Heroes/Watchmen (Allen Moore) question?

Question

Is it true that the television show "Heroes" is based loosely on the graphic novel "Watchmen" by Alan Moore?
I'm reading "Watchmen" at the moment, and none of the characters are the same, but the plot is very similar.

Answer 1

Nope. In issues of _Wizard_ magazine, the producer of "Heroes", Mr. Kring, said his influences were primarily the movies..._Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind_ and _The Incredibles_, which he had seen back-to-back one weekend.

It's several months old but should still be searchable at:

http://www.wizarduniverse.com/

As for "Watchmen", I doubt it was any influence at all as Alan Moore would have had his usual conniption over seeing his "art" adapted to television....really, it does seem like there's no pleasing the guy.

Hope this helps, and thanks for your time! :)

Answer 2

I hadn't heard this before. Even so, plenty of writers "borrow" certain story elements-not the story-from other stories. There is similarity in the fact the characters are involved with a possible "end of the world" scenario, as happens with Watchmen. None of the characters are similar, it's just slightly similar in the fact both the show "Heroes" and "Watchmen" deal with an apocolapyctic type event. Moore created the characters in "Watchmen" specifically for the Graphic Novel, and are loosely based on some Golden Age type characters from Charlton and DC Comics. Even "Watchmen" borrows a little bit from other sources. I still don't know if there is a connection, but as Mr. Kring is a comic book writer, I'd say the odds are that "Watchmen" MUST have had a little influence on the show "Heroes".

Answer 3

I can’t say for sure that the scriptwriters of Heroes read Watchmen and deliberately decided to borrow some ideas, but Watchmen was certainly ground-breaking.

The whole concept of the government being unable to cope with super heroes has been used a number of times, with varying results. One such limited series was the Squadron Supreme, in which two teams of super heroes (vaguely resembling the Justice League and the Outsiders) fought over the issue of ruling the world instead of allowing the governments to do it themselves. (Nighthawk finally convinced Hyperion that someday once the heroes were gone, other men would take the utopian devices they had intended to be used for good and turn them to evil purposes. Hyperion decided to dismantle his Utopia project.

In Miracleman (aka, Marvelman in the UK) Miracleman had to take over the government once he had a fight with Kid Miracleman that devastated London. It was the most shockingly realistic depiction of what could happen when to superbeings were actually at war with one another, and us mere ants of mortals got in the way. I still remember when he was speaking about altering the economy. The Queen protested, “We cannot allow—“ and he interrupted, “Allow…?” Making his point that it was going to happen, and there was nothing they could to stop him.

Marvel’s current Civil War project is also politically motivated, though the other way around—they are taking thinly disguised themes from the headlines and basing a comic book plot on it. That goes beyond writing and becomes political indoctrination (at best), and (at worst) brainwashing. If people are unable to decide about these things on their own, it is unfair to link the issues to comic book characters in which they have a heavy emotional investment. The true winner is the publisher, Marvel, who is making money off the controversy.

But yes, it is possible that Watchmen had some influence on the writers of Heroes.

7 FEB 07, 1959 hrs, GMT.