'Watchmen' HBO Teaser: Here's Why That New Character Looks So Familiar

Production of the new Watchmen TV series is underway, and fans of the graphic novel (or its movie adaptation) just got their first official look at the new show. With the launch of a Watchmen Instagram on Monday, HBO shared a video of what appears to be a brand new character along with the caption, “Who Watches The Watchmen? #WatchmenHBO.”

It might not seem like much, but HBO may have revealed even more about its Watchmen series than it intended. Here’s everything we know (or think we know) about this new character and the rest of the show.

The new HBO show is apparently set after the comic, and Ozymandias — who was kind of a big deal in the Watchmen comic — may be dead before the show even starts. Notably, the character in the Instagram teaser does not appear to be someone from the comic or movie, but he may look very familiar to fans of both.

Is the new character a tribute to some other Watchmen personalities?

In the new Instagram teaser, the mysterious character’s face is covered like Rorschach. As one of the main protagonists of Watchmen, Rorschach wore a cloth mask featuring shifting inkblots similar to a Rorschach test. It could be that the masked face of this character is a direct tribute to Rorschach.

In addition, the mystery character’s mask is colored a bright yellow, much like the Comedian’s bloodied pin that is so synonymous with Watchmen as a whole. So there’s a good chance that color was chosen deliberately, to further evoke recognition in Watchmen fans.

Is the mask part of a new uniform, and not an individual fashion choice?

Regardless of what that yellow mask may be meant to invoke, assuming it belongs to a single new character may be a mistake. Previous set photos from Watchmen production suggest that the outfit this character is seen wearing could be a new police uniform in the series. So instead of a single person, we could be looking at an entire army inspired by Rorschach and the Comedian.

Despite some clear connections between this new character (or characters) and the original Watchmen, the best strategy may be to simply avoid reading to much into this single image. After all, it is just a teaser, and with the launch of this new Instagram account we may see even more from the new series very soon.

HBO’s Watchmen is expected to premiere in 2019.