Wondering what you won’t be seeing when “Watchmen” opens in theaters next weekend?
EW’s Jeff Jensen spoke to director Zach Snyder about the upcoming film and details what will portions of the best-selling graphic novel were trimmed for the upcoming movie.
Below is Jensen’s list of the trims:
Tales of the Black Freighter
A gruesome pirate comic woven into the story of Watchmen; it will be an animated short with its own DVD.
The Bonus Material
Each issue of Watchmen came with extras — a magazine interview with Ozymandias, Rorschach’s psychiatric file, a superhero memoir called Under the Hood. The latter has been made into a faux documentary, also on the Black Freighter DVD.
The Manhattan Street Corner
The corner remains; the people whose lives intersect there have mere cameos in the film.
No More Oil
Unlike the world of the comic, Snyder’s society is still hooked on oil — but Dr. Manhattan’s alternative fuel remains essential to his tweaked conspiracy plot.
The Missing Comic Book
Gone is a subplot about the whereabouts of Max Shea, The Black Freighter‘s writer, because of its connection to the Giant Squid. Speaking of which…
The Giant Squid
In the comic, the villain’s plan hinges on something fanboys call the Giant Squid. But the film gives the villain a new scheme. For the record: ”I don’t hate the squid!” says Snyder. ”I love the f—ing squid!”
What!? They changed the squid?? WTF??? All the good feelings I had about this film are now in doubt. What happened to sticking to the source material?
This was probably a case of Goliath beating David. Snyder says he loved the giant squid, and I bet he tried to keep it in, and fought like hell for it, but the studio forced him into a position like “look, either lose the Squid, or [insert something that would Watchmen fan’s eyes bleed],” and he did what he had to.
All reports have it that what replaced the Giant Squid is more clever than the Squid, which would be too cheesy on the big screen. I’m fine with the disapearance of the Squid.