105Streaming now
W
atchmen creator Alan
Moore famously objects
to any adaptation of his
work. But you could
imagine even he must
(begrudgingly) admit that Lost
co-creator Damon Lindelof has done the
impossible: created a worthy follow-up
to the greatest comic ever written.
A working knowledge of Moore’s ’86
opus isn’t essential, but it’ll enrich the
experience. Buffing up on American
history won’t hurt either, the show
opening with a shocking sequence set
during the 1921 Tulsa race riots, the
‘single worst incident of racial violence
in American history’. Politics permeates
the show. In Watchmen’s alternate
present, vigilantes have been outlawed,
reparations have been paid to the
country’s African American population
(by President Robert Redford), and gun
control laws mean that police officers
can’t draw their guns unless authorised.The result is that the
police are the targets of
white supremacists, who
have perverted
Rorschach’s crusade for
truth by adopting his
mask as their own. They
aren’t the only ones
concealing their
identities, with the police
themselves donning
costumes to protect
their identities. In other
words, the police have
become the Watchmen.
If all that sounds
un-comic-booky, fear not:
Watchmen is weird, and
then some. Joker
redefined what a
superhero cinema can
be. Watchmen is set to
do the same for TV.
Jordan FarleyWatchmen
Sequel series may be the year’s best TV show
DAYBREAK
FORMAT NETFLIX PRICE £8.99 A MONTH
Based on a comic, and from the director of videogame
adaptation Rampage, this post-apocalyptic comedy
sees a 17-year-old outcast scour a Mad Max-style
apocalyptic wasteland America in search of his
missing girlfriend. More fun than it sounds.BATWOMAN
FORMAT TBC
The latest Arrow-verse spin-off stars Ruby Rose as
Kate Kane, aka Batwoman. Picking up three years after
Bruce Wayne’s disappearance, it sees Kane finding her
place as Gotham’s protector. As well as big bad Red
Alice, season one will feature fan-favourite villain Hush.6 UNDER-
GROUND
FORMAT NETFLIX
PRICE £8.99 A MONTH
Ryan Reynolds stars in
this slice of Bayhem about
six billionaires who fake
their own deaths in order
to become untraceable
vigilantes who take down
untouchable criminals.
Expect wisecracking,
explosions, and at least
one instance of mid-
explosion wisecracking.SWAMP THING S1
FORMAT AMAZON PRIME
PRICE £7.99 A MONTH
This DC series boasted some
heavyweight names behind
the camera in It writer Gary
Dauberman and Aquaman
director James Wan, but
even they couldn’t save the
show from cancellation after
just one season. Still, the
ten enjoyably horror-tinged
episodes centred around
the eponymous plant-based
creature are worth seeking
out on Amazon.now and incoming
FORMAT NETFLIX PRICE £8.99 A MONTHVisit http://www.hbo.
com/peteypedia for
some major post-
comic revelations.