles but round in shape.
In the Watchmen on HBO premiere, the police now fly a spacecraft that is just like Owlman’s ship.
That isn’t the only change in the world as all cars now run on energy thanks to the advancements by Doctor Manhattan.
The blood on the police badge
In one of the most shocking moments of the Watchmen on HBO season premiere, Police Chief Judd Crawford died. He was seen lynched and hung from a tree.
Sitting in a wheelchair at the bottom of the tree was a mysterious man portrayed by Louis Gossett Jr.
However, one of the most visually dynamic moments came when Crawford’s badge was lying on the ground under his body and blood dropped on it and spread across it.
This is a moment that is very similar to what started the story in the Watchmen comic books. The smiley face symbol that represented The Comedian in the comics was lying on the ground after he died.
That button had a blood drop on it as well.
I loved me that #Watchmen pilot.
That is all. pic.twitter.com/c23Sgy5OSO— Jason Inman (@Jawiin) October 21, 2019
It was The Comedian’s death that led Rorshach on the investigation into his death, an investigation that uncovered terrible things in this superhero’s past as well as the current conspiracy by Ozymandius to “save the world.”
Does this mean there is darkness in Crawford’s past? Even if it doesn’t, it will lead Angela on a mission to uncover whatever secrets are lurking and set the events in the HBO series into motion.
Watchmen airs on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. EST on HBO.