Well before the recent TV series “remix” or the 2009 film from director Zack Snyder, Warner Bros. had been trying to make a “Watchmen” live-action adaptation for years. The ‘80s comic book series is often regarded as one of the best superhero stories ever produced and stories of failed development piled up until the late 2000s. Prior to Snyder’s film, the closest “Watchmen” ever came to being filmed was in the early 2000s under the direction of David Hayter.
And as seen in a new video that shows test footage from 2003, directed by Hayter, it appears that fans probably were spared a subpar adaptation.
Obviously, it’s unfair to judge the test footage too harshly, as the sets and costumes weren’t completely ready for the big screen, but the 4-minute video does give us a pretty strong idea of what Hayter was planning with his “Watchmen” adaptation. And it…wasn’t great.
As mentioned, the costumes weren’t final, but even what we see in the footage is not good. Rorshach looks like he got his mask from the local Halloween store. But maybe worst of all, Ray Stevenson (a fine actor) is just not even close to right as the masked vigilante. He’s far too large and his voice isn’t nearly as gruff and weathered as it should sound. Say what you will about Snyder’s way-too-faithful film, but Jackie Earle Haley is a great choice to play Rorschach.
Much like Snyder’s 2009 adaptation, which has Hayter’s name as a credited co-writer, the scene that is shown is almost ripped exactly from the comic book, with dialogue barely changed from writer Alan Moore’s source material.
To sum up, the footage feels very 2003. In an era that was coming off the bright, colorful Sam Raimi “Spider-Man,” this version of “Watchmen” feels very much akin to the not-quite-right superhero films of that era.
For fun, we’ve included Zack Snyder’s version of the same scene below: