'Watchmen' Season 2: Damon Lindelof Still Wants Someone Else To Take Over

Watchmen, last year's HBO series overseen by Lost and The Leftovers showrunner Damon Lindelof, was a miraculous piece of storytelling that pushed the envelope in terms of what a sequel to a beloved property could be. It also happened to be remarkably prescient in terms of topics like race and police brutality, which are obviously very much at the center of the national conversation several months after the series wrapped up.

But Lindelof has said multiple times that he has not yet had an idea for a possible second season, and in a new interview, he's actively inviting other writers to come forward and pitch something to HBO. Read his new quotes below.

Speaking with Collider, Lindelof likened the idea of Watchmen to a dance circle: Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons kicked things off with the original graphic novel, Zack Snyder stepped in years later with his film adaptation, and then Lindelof himself did his "move" in the center of the circle with Watchmen season 1. "But then you retreat to the edge of the circle and it's someone else's turn to dance," he said.

"Suffice it to say that I just feel like what's best for Watchmen, this thing that I love, is for someone else to take their shot at it," he said. "I think that that's just gonna be much more interesting than anything that I would do moving forwards. And it's not that I take the opportunity for granted...but at the same time, unless I have an idea that is as important to me as Tulsa '21 was, then I shouldn't do it. And I haven't had that idea, and I want to create the space versus people waiting for me to change my mind. I want to create the space for people to come forward and say, 'I have an idea.'"

This has become a familiar refrain for Lindelof, who has been asked for months about possibly returning for more. But it's clear that he's more interested in preserving the magic of Watchmen as a multi-platform piece of entertainment than he is in establishing any sort of ownership over it. Reading between the lines of that quote above, he's essentially asking sites like ours to stop writing headlines associating him with Watchmen season 2, because he wants another writer to feel free enough to walk in and pitch their own take without feeling like they're stepping on his toes. He doesn't own Watchmen – he just danced in the middle of the circle for a minute.

"I issue this invitation to anyone out there: If you have an idea, figure out a way to pitch it," he said. "But probably not to me. Watchmen is not mine. It's ours. And I want to see how someone else interprets this incredible story."

Watchmen season 1 is streaming on HBO Max now, and if you missed watching it while it was airing, /Film gives the series its highest recommendation.