Welcome to Part III of DRIVEN’s exclusive interview series on Watchmen (Part I: Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Part II: Malin Akerman. Tomorrow: a rare interview with Billy Crudup/Dr. Manhattan.  (Plus: See the end of this post for how to win an exclusive piece of collectible Watchmen memorabilia).

Remaining faithful to the Watchmen graphic novel—created over two decades ago by writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons—was priority number one for director Zack Snyder (300, Dawn of the Dead).  

“I especially wanted to make the hardcore fans happy, because I’ve already gotten death threats for having directed Watchmen. It’s funny that every movie I’ve made, starting with Dawn of the Dead, I’ve gotten death threats.”

In addition to the stunning, two-and-a-half-hour epic that was filmed entirely in Vancouver (standing in for the Big Apple), Snyder is also planning a longer version of Watchmen for those more hostile, menacing movie lovers (with limited engagements in L.A. and New York this summer).

“I’m proud of the cut that is in going to be in theaters,” Snyder admits. “I had to cut out Hollis’ death out, and that is a big deal to me. There is other stuff I left off that is going to be on the Director’s Cut…my first edit of the theatrical version was over three hours, so I’m not even going to guess how long the Director’s Cut is going to be.”

 What is the great essence of the Watchmen graphic novel that you tried capture?

“That self-awareness that the graphic novel has. It is constantly reminding you of the very things that you like about superhero stories—whether it is the romance, whether it is the violence or whether it is the costumes. It is constantly asking you, ‘Why you like those things? Do you really like these things? Because if you do, let me just explain to you what the reality of those things are. Let’s review for a second that you think it is okay for a guy running around dressed like an owl and solving crime and flying around in a big owl ship.’”

“The notion that it is not outrageous or impossible or if that was really true, what it would do to humanity or religion or pop culture in general? I wanted to try to get as much as I could into the movie.”

Did you think 300 was going to be a big hit?

“I thought there was no way a mass audience would go for this movie with these half-naked guys running around in these leather bikinis giving me a history lesson. It is just not going to work.”

“With Watchmen, I hope that people get the irony of the movie, and get what the movie is trying to do, tearing down the superhero mythology and understanding how it plugs into pop culture right now. Why do we love these characters? It goes through the violence and the sexuality.”

“On one hand we are used to violence without consequence. Everyone is fine, no one gets hurt, everyone gets up and PG-13s it down the street, which I find super irresponsible. The script I was handed originally for Watchmen, the studio was like, ‘This is PG-13. It is the war on terror, updated to the war on terror.’ For instance, Dr. Manhattan goes to Iraq rather than Vietnam. Adrian gets killed by Dan in the end. Like the owl ship crushes him with a cool tagline. No Manhattan on Mars, no Comedian’s funeral, no Rorschach being interrogated just like a superhero—a real franchisable superhero movie. I think in some ways I fucked that up a little bit, the whole commercial aspect of Watchmen. On the other hand, I think the movie has a better chance the way it is. It might not create a revolution, but it can.”

How much do you think The Dark Knight has helped Watchmen?

“I think it has helped it hugely. I think it is an interesting counterpoint to the movie, because it is a serious filmmaker with serious actors and a serious movie that was taken seriously by pop culture and critics and intelligencia. What does it mean? Blah, blah, blah. In some ways, it is the pinnacle of what is possible with a superhero movie, so it is kind of interesting that Watchmen comes on the heel of that.”

“I think Watchmen blows that up again. It says, ‘Now that you’ve taken it seriously and elevated it to high art, it is time to take it apart again and re-examine, without a smile or a wink, what the fuck this mythology is about.”

 WATCHMEN WEEK CONTEST To win an exclusive, collectible Watchmen prize, send an e-mail to talkback@DRIVENmag.com by 11:59p.m. E.S.T (Eastern Standard Time) on Thursday, March 5. One winner, chosen by random draw, will be the recipient of a rare, limited Watchmen collectible. Thanks for your participation and good luck! Watchmen opens in North America on March 6.

Tomorrow: Blue boy Billy Crudup