WMG / Doomsday Clock

WARNING: UNMARKED SPOILERS HO!

Pre- and Mid-Series Speculation

The Superman that Manhattan will face will be the Earth-2 Justice Society of America Superman.

Which makes sense since while "our" Superman is powerful, Earth-2 Supes is nigh-Godlike.

• Uh, no. The Earth-Two Superman is the "nothing less than a bursting shell can pierce his skin" Superman. And he died. (Although it's possible that he's alive again thanks to the events of Convergence).
  • Jossed: It's regular Superman, who will be pissed off to the point of murdering Dr Manhattan in cold blood, once he finds out how Dr Manhattan killed the Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott and triggered a cascade effect that ruined, changed, and warped the lives of everyone in the DC Universe via the New 52.
    • Aaaand we get to partially Joss a Joss. It is indeed the prime universe (now called "Metaverse") Superman, As the above correctly states. But he does actually not kill Manhattan, nor is he enraged with him. In fairness, he almost certainly felt hostility and anger towards Manhattan, given Manhattan's meddlings, including engineering the death of Clark's parents, and he'd have a right to. But he instead extends forgiveness to Manhattan and through that defuses the conflict between him and Manhattan, causing Manhattan to revert his changes.
    • And the Earth-2 Superman returned along with the rest of the Earth-2 universe.

The being that stole everyone's memories isn't Manhattan: it's a giant squid.

Distressed by the abuse and hatred for the squid from Watchmen, this squid sought to bridge the gap between her species and humanity, even though she could not speak, talk, walk, breathe, or swim diagonally. Still, she knew her dream could be realized, and this great hope summoned a Blue Lantern Ring to her side, which she used to construct a device that erases thirty years of comic history and gives you arms to grab buttons with. Really, she's not bright at all.

• Jossed: Dr Manhattan killed Alan Scott by way of preventing him from accessing the Starheart/Golden Age Green Lantern Battery in the train wreck, when he first became Green Lantern, presumably among other changes.

This is an alternate universe Doctor Manhattan who never had his "thermodynamic miracle" epiphany with Laurie

Without that moment, Jon would've indeed stayed cynical and not valued life. That moment is key to his character arc, and without it, he would have had no reason to return to Earth. This Jon could have fled even further than Mars, and ended up creating the New 52. Superman, representing hope, will be the new way for this alternate Jon to find his humanity.

• That would explain Johns' insistence that this isn't a sequel to Watchmen; it wouldn't be a continuation of that world, but an offshoot.
• Seems to have gained some merit after Issue three reveals that Manhattan saved the Comedian from his fatal fall by teleporting him to the DC universe.
• Jossed, it's made quite clear this is the Manhattan of Watchmen.

Dr. Manhattan could have been trying to help but it fell apart quickly.

Dr. Manhattan left the Watchmen's world with a bit more hope in his heart, but something could have occured when he crossed over. Perhaps he saw Flashpoint and he felt like he needed to help and got involved, trying to help save the universe he came upon when a strange figure came through. Dr. Manhattan could have saw the world becoming darker due to his influence and it made him have to wipe the minds of many people to try and save them, but it resulted in him losing some of the hope he regained.

• Jossed: He EXPLICITLY killed Alan Scott, by keeping him from accessing the Starheart/Golden Age Green Lantern battery.

Dr. Manhattan is fascinated with the DCU because he can't see the past or future as the present in it.

He's experimenting with the DCU because he can't "see" the future, unlike the Watchman universe, where to him, the past, present and future are all the same thing to him.

• Jossed: He doesn't care one bit; the only thing that excites him is the seeming inevitability that his actions will cause Superman to break his "no kill" code and murder him or push Jon into destroying everything himself.

Doomsday Clock will act as a Spiritual Antithesis to Watchmen

Geoff Johns stated that DC Rebirth is a Take That! against the overabundance of Darker and Edgier superhero stories thanks to Watchmen. This story would be a Reconstruction of Superhero tropes rather than a Deconstruction.

• Confirmed if you subscribe to the idea Superman is a Hope Bringer than the Watchman Universe lacked, and how Manhattan created his own to make the Watchman universe a brighter place.

Dr. Manhattan isn't Jon Osterman. Its Ozymandias

The Watchmen movie's version of the S.Q.U.I.D is mimicking or has absorbed Osterman's abilities and transferred them to Adrian Veidt. He's using them in a much more reckless manner.Jossed: It's Jon.

Dr. Manhattan didn't just cause the New 52, he created the DC Universe.

He's implicitly on a level of power now far beyond that of fifth-dimensional beings, expressed interest in creating life, and would match the giant blue hand seen in flashbacks to the creation of the universe as witnessed by Krona. After all, DC Comics existed as an institution in his world with the likes of Superman, Batman, and the Flash, prompting the rise of real-world vigilantes that ultimately left superhero comics outmoded and led to books like Tales of the Black Freighter taking over, something he'd surely know about given his own place in the costumed community. Perhaps he decided to bring them to life from the comics pages to see if he could create heroes that would save the world with clean hands where his couldn't; of course, that brings into question why he decided to interfere with the experiment. Maybe he wants to see how they'd work in a world closer to his own?

• More evidence has built up for this: Geoff Johns confirmed it will be acknowledged in-story that Superman and other DC Comics existed in the world of Watchmen, and a recent arc of JLA showed that Dr. Manhattan's entrance into the DC universe was observed (leaving in fact a tangible scar in the Microverse that threatened all of reality), which appeared in the form of a giant blue hand again very similar to the vision of the creation of the universe as witness by Krona.

Seemingly jossed: He mentions he simply head to the DCU right after Watchmen.

• Jossed. He only experimented on the DCU, which has a life of its own and fought back.

Dr. Manhattan deliberately tampered with the comics of the DCU to cover his tracks.

Just as DC Comics existed in the world of Watchmen, Watchmen existed as a comic in the DCU; an issue of Question in 1988 showed Vic Sage reading the book. Yet uber-nerd Barry Allen didn't recognize the Comedian's button, suggesting that Watchmen was erased from the DCU in Flashpoint (if not earlier), likely by Manhattan so that no one would have any reason to conceive of his existence and therefore suspect his actions.

• Semi-Jossed. He deliberately tampered with the DCU, but just out of curiosity. He did hide himself, requiring Ozy to invent a creature (Bubastis II) to find him and summon him.

Rorschach will have some form of presence within the story.

There have been a lot of hints of Rorschach going around lately, particularly in the covers, namely how:

• One cover has a sign reading "The End is Here", recalling "The End is Nigh" signs that are associated with him (and the guy holding said sign looks a lot like his secret identity)◊.
• A lenticular cover has Rorschach's ink pattern face changing to resemble the symbols of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman.
• And finally a different cover has Batman reading Rorschach's journal itself◊.
• Confirmed. He's somehow alive again.
  • Perhaps Dr. M didn't actually kill him, but instead zapped him to an alternate universe, that being the DC universe...
  • Maybe, maybe not. Issue #1 drops some very heavy hints that the original Rorschach is still dead and that the one in the story is a different person under the mask. In Issue #2, he is addressed as "Reggie."
  • Confirmed and Jossed: Kovacs may be dead, but the events are strongly influenced by him, with Malcolm being a Legacy Character and his diary precipitated nuclear war.

The real threat isn't Dr Manhattan himself, it's his presence.

Something like a Fisher King scenario. The corruption being brought is due to being an intentional cynical and deconstructive work being planted into an initially optimistic setting — they bring in some of the "darkness" of their setting. Dr Manhattan didn't willingly alter the universe as much as it seems, or at the very least, he isn't responsible for the DC Universe being Darker and Edgier. Rather, it's his presence carrying the cynical spirit of Watchmen into somewhere it doesn't belong. This normally wouldn't have happened, but because he's an incredibly powerful Reality Warper, it magnifies this effect to change the entire continuity and multiverse. His own disconnected worldview means he doesn't realize the harm he's causing, and the key to stopping him will be making him realize this and decide not to dick around with DC again. This could be similar to how, out of universe, Watchmen is often blamed for the darkened state of DC, despite that never being the writer's intention.Jossed: Manhattan explicitly killed Alan Scott in order to eliminate the first generation of DC Superheroes and possibly a whole lot more.

Ozymandias is in the DCU.

Mr. Oz's resources notes that his prison is one for him as well. Adrian will try to corrupt the DCU's smartest man — Lex Luthor, who he'll find common ground with.

• The cover of issue 2 shows someone's arm on Lex's shoulder, an arm that looks like Ozymandias'.
  • He's not yet as of issue 1, but it is all but shouted from the rooftops that that is his ultimate destination.

That's not the original Rorschach.

With his build and face entirely covered, and with his journal getting out there, it's entirely possible someone just took up his mantle.

• Confirmed. It's an Ascended Fanboy who has a serious Broken Pedestal.

Rorschach will fight all three Jokers.

Doctor Manhattan will make them compete over which can become the real Joker, by having each try to kill Rorschach, one after another.

• Jossed: Rorschach II only fights one Joker. And that can't even be dignified with the term "fight", actually. Rorschach II completely demolishes Joker in a few brutal moments. Manhattan isn't involved either, he shows up just after the fight to whisk the Watchmen characters present away for a private chat.

The Empty Hand is the true Big Bad

Manhattan himself, while certainly the type to create and experiment with life, in having rediscovered its value would not likely deliberately inflict suffering on it for its own sake. Multiversity however revealed The Empty Hand, a pervasive source of cynicism that has apparently consumed past versions of the multiverse and may have a connection to our own real world. Given a recent arc of Justice League hinted the conflict is in fact between two godlike entities that are respectively recreating and destroying reality in the form of reboots, it may emerge as the true villain.

• Jossed.

At least one issue will show a Crapsack World Watchmen-ified version of the DCU

Given Manhattan has apparently been darkening the universe through reboots for a while now, he's not likely to approve of recent developments altering that course, and may choose to forcibly progress the 'experiment' to see how these beings would thrive under conditions such as his own world, ala a more Rorschach-esque Batman, a disaffected Superman, and so forth; it would fulfill Geoff Johns original promise that the series would show "how far can Superman fall" (before he inevitably regains his senses and sets things right, of course). Perhaps we might even get a look at the reverse, seeing how the Watchmen characters might have operated in a more traditionally superheroic setting.

• Jossed. The DCU is going to hell in a handbasket because of The Superman Theory.

Continuing from the above theory that this is an alternate-timeline Dr. Manhattan, The Reveal will occur as Batman is reading Rorschach's journal

He'll be reading it, and at first the text aligns with what was written in Watchmen, but then a Wham Line is delivered, and we get a line that wasn't in Rorschach's journal in the comic that reveals the twist.

• Jossed. Dr. Manhattan doesn't show til much later.

Dr. Manhattan tried to give Clark a Cynicism Catalyst

It is heavily implied that Dr. Manhattan killed the Kents, as their deaths are the one thing left over from the New 52 Superman's history (that Dr. Manhattan created), and Jonathan Kent's last words are a mention of God's plan before he and Martha are hit by the drunk driver that kills them. With Dr. Manhattan being established as someone who wants the world to be more cynical, and Rebirth keeping the idea that "all things come from Superman" in Superman Reborn, Manhattan may have staged an accident to kill the Kents so they could act as Clark's tragic origin.

• Confimed and Jossed. Confirmed in that Jon was using the Metaverse (a concept which intrigued him) as a petri dish, making all sorts of changes to it to see what they would do to the wider multiverse. He became fixated on Superman, whose optimism and hope he couldn't quite understand, and engineered the car crash that killed his parents, robbing him of their example in his formative years and causing the more cynical New 52 Superman that was more to his liking (or at least more understandable to him). After his Heel–Face Turn in issue 12, he doesn't undo the crash, but engineers events (including undoing the death of Alan Scott, so that the JSA existed again, allowing Pa Kent to encourage Clark to become Superboy publicly as people had known again of metahumans and weren't likely to be freaked out by a man who could fly) so that Superboy saves his parents in the nick of time, bringing them back to life in the DC Universe. Jossed, however, he had no interest in making Superman Darker and Edgier. He had a detached view of it, and it wasn't til issue #9 he even had a Heel Realization.

The name "Jonathan" will become extremely significant.

Not only does Dr. Manhattan share a first name with Superman's dad, but he also shares one with Superman's son. Clark calling out for his father/son will serve to remind Dr. Manhattan that he too was once human.

• As long as he doesn't start roaring "whY dO yOu KnOw thAT NAAaMMe?!" at him.
  • Jossed. The name "Clark" becomes extremely significant.

The new Rorschach is that kid who was reading the comic book at the newsstand.

He's one of the only prominent black characters from the original Watchmen and was a fan of comic books, so he could've been inspired to take up Rorschach's mantle.

• Jossed.

Rorschach II is being haunted by the spirit of Kovacs

He's heavily influenced by him and doesn't take kindly to those who drag his spiritual mentor through the mud, but he's also not fully possessed and can still think on his own (enough to operate in a grey area and help Veidt).

• Jossed. He doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone in the Watchman universe save Ozy, and only because he knows Ozy is trying to manipulate him.

Rorschach II is somehow related to Dr Malcolm Long

Having found his notes on the original he used them to try and become a hero himself.

• Issue #3 seems to lay the groundwork for such a reveal. We know from Watchmen that both Malcolm and his wife were near the epicenter of the squid's arrival when they died. Reggie tells Batman that both of his parents died when Adrian sent the squid to New York, and a dream/flashback shows Reggie driving into the city to find his parents just when the squid arrives.
• Confirmed in Issue #4: He's Dr. Long's son.

Rorschach II IS Dr Malcolm Long

Having survived the giant squid at the end of the first Watchmen, Long at first tries to keep living a normal life, but he just can't. Having to deal with the death/divorce of his wife, the aftermath of his interviews with Rorscach, and all of the evil still in the world takes its toll, and he 'becomes' Rorschach as a means to face it all. Doing this only serves to take a further toll on his psyche, and by the time Doomsday Clock starts up, he's become the opposite of the original Rorschach. While Walter was an uncompromising bedrock, Long is a walking mass of contradictions telling people that he isn't Roschach or at least not THE Rorschach one minute and insisting that he is the next, and he's also willing to compromise his values to do what needs to be done. Which makes sense, as Long was always a much more moral and reasonable man than Walter. Even after becoming Rorschach, that still remains part of his character, at least to some extent.

• If it is Mal, then maybe Veidt's genetic monster giving him those mental images, sounds, and descriptions from Max Shea's movie project would also have some effect on his mental psyche.
  • Jossed. Rorschach II's name is Reggie, and the reveal of his face in Issue #3 shows him to be much younger than Malcolm.
  • However, is is related to Malcolm. He's Dr. Long's son.

Doctor Manhattan hasn't lost his humanity

He still finds value in human life, but not fictional life. He's been lovers and friends with people who he considers to be more miraculous than Superman or Batman, and doesn't care about these larger than life characters who defy the laws of physics he still upholds to as irrefutable reality.

• Jossed. He's almost completely lost his humanity, until the final issue when Superman points out that he still has a tiny bit of it (for Janie), and shocks Jon with his selflessness and heroism.

Which in turn will lead into The Reveal that Doc Manhattan is an Expy of Alan Moore himself, who has expressed disdain and apathy for the superhero genre in favor of more realistic or classic characters. Geoff Johns will use Superman, Moore's favorite childhood superhero, to convince Moore/Manhattan that superhero comics still have reasons to stick around besides being a Cash-Cow Franchise.

• Kinda, From a Certain Point of View

• Complicated by #7: he suggests that he hasn't lost his humanity anew, but he arranged the death of Alan Scott before he could become Green Lantern, and upon learning that he'll have a monstrously destructive fight with Superman that seemingly results in either his own death of that of the rest of creation, his reaction is simply curiosity.
  • On the other hand, there is some merit to Johns making those points, but not so much directed solely at Moore and instead at those in the comics industry who took the Grimdark in Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns not as the intended critiques of '80s society and deconstructions of the superhero genre but as a formula for writing successful and profitable comics and a license to spawn Darker and Edgier '90s Anti-Hero characters, such as in the New 52. it's telling that in the first issue, the prisoner Rorschach II leaves to die looks like Dan Didio, who had a major hand in creating the New 52 in the first place.

Watchmen universe is actually the Earth 52, but right between Dark Multiverse and Multiverse itself

While in a meta sense, all the characters should have been just Expies of DCU characters... what if it's not? And that due to it's half in Dark Muliverse, it have an extreme high chance of falling apart, but since it's not completely inmersed in Dark Multiverse, it is rescuable?

• Jossed.

Rorschach II is brainwashed by Ozymandias

He's some guy (or possibly Malcolm Long) who is under mind control by Ozy. Deep down, Ozy miss his old team mates, that's why he brainwashed this guy into believing he is Rorschach.

• Jossed: He's actually been lied to and manipulated by Adrian lying about having brain cancer/being sorry for what he did, in order to make him spare his life and work for him.

Ozymandias killed Nite-Owl II and Silk Spectre II before Doomsday Clock #1

That's why we don't see them in this story. He murdered them sometime after the original Watchmen. He didn't want to risk the public knowing his big secret, so he had his old friends killed.

• Jossed. They're Happily Married as the Hollises.

Nite Owl is posing as The Comedian

Hints of it in the first issue, as Oxy has no idea where he is.

• Jossed. Issue #3 shows Doctor Manhattan narrowly saving the Comedian's life and teleporting him to Metropolis.

Dr. Manhattan knows Ozymandias is looking for him

Manhattan knows Ozy is looking for him, so he brought The Comedian back to life just to screw with him. He is pretty much god after all, so he must be aware of Ozy's presence in Gotham.

• Confirmed. He even knows Bubastis II is the reason he can, and had The Comedian try to kill it.

Dr. Manhattan will kill Marionette and Mime

Marionette is no longer pregnant, so there's nothing stopping the big blue guy from vaporizing them.Jossed: Marionette got pregnant by the Mime after their reunion and that child is why Manhattan spared her all those years ago.

• Jossed. Fortunately.

The story does not take place in the New 52 universe

Fairly obvious, but worth putting down anyway. Of note: no elements unique to the New 52/Rebirth continuity have been mentioned or seen, Batman is wearing his Batman Incorporated batsuit, and characters without New 52 counterparts, like Lady Clayface, are mentioned.

• "No elements unique to the New 52/Rebirth continuity have been mentioned or seen." What about the Kents dying in a car accident when Clark is a teenager?
  • Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that no elements unique to the New 52/Rebirth continuity appear after the Watchmen characters have crossed over into the DC Universe. There's the elderly Johnny Thunder, but his exact nature has yet to be revealed.
    • Joker and Riddler look like their classic selves before the New 52. I like to think the story takes place somewhere in the 1990s.
    • This theory is pretty firmly jossed by issue 5, which has Lois and Clark mention Jon, who was born in a 2015 Convergence tie-in (and was incorporated into Post-Flashpoint history by Superman Reborn). Issue 6 references Tom King's Heroes in Crisis miniseries. It's true that Doomsday Clock doesn't overtly reference much Rebirth stuff other than the initial Wally West Returns special, The Button and the Jurgens/Tomasi Superman era (as of July 2018), but a year from now we'll see Doomsday Clock have a direct effect on ongoing series when they start taking place after it.
    • The final Jossing happens in issue 12. No matter what universe much of the series happened in, Dr. Manhattan's Cosmic Retcon made sure that the ending is absolutely NOT in the New 52 universe. Arguably it's no longer even the Rebirth universe, not with the return of Jon and Martha Kent, the Justice Society of America and the Legion of Superheroes.

The Joker will kill Marionette and Mime

The Clown Prince of Crime won't be okay with Joker and Harley knock-offs running around in his city. He will feel offended, and possibly kill them without a second thought.

• Given that the two challenged the Joker's authority on his turf and killed and/or maimed a number of his henchmen, at least his attempting to kill them is a given.
  • Semi-Jossed. He intended to, but realized not only were the pair on his level, but they were interesting and funny to him, too.
  • Totally Jossed. They survive through the end of the series.

Who could Manhattan be?

Rorschach and Ozymandias speculate that Manhattan could have taken on a new identity as one of the superpowered heroes of the DC universe. It wouldn't even have to be a new identity overall for him, he could have done the reverse of what he did to Superman (merging with someone instead of splitting them into different parts). So let the guessing begin.

• Carver Colman- Issue 3 heavily implies this was who Manhattan became in this world. News articles reveal that the man was never without a watch he always had, he had a secret room filled with watches and clocks, his background was belived a fabrication based on lack of evidence, and he would have been in just the right time period to attack the Justice Society.
  • Explicitly Jossed as of issue 10, where it's made clear that Carver is a struggling actor Manhattan befriended (if such a term still applies to Dr. Manhattan...)
• Martian Manhunter- Mr. Oz was openly worried about how he would respond to Superman's restoration while an image of Mars was seen. He could have merged with J'onn because powerful as he is he can't read minds and might have thought that a telepath would let him understand humanity better.
• Captain Atom- A bit on the nose but he might see such a powerful being as ideal to merge with. Atom's uncontrollable quantum jumping would give Manhattan a lot of opportunities to slip in unnoticed.
• Time Trapper- Saturn Girl came back to the present for a reason and it's implied to be bad enough that she's on the verge of a meltdown. It would fit well with the timeline manipulation that's been happening.
• Niles Caulder- Given the Supermen Theory that is prominent in story and Caulder's own history of engineering superhumans it's possible Manhattan chose to become him so he could metahumans through mundane methods rather than just zapping them into existence. His reason may have to do with a desire to not be alone and he's trying to create a being like himself rather than just a superhuman.
• Yz- Johnny Thunder's Reality Warping demon. He could have had a Face–Heel Turn.
• As of #7, Manhattan indicates he thought of becoming a hero here but decided otherwise, seemingly jossing all of the above.
• Jossed. he is just Jon Osterman, never taking on any clever double identity within the DCU, only reverting to his original Jon appearance when he needs to go incognito.

There will be a Watchmen 2, and it'll be based on the Doomsday Clock mini-series

It will be set in the DCU. Some things will be changed for the film. Ben Affleck's Batman will team up with Rorschach II. The actors who played Ozymandias, The Comedian, and Dr. Manhattan from the first film will return to play the characters in the sequel.

• Semi-Jossed, though who knows with the HBO series aligning with the comic series, and what may happen in Season 2?

Titles that could result from the series

The other major storyline that DC is publishing is receiving several spin-off titles so why shouldn't the major story that DC has been working towards for two years get the same deal.

• Justice Society of America- The series won't end with the Society returned but it will make it so that a few members have come back and can seek out the rest of the missing team.
  • While the series itself is still up in the air (but almost certainly going to be a thing), the rest of the WMG is Jossed — the entire Society returns, after Manhattan undoes his for-want-of-a-nail death of Alan Scott.
• Legion of Super-Heroes- Saturn Girl will finally find Superman and explain why she has come back in time.
  • Confirmed. Brian Michael Bendis confirmed◊ the new Legion series would spring from Doomsday Clock.
• Justice League International- Booster Gold started reappearing as an indirect result of Manhattan's meddling with the time stream. The team may be formed as a result of rising tensions over the Supermen Theory to address international tensions.
  • Possible, after a fashion — Issue 12 has Wonder Woman reforming a group known as the Global Guardians, which seems to cover much the same ground as the above WMG.
• Young Justice- Wally could finally start unraveling the mystery behind Manhattan and receives a vision from the Speed Force about Bart Allen, which leads him to trying find Bart and will in turn lead to him finding other members of the team that have been missing. Tim Drake will be involved.
  • Jossed: Young Justice is returning due to Brian Michael Bendis and his Wonder Comics imprint, unrelated to anything to do with Doomsday Clock. Bart also returned as a result of Flash War.
• Doom Patrol- Team members keep receiving mention in the series which is a bit odd. The team will be formed in protest against rising superhuman sentiment.
• The Outsiders- Batman will assemble the team to investigate what he believes to be a conspiracy behind the Supermen Theory.
  • Jossed: Batman and the Outsiders returns as well, but spins out of an arc of Detective Comics after getting set up during Metal.

The possible Sequel Hook that the story will end on.

Legion of Doom- Lex is looking to benefit from tension over the Supermen Theory but the story will, if not disproving it outright, will drastically cut down on public outcry over it. That will be the Last Straw for Luthor who will form a team to kill the Justice League and then all metahumans.

• Jossed.

Johnny Thunder will be the key for Superman to deal with Dr. Manhattan.

Johnny Thunder is a Wide-Eyed Idealist and has Reality Warping power with Yz. He will be the key to counteracting Dr. Manhattan, guided by Superman.

• Jossed. Johnny and Yz do merge again, but the payoff to his story arc is that he becomes the first sign that the JSA is back (just as Imra's Back from the Dead moment is the first proof the Legion is back). His only real part in the confrontation otherwise is to take down Black Adam.

Dr. Manhattan will be redeemed.

After having a civil conversation with Superman and realizing his error.

• Confrmed, almost word for word. Superman gives him a You Are Better Than You Think You Are speech and as Jon watchs his self-sacrifice, his humanity is reborn and he decides to pull a Cosmic Retcon that undoes or recasts in a much better way his various interferences with the timestream.

The "Three Jokers" plot thread will not get resolved or even acknowledged in Doomsday Clock.

Since instead, it will be handled in another story by Geoff Johns, illustrated by Jason Fabok, as announced on April 4, 2018.

• Confirmed.

Issue #5's cover does not depict the Joker.

It depicts Mime dressed as the Joker, as speculated.

• Jossed.

The Mime and Marrionette's Son..

Is one of the three Jokers running around. He was shunted off to the DC universe by Doctor Manhattan for some reason.

• Jossed. He is an as-of-yet unexplored character who Jon grooms as his successor, one whom he explicitly molds in the image of Superman so that the Watchmen universe has a protector who is worthy to bear the immense power of Dr. Manhattan.

Dr. Manhattan will turn out to be Good All Along...sort of.

It's the reason he's been changing things-he's trying to figure out what to do to make sure the Watchmen universe(and reality as a whole) cleans itself up. Being Dr Manhattan, he knew Ozymandias' plan would fail and it's the real reason why he left. Eventually coming in contact with the DC Universe/Multiverse, he noticed two key differences. First is that it wasn't deterministic as history is changed every Tuesday, considering how many bad futures are thwarted by the heroes and how many cosmic retcons happen. Second is that costumed heroes bring optimism even when there are far more dangerous threats to it.

• Jossed. Dr. Manhattan had a Heel Realization.

Having only become stronger over the years, Dr Manhattan sets out to find just what allows the DC Universe to be generally optimistic by literally deconstructing it for its merits. The removal of memories and histories, the Darker and Edgier state, it's all a Secret Test of Character to see if it can still stay optimistic or sink into despair. If it does the former, then he might have an idea of how to salvage his own universe, and gain a better appreciation of humanity. He's fully expecting the heroes to come after him since it shows they can go after any adversary and prove their meddle. Instead of being beaten in a fight, Manhattan will be a Graceful Loser and decide to undo most of the damage he did because they passed his Secret Test of Character. Then he might be convinced to return to the Watchmen universe and stop The End of the World as We Know It.

• Jossed. Jon viewed the Metaverse as a watch and Superman as its main spring. He kept tinkering with the metaverse completely to see what would happen. It'd be a stretch to call what he did evil as to motivation, per se, however it wasn't good, either. Blue-and-Orange Morality, perhaps?

Dr. Manhattan is behind the 3 Jokers.

He yanked the other 2 Jokers out of their timelines, and brought them into the modern world.

• Given what was revealed in issue 10 about Manhattan basically wrapping the DC Multiverse and metaverse around his finger and making it his plaything, that is well within the realm of possibility.

Dr. Manhattan will hear arguments from Superman and The Joker.

The ultimate clash of cynicism (Joker) and idealism (Superman) will influence Dr. Manhattan's final action.

• Jossed. All three are never in the same scene together, and Superman and the Joker do not interact at all in the series. All Joker has time to do really while in Manhattan's presence is snark about Jon's nudity before the Watchmen characters in the scene are vworped to a pocket universe for a private chat. It's doubtful that Manhattan even registered Joker's presence at all in that scene.

The reason the second Rorschach was created.

Geoff Johns wanted a "Batman meets Rorschach" scene. Bringing Walter Kovacs back from the dead would hurt the ending of the original Watchmen, so he created a new Rorschach to interact with the dark knight.

• Semi-Jossed. Rather, Reggie was a Plot Parallel to the main plot.

The Comedian will get screwed over by Dr. Manhattan.

Dr. Manhattan didn't bring Blake back out of the kindness of his heart. This is all one big chess game, and Blake is one of the chess pieces. Once the game is over, Manhattan will send him back in time to the moment Ozymandias threw him out of the window. Blake doesn't know it yet, but he is a pawn.

• Confirmed.

Captain Atom is behind The Superman Theory.

He was a member of the Justice League, Dr. Manhattan is an Expy of him, and he was created by the US Government.

• Jossed.

Alternates to the above theory

.Captain Atom is too obvious, and he got reset to his original set up by Greg Weisman, so they probably aren't going to throw it away.

As he's been mentioned the most, Firestorm seems a likely suspect.

• Confirmed, dingdingding! Martin Stein is apparently one of the driving forces behind the setup for the Theory, having intentionally created a number of metahumans to try and recruit for government service. His last experiment was on himself and Ronny Raymond, creating Firestorm. Poor Ronny is taken along for the ride and has no idea that the "good" professor has been doing any of it.

The Justice League member behind The Superman Theory?

While Captain Atom and Firestorm seem likely suspects, this troper's personal one was a member who had long caused problems for the League before and who the rationale makes sense. Plus, who else has large suspicions against the superhero populace while connections to the governments?

My theory it is none other than Maxwell Lord.

He has suspicion to raise awareness of the superhero populace plus last we saw him, he works for Checkmate. His mental powers would make him capable of various covert opportunites and all under the radar.

• Jossed. Firestorm.

Batman is behind the Superman Theory.

As a counterpoint to the previous "mastermind" theories, the mastermind is implied to be a current member of the League, or at least a long standing member. And given the fact that Batman's previously been very paranoid about other superheroes (Brother Eye, Tower of Babel), it wouldn't be that far of a stretch to assume he's investigated the origins of at least some of the various heroes and villains out there.

Putting this here just because of this, hoping it's not since it'd be too easy.

• Jossed.

Bubastis II will be present at Superman and Dr. Manhattan's confrontation.

And by extension, Ozymandias. She blocks his temporal vision, which is why he can't see beyond that point in time.

• Jossed. Replace Bubastis II with Black Adam and his group along with the Russian metas.

Bubastis II either by her own will or by another is intentionally blocking Dr. Manhattan's temporal vision, setting up the major confrontation.

After all if one can affect a godlike being's powers, then through such, one can manipulate said godlike being. Who, why and if the instigator is aware of just how bad the fallout could be isn't known, but it's not likely to end well period. Her involvement is ultimately the thread that needs to be found to resolve the plot before it's too late.

• Semi-Jossed. Bubastis II is a blind spot in Jon's vision, but the darkness was him remaking the DCU.

Yz is the reason Johnny Thunder still exists and remembers everything.

Yz, a being at least as powerful as Dr. Manhattan, saved Johnny Thunder from being Ret-Gone — and it's also the reason he has Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory.

• Jossed.

Dr. Manhattan will be a Disc-One Final Boss.

• Jossed.

The battle at the UN will be the Turning Point for public perception of the heroes.

Issue 9 sets up a fight between Wonder Woman (and possibly Batman) and Black Adam's Super Supremacists at the UN, while most heroes are off planet and are possibly dead. Naturally this is being described as a Darkest Hour... But what if it isn't. The fight interrupted Diana's UN Address and it is at the UN, so it's probably going to be broadcast publicly, if the world witnesses Diana (and possibly Bruce) fighting impossible odds to protect the diplomats and protesters, most of which are against them, it may begin to turn public opinion back to their side. There is logic here, Geoff Johns is trying to move away from Watchmen inspired Darker and Edgier comics, and they can't really pull that off if the world is as anti-meta as it is right now, while they could have the world change their minds at the end it would feel more fluid for the tide to begin turning now, keep in mind there are only 3 issues left.

• Jossed. Dr. Manhattan basically Set Right What Once Went Wrong.

It's not Superman who fights Manhattan, but Superboy-Prime

At the end of Superman Reborn we see a symbol that could be Prime's "red on black" classic symbol. Also, as the Source Wall is now broken, Prime is now free. And, as mentioned, there's a second being manipulating the DCU. As Prime is always used as the fan stand-in and this is a heavy meta-textual story, having Prime as the voice of the fans versus Manhattan as the clueless writer would make sense.

• Jossed all to heck and gone. Not only is it not Superboy-Prime, but Superman doesn't even actually fight Manhattan, preferring to do a non-violent Take a Third Option with him.

Jonathan and Martha Kent will be resurrected in issue 12

In Bendis' Superman and Young Justice runs there have been some present-tense references to the Kents (eg Conner saying he saw them recently). Newsarama asked Bendis about this and he said it was connected to Doomsday Clock.

• Confirmed!

There are two Dr. Manhattans, in the same way that there is a DCU and a Watchmen-U

The two universes (metauniverses, franchises, whatever!) are essentially two sides of the same coin in a more literal sense than usual. Superman and Dr. Manhattan aren't each other's opposite, because there is a Clark Kent in Watchmen somewhere, just as there is a Jon Osterman in the DCU. The weird continuity snarls inherent in DC's publishing needs are there because DCU!Dr. Manhattan has been ensuring that Superman always exists - that the world always has a symbol of hope - while WU!Dr. Manhattan has been too inactive to ensure it.

• Jossed.

The DCU and Watchmen-U are interconnected as each other's afterlife

Kinda like Aura Battler Dunbine, actually. Walter Kovacs ended up in the DCU somewhere, and Saturn Girl is in the WU, because that's how Dr. Manhattan got rid of them. WU!Jon couldn't actually kill Kovacs, out of remnant emotion or because killing him on his command wasn't palatable, or something. Under the "two Dr. Manhattans" WMG, that's how Saturn Girl disappears as well - it's the DCU!Manhattan whisking her away for her own safety, just with his usual terrible timing.

• Jossed. No one was whisked to safety. Jon just ended up restoring the multiverse.

None of this exists as canon, except in-universe

Dr. Manhattan created a whole standalone DCU to experiment on, and this is why he's far more cavalier than he was at the end of Watchmen. That the current universe's existence is hinged on what are essentially coincidences - for example, a lantern being within reach at exactly the right time - should be a huge wake-up call to the DCU heroes and villains. It seems like Jon to pull a for-want-of-a-nail, having gotten the idea from Ozy.

• Jossed, in a strange way. All of it is canon, all of it, because the entire multiverse, including the New 52 and Flashpoint universes, are restored.

Post-Series Speculation

Dr. Manhattan's plan was doomed to fail, regardless.

Jon noted that the DCU itself was a living creature, fluid and reacting to his actions. It wasn't the first time the DCU had universal Retcons, and it would have them in the future. Even if Superman was unsuccessful in convincing him to a Heel–Face Turn, Manhattan's experiment would eventually be overwritten.

Doomsday Clock takes place shortly before DC Year of the Villain

Evidence:

• Dick Grayson is Nightwing, which suggests Doomsday Clock takes place before the story where KGBeast shot him in Tom King's Batman run.
• (LexCorp) still exists and Lex Luthor is still human, which suggests Doomsday Clock takes place before the 2019 DC Free Comic Book Day issue.
• Superman mentions his parents in the present tense as part of his internal monologue during the Bendis Superman arc The House of El, which suggests they are already alive again at that point, and therefore that Doomsday Clock takes place before The House of El.
• Alfred Pennyworth is still alive, which suggests Doomsday Clock takes place before City of Bane, the Tom King Batman arc in which he died.
• Superman still has his secret identity, which suggests Doomsday Clock takes place before The Truth Revealed, an arc of Brian Michael Bendis' Superman run.
• Government agencies like the Department of Metahuman Affairs exist (which suggests Doomsday Clock takes place before Leviathan Rising, an arc of Brian Michael Bendis' Superman run in which those agencies all got shut down).
• General Sam Lane is still alive, which suggests Doomsday Clock takes place before his death in Event Leviathan.

Why Doctor Manhattan didn't help Wally West in issue 12

This is a strictly Watsonian WMG. I think Flash Forward takes place at the same time as Doomsday Clock: after Heroes in Crisis but before Year of the Villain. I think Flash Forward: Epilogue from the Flash #750 and the Flash Forward trade takes place during Doomsday Clock since Wally witnesses the return of the JSA and the Legion during it. This means Flash Forward #6, in which Jai and Irey got returned to Earth and Linda got her memory back, had already happened when Doctor Manhattan got his change of heart.

Doctor Manhattan HAS fought Superman in various points in continuity and timestamps, most resulting in Sups getting squashed on a 9:1 lose/win ratio