Why Watchmen? Primarily because the original graphic novel kicks ass.  Alan Moore's writing coupled with Dave Gibbons' artwork gave us one of the best miniseries in comics period.  And the script is written.  Sam Hamm's screenplay kicks ass for 105 pages then sucks rocks the last 15.  It does an amazing job of working an extremely complicated and convoluted story into a package that actually works and then does an equally amazing job of screwing everything up, completely missing the point of the original series' ending.  I'll rewrite the screenplay just for the screen credit.  You listening, 20th Century Fox?  I'll fix this screenplay for just the screen credit and the satisfaction of seeing it hit the screen in a decent rendition.  It might need some extra pages in the long run, but I'll do it.  You know how to find me.

What's the scoop?  It's 1985.  Superheroes have been forcibly retired by the government.  One by one, however, former masked men (and women) are being stalked by someone who seems to want them all dead.  The remaining heroes must decide to return to what they left behind them to unravel the mystery and save their own skins.

Directed by Terry Gilliam:  Hey, he's already been attached to this sucker anyway.  You've got superheroes operating in a realistic setting, and as we've stated before, Terry's got a knack for bringing an odd synthesis of reality and fantasy to the big screen.  He's the man who's been spotted with the bloody smiley face button, so he's our pick.  And Terry, it can be done in under three hours, I promise!

Stacy Keach as The Comedian:  For this role you need somebody who's rather large and rather tough.  Somebody who can wear leather body armor, tote a gun, and make it work.  Somebody who can kick major ass and not even break a sweat.  Somebody who can be a major dickhead who you'd think had to have been likable at some point because of the people he used to be around.  And there you have it.

William H. Macy as Rorschach:  You want to know what Rorschach's character note is?  He's Hannibal Lecter as a superhero.  Totally psychotic and just barely in control.  Macy's got such an incredible range as an actor, but we've never really seen him play somebody this whacked out before.  We want to see it.  Combine some effects to make the living mask, and also a voice effect, and we're there.

Jack Lemmon as Hollis Mason:  Hollis Mason was the first Nite Owl, one of the first generation of costumed vigilantes.  Long since retired, he owns a repair shop and reminisces about the good old days, with the man who took up the mantle.  Lemmon is a fine older actor who shouldn't be mistaken for needing simple comedic roles.  Our younger readers should go find Glengarry Glen Ross and fix that implication right now.  We want him in.

 John Ritter as Nite Owl II:  This was the first name CCB mentioned for Nite Owl, and I think it's perfect.  We've always liked Ritter, from his early days to more recent stuff like Skin Deep to Sling Blade.  He'd be perfect for the slightly paunchy costumed adventurer.  And he'd get to drive the cool Owlship, too.  He'd love it.

Cary Elwes as Ozymandias:  Ozymandias is the fair-haired Captain America-esque hero--the peak of physical perfection.  We originally were thinking of Greg Kinnear, but when CCB said Elwes, it just had to be.  Now let me qualify: we're not talking the snide campy one-note Elwes of Twister and Jungle Book, we're talking a toned version of that.  Ozymandias is full of himself, but for good reason.  We think that under Gilliam's direction, it's a lock.

Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Manhattan:  This was a hard part to cast, let me tell you.  Manhattan is essentially godlike, and completely removed from humanity more and more as the story unfolds.  And now that we've decided on Jeff, we must qualify on him as well: we're not talking the goofy Goldblum of ID4 and the Jurassic Park movies.  We're talking the quiet intensity of Cronenberg'sThe Fly.  Combine that with a CGI body and effects, and you've got the Doc.

Cathy Moriarty as Silk Spectre II:  The very beautiful superheroine who got hooked up with Doc Manhattan only to become increasingly disturbed as his withdrawal.  In trying to find an actress about the right age, we thought of Elisabeth Shue, but decided on just a trifle older.  Once we saw Moriarty's name, we knew it had to be so.  Granted, we'd get to see her kick butt in that short skirt, but hey, we're guys, give us a break.

Ann-Margret as Sally Jupiter:  Who better than an older actress who's still very very sexy to play an older retired superheroine.  The original Silk Spectre, we'd make her a little less rough-looking than in the comic.  She's the name that came up when we were trying to come up with Moriarty's mom and she'd do very well indeed.

Martin Landau as Moloch:  It took us a while to come up with who should play this magician/illusionist/villain.  Slap Landau into a suit like Moloch wears and give him that evil almost, dare I say it, Lugosi-like look, and we're set.

Ernie Hudson as Dr. Malcolm Long:  The hapless prison shrink who meets up with Rorschach while the big R's in the joint.  You need someone who can handle scenes where they get told the story of the german shepherds by Macy and be able to play it perfectly.  Hudson's a solid character actor and he'll do just fine.