History YMMV / Watchmen2019

** In the Japanese dub, Veidt is voiced by Creator/ShuichiIkeda, better known as the voice of [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Char Aznable]], another masked blond guy who basically tried to do [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack the same plan Veidt did]] [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} in the comic]] in a nutshell. The main difference here is, while Char failed [[ColonyDrop on wiping out Earth]], Veidt was more successful, thought in small scale, in accomplishing his plans (in this case, killing millions of people in New York City). This is even more hilarious in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'', when he voiced Full Frontal, who is Char's ''literal'' CharClone, since [[spoiler:Veidt kills his cloned servants]]. Extra hilarity that [[spoiler:unlike both Char and Frontal, who both where KilledOffForReal, Veidt did end in jail for his crimes]].

* MagnificentBitch: [[DaddysLittleVillain Lady Trieu]] is the daughter of Adrian "Ozymandias" Veidt and just as brilliant and devious as her father. [[GodhoodSeeker Seeking godhood]], Trieu builds an empire on her own, using the racist [[Characters/Watchmen2019SeventhKavalry Seventh Kavalry]] for her own purposes, [[TheManBehindTheMan manipulating them with her own devices and plan]] so they can capture Dr. Manhattan for her. Trieu proceeds to wipe out all the leaders of the Kavalry while bringing her father to witness her victory; with even Ozymandias left helpless against her until Dr. Manhattan himself intervenes.

* ContestedSequel: To the original comic. While the series has gained almost-unanimous praise from both critics and audiences, there's still many fans of the comic who feel that the series shouldn't have existed at all by virtue of being a sequel to ''Watchmen''. Additionally, there's lots of other substantial criticisms coming from critics, comics fans, and viewers regarding the show, such as questioning [[spoiler:whether or not Doctor Manhattan undergoing an InUniverse RaceLift is actually avoiding the inherent UnfortunateImplications regarding {{Blackface}} or not, no matter how much the series itself acknowledges it]].

** Even a younger Jeremy Irons would have not exactly come to mind as the blonde Adonis that is Veidt of the comics, and it's Irons's acting skills more than his appearance that makes the casting work as well as it does.

* QuestionableCasting: Many people had this reaction towards Yahya Abdul-Mateen II after the big reveal that [[spoiler:Angela’s husband was Doctor Manhattan the entire time. While the general consensus was that he ''did'' give a genuinely good performance as Manhattan, a combination of [[SpecialEffectsFailure him spending most scenes just in blue body paint]], the contentious RaceLift of the character, and Creator/{{Billy Crudup}}'s performance in the 2009 film being one ''hell'' of a ToughActToFollow led to some fans derisively dubbing the miniseries' iteration of the character "Dr. Manhattan Lite".]]

** Despite the [[FandomRivalry above mentioned rivalry]], fans of this series and the 2009 film have also gotten along fairly well. It helps that Damon Lindelof and Zack Snyder are good friends in real life and Lindelof even acted as an unofficial consultant on the film and highly praised the end result, even saying he was partially motivated to focus largely on new characters because he [[ToughActToFollow didn't think he'd able to match the portrayals in the film.]] Lindelof even expressed support for the fan campaign to see [[Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague Snyder's Justice League film.]]

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Many fans were disappointed about the omission of Dan Drieberg/Nite Owl II.

** Rorschach's entire legacy as depicted in this show is immensely depressing. His journal exposing Ozymandias for his crimes against humanity was eventually published... [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome only for it to be dismissed as the insane ramblings of a mentally unstable lunatic.]] But it did find an audience -- in the form of the Seventh Kavalry, [[DramaticallyMissingThePoint who took his notes as a White Supremacist manifesto]] and use it as a justification to murder innocent minorities, the exact opposite of what he was fighting for. While Rorschach did hold some nationalistic and prejudiced views, he never personally displayed nor voiced any white supremacist traits or beliefs, even when directly speaking to people of color, nor would he have been pleased with his words being misappropriated by anyone for any reason. Simply put, the man was no saint, but it's clear that he wouldn't have wanted ''this.''

** While it's necessary for the story the show wanted to tell, many fans were disappointed that the publishing of Rorschach's journal didn't indeed lead to WorldWarThree as the end of the comic implied. This is remedied by additional materials revealing that Rorschach's journal was met with skepticism by the public as there were [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome no means to verify it as being authentic]], and his AxeCrazy reputation in life didn't help either, nor the fact that the contents were twisted into a white supremacist manifesto being carried out by a violent group of {{Right Wing Militia Fanatic}}s.

* WTHCastingAgency: Many people had this reaction towards Yahya Abdul-Mateen II after the big reveal that [[spoiler:Angela’s husband was Doctor Manhattan the entire time. While the general consensus was that he ''did'' give a genuinely good performance as Manhattan, a combination of [[SpecialEffectsFailure him spending most scenes just in blue body paint]], the contentious RaceLift of the character, and Creator/{{Billy Crudup}}'s performance in the 2009 film being one ''hell'' of a ToughActToFollow led to some fans derisively dubbing the miniseries' iteration of the character "Dr. Manhattan Lite".]]

** Rorschach's entire legacy as depicted in this show is immensely depressing. His journal exposing Ozymandias for his crimes against humanity was eventually published... [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome only for it to be dismissed as the insane ramblings of a mentally-unstable serial killer.]] But it did find an audience -- in the form of the Seventh Kavalry, [[DramaticallyMissingThePoint who took his notes as a White Supremacist manifesto]] and use it as a justification to murder innocent minorities, the exact opposite of what he was fighting for. While Rorschach did hold some nationalistic and prejudiced views, he never personally displayed nor voiced any white supremacist traits or beliefs, even when directly speaking to people of color, nor would he have been pleased with his words being misappropriated by anyone for any reason. Simply put, the man was no saint, but it's clear that he wouldn't have wanted ''this.''

* {{Fanon}}:
** After the "Peteypedia" supplementary materials revealed the SurprisinglySuddenDeath of Captain Metropolis, many fans have speculated that his death wasn't an accident, and that he was actually assassinated by the Comedian in retaliation for Hooded Justice (Captain Metropolis' lover) stopping his {{attempted rape}} of Sally Jupiter.
** Since Dan Dreiberg is [[TheGhost never seen in the flesh]] at any point in the show, the audience never actually gets to see him in his old age. As a result, quite a few fans of the book have fan-cast Creator/BobOdenkirk as the circa-2019 version of the character.

** Are all of the members of the Seventh Kavalry motivated by white supremacist beliefs? It's possible that at least some members of the organisation are driven by the motivation to expose the truth of 11/2 to the world, and believe that working with violent racists to do so is ultimately a NecessaryEvil. On the other hand, the only way that said people would decide to work with the organization would be if they were shown the tape revealing the truth. If they were truly motivated by a desire to let the truth be known, they likely would have just taken the tape and exposed Ozymandias.

* {{Fanon}}: After the "Peteypedia" supplementary materials revealed the SurprisinglySuddenDeath of Captain Metropolis, many fans have suspected that it wasn't actually an accident and was the work of the Comedian, having been him trying to get revenge on Hooded Justice for having prevented his attempted rape of the first Silk Spectre through killing his past lover.

** "[[Recap/WatchmenS01Ep06 This Extraordinary Being]]": [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Fred T.]]--all but stated to be Fred Trump, father of UsefulNotes/{{Donald|Trump}}--is the secret leader of Cyclops, a division of the UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan and the PredecessorVillain to the Seventh Kavalry. Fred gleefully abuses his status to set fire to a Jewish deli and walk free of the consequences, and is furthermore revealed to be using his factory as a base for the manufacturing of films laced with subliminal messaging that drive black people into homicidal rages. Fred intends to have these films shipped all over the country, with only one showing resulting in a theater full of people tearing each other apart.

** Rorschach's entire legacy as depicted in this show is immensely depressing. His journal exposing Ozymandias for his crimes against humanity was eventually published... [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome only for it to be dismissed as the insane ramblings of a mentally-unstable serial killer.]] But it did find an audience -- in the form of the Seventh Kavalry, [[DramaticallyMissingThePoint who took his notes as a White Supremacist manifesto]] and use it as a justification to murder innocent minorities, the exact opposite of what he was fighting for. While Rorschach did hold some nationalistic views, he never personally displayed nor voiced any white supremacist traits or beliefs, even when directly speaking to people of color, nor would he have been pleased with his words being misappropriated by anyone for any reason. Simply put, the man was no saint, but it's clear that he wouldn't have wanted ''this.''

** [[spoiler:Hooded Justice's AdaptationalHeroism and RaceLift]]. Fans are divided on whether it's a well-written plot twist that perfectly fits the style of the original comic and provides an interesting origin story for a character who was ultimately left a mystery, or, if it is an example of the show disrespecting the source material, especially given that [[spoiler:Hooded Justice was theorized in-universe to be a supporter of the Third Reich (the way WordOfGod attempts to HandWave this detail is also a matter of debate), not to mention the PlotHole created by how nobody in the Minutemen would know that he was a black man under the hood. Not helping matters is the fact that the ''Watchmen Roleplaying Game'' (the only adaptation of his work that Moore has ever liked, and one that he himself helped make) chose to portray Hooded Justice as the secret identity of Rolf Mueller (the man he was theorised to be in-universe).]]

* AssPull: Some of the plot devices related to [[spoiler:Doctor Manhattan]]'s role in the story struck many fans as being a little ''too'' convenient and having very little {{foreshadowing}}, sometimes appearing to contradict [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} the original book]]. In particular: despite the book going out of its way to establish that [[spoiler:Doctor Manhattan [[CompleteImmortality can't be killed under any circumstances]]]], the miniseries introduces "tachyon cannons" and a "quantum centrifuge" that make it fully possible to [[spoiler:capture him, kill him, or even ''steal his powers'']]. It also introduces a device that can [[spoiler:shut down his powers entirely]] by [[spoiler:causing him to forget that he has them]]. While the book ''did'' at least establish that [[spoiler:tachyon particles]] can [[spoiler:cloud his view of the future]], many fans felt that using them to [[spoiler:[[BroughtDownToNormal turn him into an ordinary man]]]] was a bit of a stretch.

* OutOfTheGhetto: The miniseries is a show based on an unconventional (if highly regarded) comic book, that already had a critically and commercially lukewarm film adaptation, and didn't appear to be the next big HBO crossover smash. The fact that it would also deal with incredibly touchy and controversial subjects, such as the history of race in America along with PoliceBrutality and discussions of generational trauma, also raised some eyebrows and were seen as likely isolating it to being popular mostly among audiences of color and not the "mainstream" (read: white) American audience. After early raves, ratings were through the roof and the show garnered ''26'' Emmy nominations, winning 11, including four in the primetime event of the show (Best Limited Series, Outstanding Actress and Supporting Actor - Limited Series, and Outstanding Writing), more than any other show of the season. Praise was heaped upon it for its excellent cast and writing, creative cinematography, impressive special effects, scathing critiques of white supremacy and the systems of power that support it, and its frequent indulgence in the strange surrealist pulpiness of the original comic books.

* ContestedSequel: To the original comic. While the series has gained almost-unanimous praise from both critics and audiences, there's still [[{{Sequelphobic}} many fans of the comic who feel that the series shouldn't have existed at all by virtue of being a sequel]] to ''Watchmen''. Additionally, there's lots of other substantial criticisms coming from critics, comics fans, and viewers regarding the show, such as questioning [[spoiler:whether or not Doctor Manhattan undergoing an InUniverse RaceLift is actually avoiding the inherent UnfortunateImplications regarding {{Blackface}} or not, no matter how much the series itself acknowledges it]].

* TaintedByThePreview: When the first major trailer was released, fans of the original comic immediately made their concerns and displeasure known. Some believed that the series didn't appear to follow the themes or conflicts established in the comic. Others were just plain [[{{Sequelphobic}} opposed to the idea of a sequel at all]], especially given Alan Moore's public disavowal of adaptations based on his work. And then there were the casual viewers who were just plain confused, either due to [[PopCultureIsolation a lack of knowledge about the source material]] or because the trailers gave barely gave any idea of what the show was meant to be about.

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: Mr. Phillips (for some reason) presents Veidt with a horseshoe rather than a knife when offering to cut his cake, to which Veidt responds with weary acceptance, implying that this kind of thing happens a lot.
** The final episode reveals [[spoiler:the horseshoe was supposed to be baked into the cake delivered to Veidt in prison. It seems Mr. Phillips misunderstood these instructions and kept adding the horseshoe to ''every'' cake.]]

* AcceptableTargets: White supremacists are unquestionably bad guys [[BlackAndGreyMorality in a series with morally-questionable heroes]], and few people seem to be bothered by this.

* AssPull:
** TheReveal of [[spoiler:Hooded Justice's real identity being Will Reeves, a black man who assumed the role after a brutal lynching incident from white cops. Fans noted that this contradicts many parts of the comic's backstory and begs the question of how the Minutemen (besides Captain Metropolis) never knew his true identity, given he would've been required to take his hood off for the initiation. It also directly contradicts the Mayfair Games' RPG's confirming Hooded Justice's identity to be Rolf Mueller, a supporter of the Third Reich and with ties to the KKK. Adding to this is that the RPG itself is the only adaptation of Alan Moore's work that he not only liked, but also made several creative contributions to.]]
** Some of the plot devices related to [[spoiler:Doctor Manhattan]]'s role in the story struck many fans as being a little ''too'' convenient and having very little {{foreshadowing}}, sometimes appearing to contradict [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} the original book]]. In particular: despite the book going out of its way to establish that [[spoiler:Doctor Manhattan [[CompleteImmortality can't be killed under any circumstances]]]], the miniseries introduces "tachyon cannons" and a "quantum centrifuge" that make it fully possible to [[spoiler:capture him, kill him, or even ''steal his powers'']]. It also introduces a device that can [[spoiler:shut down his powers entirely]] by [[spoiler:causing him to forget that he has them]]. While the book ''did'' at least establish that [[spoiler:tachyon particles]] can [[spoiler:cloud his view of the future]], many fans felt that using them to [[spoiler:[[BroughtDownToNormal turn him into an ordinary man]]]] was a bit of a stretch.

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: When it was announced that Creator/{{HBO}} would be creating a live-action ''[[Series/Watchmen2019 Watchmen]]'' SequelSeries, to say that the initial fan reaction was skeptical is... quite an understatement, to say the least. That it was being written by Damon Lindelof only added to concerns, as his writing was most strongly associated with ''Series/{{Lost}}'' gradually turning into a convoluted mess and ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'' just being SoOkayItsAverage. However, the show went on to average around ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmen_(TV_series)#Audience_viewership 9.6 million viewers by the end of the series]].'' This made ''Watchmen'' HBO's most watched new series since ''Series/BigLittleLies'', with its first episode alone garnering more than ''1.5 million viewers'' across both broadcast and streaming services according to [=HBO=]. It also garnered nigh-unanimous praise from both critics and audiences during its run, and ended up winning 11 Emmys including Outstanding Limited Series.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
** Many fans were disappointed about the omission of Dan Drieberg/Nite Owl II.
** The show chooses to portray Adrian Veidt as a narcissist who ultimately feels no guilt over his actions. While this is certainly a fairly common, and definitely valid, interpretation of his character, it ''does'' come off as the writers taking the easy way out to a degree. It would have been just as interesting to watch a Veidt who was legitimately haunted by his actions, and who questioned if he truly did do what was necessary to bring about world peace.

** Rorschach's entire legacy as depicted in this show is immensely depressing. His journal exposing Ozymandias for his crimes against humanity was eventually published... [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome only for it to be dismissed as the insane ramblings of a mentally-unstable serial killer.]] But it did find an audience -- in the form of the Seventh Kavalry, [[DramaticallyMissingThePoint who took his notes as a White Supremacist manifesto]] and use it as a justification to murder innocent minorities, the exact opposite of what he was fighting for. It should be noted that while Rorschach did hold some nationalistic views, he never personally displayed nor voiced any white supremacist traits or beliefs, even when directly speaking to people of color, nor would he have been pleased with his words being misappropriated by anyone for any reason. Simply put, the man was no saint, but it's clear that he wouldn't have wanted ''this.''

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Can be found [[AwesomeMusic/{{Watchmen}} here]].