HBO knows that the end of October is the perfect time to slip on a costume and cause some nighttime mischief. The masked vigilantes of Watchmen, HBO’s loose adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ seminal graphic novel, take to the streets starting October 20, 2019.
Previously, HBO dropped a Watchmen trailer at Comic-Con International 2019, confirming that the upcoming series is more of a “remix” of the comic than a straight-up adaptation. The show, which was created and overseen by Lost and The Leftovers‘ mastermind Damon Lindelof, borrows imagery and themes from Moore and Gibbons’ source material and uses it to tell a new story, although it’s possible that the series will double as a sequel to the comic as well.
In HBO’s Watchmen, vigilantes sporting masks like the one worn by one of Watchmen‘s heroes, Rorschach, have launched a coordinated attack on Tulsa’s police officers. In response, the cops begin wearing masks to hide their identities. The ensuing conflict looks like it will be a battle between the vigilantes and the authorities, with Oscar-winner Regina King’s Angela Abar caught in somewhere in the middle.
That’s a big departure from the book, which is about a team of former superheroes coming out of hiding when their former comrades begin dying. Still, despite the differences, a few familiar faces pop up in the trailer: Jeremy Irons appears as an older Adrian Veidt, the mastermind behind the comic’s doomsday plot, while the all-blue super-scientist Dr. Manhattan makes a mysterious trip to Earth from his hideout on Mars.
Judging by the trailer, shying away from a direct adaptation was a smart move on Lindelof’s part. A new story should keep the action fresh for both newcomers and die-hard fans, and we’ve seen what happens when Watchmen is adapted too literally. Zack Snyder’s big-screen Watchmen flick, which hit theaters in 2009, copied many scenes from the comic shot-for-shot and lost the story’s soul in the process.
Besides, if you don’t like HBO’s take on the material? It’s not a problem. Moore and Gibbons’ original story can be found in libraries and comic shops across the country. If you want the classic story, all you need to do is pick it up and start reading.
Updated on September 3, 2019: Added premiere date.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.