Message:...is the original comic was a rare deconstructionist/parodic superhero tale. Initially it was intended to use the "main" characters - Bats, Supes, et.al. - which the publishers disallowed.
So, the problem with the continuing Watchmen tale is the MAINSTREAM comics have become increasingly deconstructionist. You can't deconstruct something already deconstructed. Watchmen was supposed to "dark, gritty and grounded." Well, when mainline DC stories do things like "Identity Crisis," where a major part of the arc is "the Justice League has been routinely wiping the minds of villains, and, after Doctor Light broke into the League's satellite HQ and raped Sue Dibny (wife of Elongated Man), and, while wiping Dr. Light a pissed-off Bats finds out... So they wipe Bats and cover it up..." what's left to deconstruct?
Which means Watchmen serves no purpose anymore. It doesn't say anything new or different in the 2010's. The original has a historical place and stands as unique in its era, but, the movie was a near-slavish recreation that dumped all the metaphor for a linear retelling that changed the ending and theme (Zach Snyder doesn't understand metaphor and theme).
Things like The Boys and The Umbrella Academy are also deconstructionist takes, but more contemporary in origin and (to me) more successful.
Then again, some of the mainstream "deconstructionist" takes have been MORE subversive than the parodic takes of Watchmen and The Boys. The animated series "Justice League Unlimited" or "Young Justice" are both deconstructionist takes using the main DC characters more effectively than the pastiche/homages of the parodies.
We begin our argument with this sequence from season 2 of "Justice League" (2001). In an alternate universe Lex Luthor has killed the Flash and become President. President Luthor was slain by Superman (burned Lex's head off in the oval office with heat vision). The Justice Lords have taken over the world and installed a fascist dictatorship (the scene in Arkham where all the inmates have forehead scars from Supes lobotomizing everyone with heat vision is horrific). Of course our heroes take down the Justice Lords and save two Earths. These sequences with Justice Lord vs Justice League Bats are amazingly well written and rather philosophical for a "kiddie cartoon."
https://youtu.be/hPG9bjA1z4A
Just, wow... Eventually our Bats brings evil Bats back into the light as a result of the second scene shown above.
Seriously, this scene from the Justice League Unlimited episode "Clash" is more effective than Watchmen. To set you up, Lex Luthor - who knows about the incident with the Justice Lords: Lex was pardoned for helping take the Lords down with a power inhibitor gun) is now running for President. Lex has set up a charity event and gotten Supes to arrive. The clip picks up with Luthor getting Supes to share a toast on live TV. That's a "win" for Lex.
https://youtu.be/CphePhniJ_A
That clip cuts out in the middle of the fight... But, did you catch Lex getting to be the voice of reason, "Please, there has to be another way!" in front of the cameras? That's a win for Lex. Let's back up a bit in the fight and continue to the end of the episode...
https://youtu.be/HhGRkBDispM
Wow, Captain Marvel called Supes a dick and Supes agreed! Lex went up 20 points in the polls! Lex is working with Amanda Waller - thus revealing a secret conspiracy between Lex Luthor and a black-ops government program! This is amazing, deconstructive, subversive storytelling in a Cartoon Network show (Sat at 10pm, BTW) using the mainstream characters! Wow! This episode still knocks it out of the park 15 years later!
And this entire SEASON of JLU kept building on these blocks. I won't recap the entire season, but, from ten episodes later on, we get to...
https://youtu.be/sI0vtqxoG1k
That, my friends, is the single greatest speech ever written for any version of Lex Luthor. Helps that Clancy Brown is a fantastic Lex, and Jeffery Combs is an amazing choice for Question. This actually resonates MORE than the parodic deconstructions, as it involves the actual characters under critique, and also was a plot arc that built and developed for years...
Oh, Rorschach is just a bad parody of Question, BTW. So, here's a good point for me to stop.
Yours,
IronMike
28-Dec-2020