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Beefcake wrote:

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I don't see "Watchmen" turning into a $300 million phenomenon, so if that's what the studio is expecting it will be disappointed. Comics fans will turn out; some will whine if they change one word of dialogue or move one button on a costume, but most of us will appreciate seeing one of our favorite stories on the screen.

I see two problems inherent in making a "Watchmen" movie: (1) non-comics fans will be confused -- "I've never heard of these characters. Who's the Nite-Owl? Is he supposed to be Batman? This is stupid." They won't understand why this story is such a big deal, so either they won't go or they'll be disappointed. (And it wouldn't have helped to use the old Charleston characters, either) and (2) Watchmen is 20-some years old now. What made the story so amazing way-back-when is that it was the first 're-thinking' of the basic superhero story, treating them as people and asking what would happen if they lived in the real world. "Watchmen" influenced a whole generations of writers and artists and is largely responsible for how comics are written nowadays.

So, basically, non-comic fans are still about 40-50 years behind where comics are now -- the most successful superhero movies (eg, Batman Begins, Iron Man, Spiderman) are the ones that stick closely to the original old stories --- and comic fans (esp. the young ones) have come to expect the high level of storytelling that "Watchmen" created.

(Of course the fanboy in me says "Holy shit! I can't wait to see this movie!" I'm going to see Dark Knight in about 2 hours, and all I can think about is the Watchmen trailer. .. .)