HBO's Series Is Not Actually an “Adaptation” of the Comic. Unlike Zack Snyder's movie, HBO's “Watchmen” is not a true adaptation of or sequel to the comic book. ... Instead, the “Watchmen” comics are canon, but the series takes place in a modern world in which the events of those comics are in the past.
As it was with the setting, Zack Snyder kept the main framework of the comic in his movie, so the main characters are the same; the movie, likewise, focuses on Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan, Ozymandias, Nite Owl II and Slik Spectre II, with the Comedian being a plot trigger.
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