With the announcement of Damon Lindelof ’s in - the - worksWatchmenadaptation for HBO , the question outright became who he is proceed to cast as that story ’s much - loved hurl of characters . People have been dream - tramp aWatchmenadaptation for ten , first as a hypothetical ( and then very real ) movie , and even as a previous attempt at an HBO miniseries . For the cast of this new adaptation , it will be authoritative to avoid the mistakes of Zach Snyder’sWatchmenfilm , which travel to so much trouble to be visually close to the seed material that it sometimes   lost sight of the spirit of the affair . Damon Lindelof , unused off the critically acclaimed weirdness that wasThe Leftovers , seems unlikely to repeat this mistake .

This is a tilt of working actors that would fit perfectly in the world ofWatchmen , from the six head down to the support histrion . It was helpful to recollect of actors who have been affiliated with either Damon Lindelof or HBO in the past , or otherwise seemed potential for a project of this scale . Some of them may not look exactly like their twin on the varlet , but bring in a level of acting talent or specific fashion and feel that would suit the fictitious character . Here isWho Should Star In HBO’sWatchmen .

13. Laurie Jupiter/Silk Spectre II - Linda Cardellini

For Laurie Jupiter , aka the second Silk Spectre , its important to cast someone who can throw both stamina and vulnerability , often at the same metre . No one could rend this off like Linda Cardellini . The formerFreaks and Geeksstar has a been a authentic presence on motion-picture show and boob tube filmdom for years , without ever really breaking out in any form of major way . She recently seem in Netflix’sBloodline , a show that declined in calibre over the line of its three seasons , but never due to Cardellini , whose performance stay consistent the whole means through .

As Laurie , Linda Cardellini could be the heart and soul of HBO’sWatchmenadaptation , with an emotional soreness that reflects turbulent path charted by the character over the course of the floor .

12. Dr. Malcolm Long - Jeffrey Wright

Dr. Malcolm Long is the unfortunate psychologist who is assigned to psychoanalyze the dangerous vigilante Rorschach after he is captured , and it proves to be a difficult task . The book portray Malcolm Long as an overweight midriff - aged man , ab initio optimistic about Rorschach ’s discourse , who begin to despair the more he screw about the so - phone - hero and his origins . Malcolm is an intelligent humanity whose ideals abut up against the world of a world he does n’t understand . Jeffrey Wright ’s late performance in HBO’sWestworldmakes us think he could pull up that off without infract a sweat .

While it would likely only be a one or two episode guest - star role , Jeffrey Wright can make it consider , just as he makes every small gesture and behavioral tic count in each of his other operation .

11. Sally Jupiter/Silk Spectre I - Gillian Anderson

The office of Sally Jupiter , the first Silk Spectre , and the female parent of her replacement , Laurie Jupiter , is a tough one to hurtle because its basically two role . Ideally the same actress would impersonate the young Sally ; a vigilante who grows up to foist her identity and career on her daughter . The old Sally has been through a lot , and need an actress who can quickly transmit the year of pain and sorrow , in addition to the Sally Jupiter of the past .

Gillian Anderson has been all over TV ever sinceThe X - Files , but has been doing great study all over the place recently , in evince such asAmerican Gods , Hannibal , andThe Fall . Her characters in those shows are often dusty and removed , but you may always see the feeling underneath . Plus , her heavy make - upped work as Media inAmerican Godsproves that she ’s a chameleon who can pull off whatever a scene command of her .

10. Dan Dreiberg/Nite Owl II - Hugh Dancy

Hannibalshowed us that Hugh Dancy is the expert at playing at playing fragile hoi polloi who ca n’t end put themselves at peril of break . For the use of Dan Dreiberg , aka Nite Owl , inWatchmen , it ’s important to find someone who is not only likeable , but at the remainder of their rope , unable to deny for even one more second who they really are .

While Dancy would have to win some weight to act as the retired and retiring - his - prime quantity Nite - Owl , he would be perfect at show audience the level of desperation Dan feels after leaving his life of heroic meter behind . Dancy could embrace the integral silliness of the fiber and his owl costume , while at the same time laying unsheathed the character reference ’s fear and anxiousness , riding the line between poor boy and every - human beings .

9. Bernard - Jeffrey DeMunn

A veteran doer best have it away these days for play poor , destine Dale onThe walk Dead , Jeffrey DeMunn would be a perfect pick for one ofWatchmen ’s two Bernard .   A cranky old news vendor and the fry who buys comics from him , the Bernards are like the Grecian chorus ofWatchmen , provide both a response to the vents of the account ’s public , and a frame gadget for the story within the story , The Black Freighter , which the younger Bernard is read from .

While it would probably be respectable to get an unknown shaver worker for the young Bernard , Jeffrey DeMunn could toy Bernard the senior with a different sort of contrariness than the character has in the books . slimly thinner and older than the book interpretation , his Bernard would be cantankerous rather than just a jerky .

8. Hollis Mason/Nite Owl I - Ted Danson

The first Nite Owl , before Dan Dreiberg call for on the mantelpiece , was a member of The Minutemen . Easily the most well - adjusted person in the chemical group , Hollis eventually retire and drop a line a book about his life history as a costumed adventurer calledUnder the Hood . While there are flashback to Hollis as a youthful man , more sentence is commit to older Hollis , who should be play by everyone ’s preferred old guy , Ted Danson .

Ted Danson is just the right amount of cordial to portray Hollis , while still giving off the impression that at one full point in his life sentence , this guy was capable of kick some serious ass . Hollis would be a bear role , with a couple scene opposite Dan , and a big one where he comes face to face with some crowd members , but Danson would surely make it memorable in the time that he had .

7. Walter Kovacs/Rorschach - Zahn McClarnon

Perhaps the voiceless part to cast in all ofWatchmen , Rorschach is a supposed superhero who is really just a violent vigilante driven by extreme anger and paranoia . He believe himself to be righteous , and adheres to his sometimes wrench moral code with downright certainty , but underneath it all Walter Kovacs is terrified to have found himself in a world that has no place for him . Zahn McClarnon , the incredible Native American actor who playact Hanzee in season 2 of FX ’s acclaimedFargo , would be a perfect scene for the role .

In that role , Hanzee ’s furor bubbled just beneath the surface , only see in glimpses . As Rorschach , McClarnon would get to show off much more of that , as well as the stilted awkwardness of Rorschach in his day - to - 24-hour interval life . While making Rorschach a aboriginal American does downplay the character ’s right - wing brand name of fascistic justice ,   McClarnon is the right actor for this part , unvarnished and dewy-eyed .

6. Moloch the Mystic - Doug Jones

A former villain who is now dying of cancer , Moloch necessitate to be creepy-crawly and sad , minatory and pathetic , all at the same time . Its important to have someone who is just plain odd - looking , with a marvelous and slender soma , and an unsettling expression and demeanor , get into down through the yr into just a sad old mankind . While he is typically cast in prosthetic - heavy roles , Doug Jones , know for work with Guillermo Del Toro on such projects asPan ’s LabyrinthandHellboy , would be arrant for the role of Moloch the Mystic .

Cast as a minor scoundrel onThe Flashas well , Doug Jones automatically comes off as unsettling and just a number menacing , with an unnatural control over his own animalism . He ’s also , however , a wonderful actor in his own right hand , and could make the interview experience fellow feeling for this token of the past with only a few little scenes .

5. Jon Osterman/Doctor Manhattan - Ricky Whittle

Ricky Whittle first got comment for execute the stoic Lincoln onThe 100,before being cast by Bryan Fuller in his adaptation ofAmerican Gods . The confidential information of that show , Shadow Moon , has a exchangeable stoicism , quick reveal to be covering up a immense syndicate of anger and confusedness . It ’s this duality that makes Whittle perfect for both Dr. Jon Osterman , the hapless scientist caught in a major science lab accident ; and for Doctor Manhattan , the god - comparable being that emerges from that chance event .

aside from a willingness to be blue and nude , Doctor Manhattan require to project a degree of peacefulness that has almost ( but not entirely ) consumed the weak and excited man that he once was . Whittle could pull this off , in addition to looking great in bluish dead body - paint .

4. Janey Slater - Carrie Coon

The Leftovers , Damon Lindelof ’s recently fill in chef-d’oeuvre , has a vast pool of gifted performers for him to pull from , but none better than Carrie Coon . BetweenThe LeftoversandFargo , she has proved herself as one of the most effortlessly emotive and relatable actress on television system today . With a human face that can express a monolithic range of often - contravene emotion in a fraction of a 2d , Coon would bring a huge amount of pathos to the otherwise modest character of Janey Slater , Doctor Manhattan ’s former girlfriend from his corporeal 24-hour interval .

purportedly give Crab by the man she loves , Janey ’s fondness for Jon Osterman curdles into bitterness , rancor , and most of all pain . Coon would no problem showing us the very existent effect that Doctor Manhattan ’s vast power has on the hoi polloi around him .

Collage of Willow and Clash of the Titans

Doom: The Dark Ages key art featuring the slayer killing demons

A series of gnarled hands from terrifying creatures reaches out towards Potboy in key art from The Midnight Walk.

Nicolaj Coster-Waldu as Ozymandias

Watchmen Characters

Linda Cardellini as Silk Spectre

Jeffrey Wright as Malcolm Long in Watchmen

Gillian Anderson as Sally Jupiter

Hugh Dancy as Nite Owl

Jeffrey DeMunn as Bernard

Ted Danson as Hollis Mason Nite Owl in Watchmen

Zahn McClarnon as Rorschach

Doug Jones as Moloch the Mystic in Watchmen

Ricky Whittle as Doctor Manhattan

Carrie Coon as Janey Slater

the watchmen