Watchmen Chapter I

StarringEdited byCris MertensMusic byTim KellyAnimation byStudio MirDistributed byWarner Bros. Home Entertainment84 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

Watchmen Chapter I is a 2024 American adult animated superhero film directed by Brandon Vietti and written by J. Michael Straczynski. It stars an ensemble cast including Matthew Rhys, Katee Sackhoff, Titus Welliver, Troy Baker, Adrienne Barbeau, and Michael Cerveris. Produced by DC Studios, Warner Bros. Animation, and Paramount Pictures, and distributed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, the film is based on the DC Comics limited series Watchmen co-created and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, with co-creator and author Alan Moore choosing to remain uncredited.^[1] Gibbons served as a consulting producer on the film. Animation for the film was provided by Studio Mir.

Watchmen Chapter I faithfully retells the story of the first 6 issues of the original 12-issue maxiseries from DC Comics, cover-dated September 1986 to October 1987.

Voice actor[2]	Character
Matthew Rhys	Dan Dreiberg / Nite Owl II, Photographer #3
Katee Sackhoff	Laurie Juspeczyk / Silk Spectre II
Titus Welliver	Walter Kovacs / Rorschach
Troy Baker	Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias, Minister, Benny Anger
Rick D. Wasserman	Edward Blake / Comedian, Male Citizen #1, Photographer #2
Adrienne Barbeau	Sally Jupiter / Silk Spectre II, TV Broadcaster
Corey Burton	Captain Metropolis, Forbes, American Newscaster
Michael Cerveris	Jonathan Osterman / Dr. Manhattan, Father
Geoff Pierson	Hollis Mason / Nite Owl I
Yuri Lowenthal	Wally Weaver, Criminal #1, Knot Top #2
Jeffrey Combs	Edgar Jacobi / Moloch the Mystic, British Newscaster, Photographer #1
Phil LaMarr	Comic Book Narrator, Bernie, Security Guard
John Marshall Jones	Hooded Justice, General #1, Criminal #2
Kari Wahlgren	Janey Slater, Female Knot Top, Female Citizen #1
Jason Spisak	Doug Roth, President John F. Kennedy, Restaurant Cook
Max Koch	Detective Joe Bourquin, Bernard, President Richard Nixon
Kelly Hu	Yvonne, Vietnamese Woman
Grey DeLisle	Spanish Newscaster, Female Citizen #2
Dwight Schultz	Detective Steve Fine, Happy Harry

It was reported in April 2017 that Warner Bros. would develop an R-rated animated film based on the comic book series.^[3] It was officially confirmed in 2023 that an animated film adaptation was in development and would be released in 2024.^[4] A teaser trailer was released on June 13, 2024, with it being revealed to be a two-film adaptation.^[5][6] Director Brandon Vietti praised the animation work done by Studio Mir, stating in an interview that "It was a kind of material and filmmaking that I don't think the studio had approached before, but we had a lot of great discussions about it and they really rose to the challenge."^[7]

Watchmen Chapter I received a digital release on August 13, 2024.^[8] The film was released on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD on August 27, 2024.^[9]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 92% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10.^[10] William Bibbiani of TheWrap felt that the film respectfully adapted the story, but struggled to properly convey its complexity and described the visual aesthetic as "serviceable but not entirely effective".^[11] Brad Cook of Flickering Myth agreed, calling the film a "very faithful adaptation" with a visual style that "hews closely to artist Dave Gibbons' well-regarded depictions of the characters and the alternate 1985 timeline they inhabit".^[12]

A single sequel entitled Watchmen Chapter II is expected to cover the second half of the story, completing the retelling of the 12-issue maxiseries. It was initially reported that Chapter II would be released in late 2024, but this was later pushed back to sometime in 2025.^[13][14]

• Watchmen Chapter I at IMDb