‘Aquaman’ Villain Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Joins HBO’s ‘Watchmen’

HBO added two more to the growing cast of Damon Lindelof’s “Watchmen” adaption, as Sara Vickers and “Aquaman” star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II joined the project.

As with its other castings, details on the two roles are being kept under wraps. Abdul-Mateen II is set star as the villain, Black Manta, in Warner Bros. upcoming DC Comics film, “Aquaman.” He also starred in last summer’s “Baywatch” and Baz Luhrmann’s Netflix series, “The Get Down.”

Vickers, meanwhile, is best known for starring in the British series, “Endeavour,” having also appeared in “The Alienist,” “The Crown” and “Lovesick.”

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HBO has quickly built out the cast for the adaptation of Alan Moore’s famed graphic novel series, adding Jeremy Irons, Tom Mison, Frances Fisher and Jacob Ming-Trent this week alone. The “Watchmen” cast also includes Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson and Louis Gossett Jr.

Not much is known about HBO’s take on the famed comic series, except that it will be separate from Zack Snyder’s 2009 “Watchmen” film. Last month, Lindelof took to instagram to share his early ideas for his take, explaining that the HBO series won’t be an adaptation or a sequel, but a “remix.”

“We have no desire to ‘adapt’ the twelve issues Mr. Moore and Mr. [Dave] Gibbons created thirty years ago,” wrote Lindelof, in a five-page letter he shared on Instagram. “Those issues are sacred ground and they will not be retread nor recreated nor reproduced nor rebooted. They will, however, be remixed.”

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The “Lost” co-creator described the original 1986 comic as “our Old Testament” and likened his HBO series to when the New Testament came along. “It did not erase what came before it… To be clear. ‘Watchmen’ is canon,” Lindelof said.

Here is the official logline for the project: Set in an alternate history where “superheroes” are treated as outlaws, “Watchmen” embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel while attempting to break new ground of its own.

Lindelof penned the script and will executive produce, along with pilot director Nicole Kassell and Tom Spezialy. The project is produced for HBO by White Rabbit in association with Warner Bros. Television.