The conversation between Mike Gold and myself:
MG: Actually, it’s probably a good thing that the numbers for Watchmen this past weekend weren’t so great.
GH: Okay, why? I mean, it’s not a flop, it’ll still make its money back, even if it’s no blockbuster.
MG: Exactly. If it was a blockbuster, they’d be more tempted to make a sequel.
GH: …point well made.
Glenn Hauman
Glenn is VP of Production at ComicMix. He has written Star Trek and X-Men stories and worked for DC Comics, Simon & Schuster, Random House, arrogant/MGMS and Apple Comics. He's also what happens when a Young Turk of publishing gets old.
Columns / Glenn Hauman / News
Stephen Colbert, we have your writer for “The Chronicles of Amber”!
January 20, 2023
The Law Is A Ass #460: Those “For Life” Sentences Are Nonsense
February 24, 2022
Point well made, indeed.No sequel needed for a perfect story.
But think of the possibilities?! Watchmen 2: Watch Harder. … Doctor Manhattan returns to a world that hates him! The Comedian returns as the Funny Zombie King! And who is the mysterious Rorshack 2? Witness the birth of the love child Night Spectre! The world united, the world divided…. Watchmen 2: Watch Harder!Soundtrack includes Fall Out Boy covering the Beatles "Revolution"! Panic at the Disco covering The Who's "Teenage Wasteland"! and don't miss the reuniting of the original line up of Van Halen one more time as they release their new #1 hit single "You Really Got Me (Cancer)!" More sex! More violence!
Violence, okay. Sex, NO WAY JOSE! Is sex really neccessary for a movie? I mean, OMG, what is up with people today?! I consider Watchmen a Superhero film with hidden peep shows. I've read the comic too, and I have to say…GET RID OF MEDIA SEX! Please, for the love of God or whoever you worship, please side with me. Watchmen could have been a good graphic novel and movie, just get rid of the sex and nudity!
I really hope that's a joke about cultural attitudes in the States, and not a legitimate complaint. You're cooler with violence than sex? Really? Hurm.
Yep. That's how it is.
I meant for the movies. Sex in real life is natural, but does it need to be exposed for enjoyment? I don't think so. Do you?
Does it have to? Possibly not. Should it be excised from all cinema because some people have difficulty viewing physical intimacy outside of their personal experiences? Not in my opinion. If you choose not to watch it or host a video showing such cinematic acts, that's selectivity and it's within The First Amendment. If you criticize others for seeing it, that's prudish behavior and that's also covered by The First Amendment. If there ever comes a point where Hollywood is taken over by an invisible cabal of prudes who decide to excise all "mature themes" from cinema, I'll just have to locate my missing copies of "Fanny Hill" and "Lolita" and have some literary fun on my own.
Oh yes, get rid of s-e-x, it's so not part of real life anyway.
But there is still the possibility of a sequel if DVD sales are spectacular. That's what happened with "Austin Powers", among others.
But there is still the possibility of a sequel if DVD sales are spectacular. That's what happened with "Austin Powers", among others.
OK, if the character "Nightshade" is a part of the Movie "Suicide Squad," as John Ostrander has suggested, I think they should gun hard to get Malin Akerman to play her. "Nightshade" was partly the inspiration for "Silk Spectre!" That will be the closest we'll come, or ought to come, to a "Watchmen" sequel. But if Malin Akerman can help get "Suicide Squad" made, I'm all for it! Wait. Get Patrick Wilson to play Rick Flag! Jeffery Dean Morgan can be Captain Boomerang! Billy Crudup as Deadshot! Jackie Earle Haley as Count Vertigo. Yeah, it's gimmick casting. So what!
The direct-to-video market has made unwanted sequels inevitable! Remember "Casper meets Wendy" and "George of the Jungle II?" I wish I could!
"Casper Meets Wendy" was the World's Introduction to Hilary Duff! Let's not forget that!
You ain't helping your case here.
I think if "Casper Meets Wendy" had any other actress besides Hilary Duff starring in it, even Christy Carlson Romano or Demi Lovato, it wouldn't have been nearly as good. Not even half as good.I just can't decide if Hilary Duff is my favorite singer or my favorite actress. She does a lot of Charity Work. Maybe she's my favorite Humanitarian, or just my favorite Human! And she was in Agent Cody Banks too! But she wasn't in Agent Cody Banks 2. Which just proves that sometimes you can't make a sequel as good as the original!
Russ! Glenn! Remember me? The guy that complained about Dr Manhattan? I saw the movie, and it was fantastic, or at least it would have been if it weren't for… well, you can take a guess. How are you guys doing?
The name's familiar, but I can't place it…
Glenn, Dr. Manhattan was the naked, blue one.
The riddle was bugging me. So I searched through recent Watchmen postings. Just found him: http://www.comicmix.com/news/2009/02/28/watchmen-…
The poster was anonymous. Why should I remember? If there was even a pseudonym, I might have something to hook onto…
You are right, Glenn. But it was bugging me, so I just went back and looked for some Anonymous commentator who had reservations about Dr. Manhattan's Blue Weiner. I hear that "Watchmen" is SO popular you HAVE to have reservations for Dr. Manhattan's Penis; because that thing is booked for WEEKS in advance!
What if I left my signature, BOOYAH? Would that help?-BOOYAH
"Howard The Duck" starred Lea Thompson and featured Liz Sagal & Holly Robinson Peete before they were stars. What's your point? That glamourous Hollywood starlets have to start their careers somewhere? Even in cinematic turkeys?
I'm not sure what my point was! Maybe that there can be noteworthy elements to even forgettable films. There is also a perverse side of me that truly adores Pop Culture. I enjoy the taste of Bubblegum. I wouldn't want an exclusive diet of Double Bubble; but I can enjoy the flavor and the "POP" is just silly fun.Besides, it took a galaxy of stars in bad movies to keep The Satellite of Love in orbit! Speaking of MST3K, have you checked out Cinematic Titanic or RiffTrax? RiffTrax has brought new insight and pleasure to many Comic Book movies. And I'm eager to hear how they'll skewer "Watchmen." Even good movies can use a little mocking.
If you're saying "Even slocky films have SOME redeeming qualities," you'll get no argument from me. If you're saying that "Even bad sequels are worth watching to see who's in them," that could be open to debate. If you're saying that "MST3K only featured films that were so bad they're good," you'll have another debate. I was a little disappointed that they ended the series with "Danger Diabolik" which I didn't think was a bad film at all but a fun comic-strip-adaptation that some filmgoers have mistakenly compared to the Adam West/Burt Ward Batman TV series! While I go along with some of their choices like "Robot Monster" and "Santa Claus Conquers The Martians," they occasionally went the "ignorant smartasses" route when it came to classics like "Diabolik."
MST3K's decision to riff on a movie wasn't a judgment on whether the movie was "good" or "bad." They mostly riffed on bad B Movies from the fifties because those were the cheapest to license. RiffTrax has been able to riff on current, big budget and highly respected movies because they only sell commentary tracks designed to be synced with your own purchased copy of the movie! They don't pay for licensing, so they've riffed on LotR, Star Wars and The Dark Knight for example.
A prequel MIGHT be better made than a sequel. Either way, I hope that another Watchmen movie DOESN'T get made.
You realize that you're contributing to the stereotype that comic book fans hate to see sex in their comics and movie adaptations of same because they're not "getting any," don't you?
A webcomic reaction to the talk about Dr Manhattan's … er … Southern Exposure from the webcomic Hijinks Ensue (The ladies are from Danielle Corsetto's Girls with Slingshots; they're in the porn store where Claire (with the glasses and the box) works…)
I wonder if Michelangelo had to put up with the same crap that Snyder, Gibbons & Co. have to put up with regarding one nude character in a comic book movie! The movie was rated R for heaven sakes! It's not like it's a Disney film!!! We Americans are a bunch of sexually-immature tight-assed prudes!
Sturgeon's "Venus Plus X" examined that – among other things.
And that was published in 1960!!! 49 years later and we as a culture are STILL uptight about it???