Synopsis:

I'm calling this The Bass Reeves Cut of HBO's Watchmen. It turns the 9 episode miniseries into a 2 hour and 22 minute movie. My edit primarily concentrates on the mystery of what happened to Judd Crawford and the origin story of Hooded Justice. It centers on Angela Abar and Will Reeves. There's no Adrian Veidt, no Dr. Manhattan and just a bit of Laurie Blake.

Intentions:

The 2019 Watchmen series was (in my opinion, and I know plenty of opinions differ) absolutely brilliant. It stayed reverent to the events of the graphic novel while charting its own path. I was slightly disappointed by the final episode so this edit is my attempt to take one of the central stories and turn it into a film length experience. This fan edit is meant for those who loved the show and want to experience a condensed retelling of Hooded Justice's origin or for those who are unwilling to commit 9 hours to the show but are intrigued enough to spend just over 2 hours. With that said, I highly recommend the show in its entirely. The music especially is incredible!

Change List:

As this pulls 9 hours of TV down to just over 2 hours, here's a brief outline of what was used or removed: Most of episode 1 remains. I cut the scene of Captain Crawford talking to the wife of the hospitalized cop. Adrian Viedt is cut from this and all other episodes. I kept much of episode 2. I removed the newspaper stand chatter. I removed the winged paparazzi. I removed the White Knight attack. I removed / partially repurposed the hospital scene. I removed the Nixonville attack. I removed most of the family scenes and the Crawford wake (but kept Angela sleuthing). Removed Will being pulled into the sky. In episode 3 I only used Laurie and Angela meeting at the funeral. From episode 4 I used Angela at the Ances-Tree as well as Angela asking Looking Glass about the pills and hood. Episode 5 only uses the scene with Angela taking the Nostalgia pills. Nearly the entirety of episode 6 remains. To me, this is the core of the story I was looking to tell. I cut a few small continuity pieces from the beginning and the very end with Lady Trieu. Episode 7 only uses Angela driving through Red Scare's blockade (it's implied they're stopping her from leaving a hospital). Episode 8, despite being a great episode, doesn't see any use in my edit. Episode 9 uses the theater scene with Angela and Will. A few scenes play slightly out of order for pacing and / or continuity in my version of the story. Some new scene transitions played out better than I could have expected.