'Watchmen' Trailer: 8 Fan Reactions Show Why Dr. Manhattan Return Is Huge 

SAN DIEGO — Doctor Manhattan is back! After leaving Earth for Mars at the end of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins’ original graphic novel, Watchmen, Dr. Jonathan Osterman is apparently returning home in the new series from HBO. A trailer released on Saturday during a Comic-Con panel for the upcoming show reveals Dr. Manhattan’s arrival as a key plot point, and the internet is freaking out.

It’s no surprise (the freakout, not his return to Earth). Doctor Manhattan is one of the most interesting characters in Watchmen, and in recent years he’s even crossed over into meme territory thanks to his apathetic response to the climactic ending of the original story.

Combined with his absence in previous teasers, the reveal in HBO’s first full-length Watchmen trailer was enough to get fans even more excited and spark some interesting new theories. Here are eight great fan reactions that show just how big a deal the return of Doctor Manhattan really is.

The trailer shows TV news clips of Doctor Manhattan destroying some sort of structure on Mars, possibly right before coming to Earth.

Is this what happens on HBO’s Watchmen?

Pure, unbridled joy:

Not everyone is convinced the new Watchmen will be good, even with Doctor Manhattan.

Now this is a theory I can get behind.

HBO’s Watchmen picks up after the events of the original graphic novel, and while it’s not a direct sequel it should stick closer to the original source text than the Zack Snyder movie adaptation.

Here’s the official synopsis from HBO:

There is a vast and insidious conspiracy at play. #WatchmenHBO debuts this October.

From Damon Lindelof and set in an alternate history where masked vigilantes are treated as outlaws, this drama series embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel of the same name while attempting to break new ground of its own. The cast includes Regina King, Jeremy Irons, Don Johnson, Jean Smart, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Hong Chau, Andrew Howard, Tom Mison, Frances Fisher, Jacob Ming-Trent, Sara Vickers, Dylan Schombing, and James Wolk.

HBO’s Watchmen is expected in late 2019. There is still no official release date.