In an effort to stave off the inevitability of nuclear armageddon, an alien threat to Earth is manufactured and targeted at New York City, in the hopes that the nations of the Earth will unite against a terrifying common enemy. Sounds familiar, right? Except that I’m not just describing Veidt’s master plan in Watchmen, it’s also the synopsis for The Architects of Fear, an episode of The Outer Limits, the second most famous sci-fi anthology series to come out of teevee’s “golden age.” The episode first aired on September 30, 1963; some 23 years before the initial publication of Watchmen.
In the episode, the most benevolent secret cadre of uber-geniuses decide to turn one of their own into something else, by grafting on genetic material from an actual alien animal (where they actually obtained an alien animal is left about as unexplained as where Veidt found a real psychic.) Once properly hybridized, the faux alien would pilot a space ship with an energy weapon built by the scientists into space, then head back towards the U.N. building, and declare hostile interntions towards humanity.
I’ve heard it suggested that the reason the squid isn’t in Zack Snyder’s upcoming adaptation is wholly driven by legal concerns: that rather than pay the writers and rights holders to the Architects, or face inevitable lawsuits, an alternate ending was devised. This may be backed up by the lack of squid in any draft of the script I’ve read, going back to Sam Hamm’s late 80′s draft for then-attached director Terry Gilliam, whose 3rd act instead revolved around Veidt creating an energy bubble that served as a window through time, through which he sniped a pre-Dr. Manhattan Jon Osterman, and changed history.
The irony that the ending to the greatest graphic novel of all time may have been changed to save a few bucks, and maybe a shared creative credit, while Warners is in active negotiations with Fox over how many tens of millions they’ll have to pay out over poor due dilligence on the Watchmen rights chain of custody, is hopefully not lost on anyone.
The Architects of Fear is embedded below (for now, anyway), and is definitely worth a watchfor any fans of the Alan Moore’s graphic novel:
3 Responses to “Penny smart, Pound retarded?”
I had no idea Moore lifted the whole climax of the book…that’s weird, but I definitely like the graphic novel version of the story better, if only for the better looking alien, the whole psychic wave backlash, and it actually worked.
1.) How was DC not sued over the comic?
2.) Is there a statute of limitations on copyright infringement?
It’s Zoidberg!
[...] Outer Limits” em 1963, exibido no Brasil como “A Quinta Dimensão”, contou com o episódio “Os Arquitetos do Medo”. Na história, um grupo de cientistas forja uma invasão alien na Terra para acabar com nossos [...]