It sure looks like it.
One of my favorite things in Zack Snyder's adaptation of the Watchmen is the opening credits sequence. It's an amazing montage that fills in the whole backstory of the Minutemen and their rise and fall, the creation of a new breed of heroes like Rorschach, the formation of the Watchmen (originally Crime Busters in the book) and even the Keene Act of 1977. It's a great piece of storytelling that informs the audience on the world in which the movie is taking place in just a few short minutes.
There's a lot packed into those clips at the beginning of the film, and those with quick eyes can catch some interesting little easter eggs if they know where to look.
IO9 has a great article up that covers a bunch of different moments from the montage that are great, but to me the biggest suprise was the above scene of the original Nite Owl (aka Hollis Mason) as he dishes out fisty-punchy punishment to a common masked thug while getting his picture taken. I totally didn't catch this when I went and saw the film the first time, but check out those posters in the background on the righthand side of the image. Look familiar? Those are posters of the cover of the first appearance of Batman and Robin adorning that wall.
But look at the rest of the scene itself. This looks an awful lot like a famous moment we've seen many times before in films and especially in comics. A dark alley, a smalltime hoodlum with a gun, a wealthy and well dressed couple exiting an Opera through a back door that leads out to a dark alley. Sound familiar yet? It should, it's the scene in which Bruce Wayne's parents Thomas and Martha are robbed and murdered before his eyes.
So just who is Nite Owl punching here? Notice the wealthy and well dressed couple on the left that are exiting what appears to be the back door to an opera house, with the playbill still in the man's hand? And according to the article on IO9, the playbill he's holding says "Die Fledermaus" on it, which means "The Bat".
Given all of this detail, I think we can assume here that Zack Snyder has made a little nod here to everyone's favorite caped crusader and has had Nite Owl save the Wayne family on that dark night when a Dark Knight was to have been born.
I guess that explains why there's no Batman then in the world of the Watchmen. Bruce's parents were never killed, and he probably grew up to be a lazy playboy who spends most of his time playing golf or hanging out on his private yacht with supermodels.
I like your take on the clip. One of the many extraordinary things about art (of any kind,) is that it is ALL about the interpretation of the observer. So, with that, if that is what you want that scene to portray, that is what it is. I am a musician and I often read interviews with other (much more successful) musicians that are quoted as saying something along the lines that, they want the listener to interpret what the song is about and that IS what the song is about. That is quite possibly the point of view when movie makers put something together like the opening montage in "Watchmen" (and many other films.) I like yours and your attention to detail as well...
ReplyDeleteWell the posters are Batman....then there Is a caped crusader to inspire the comics. This may be a wealthy couple having just seen "the bat" but are they the Wayne's? No proof just conjecture and this is most likely would bewould Night Owl showing Bruce that he's failed another couple in that alley...just my 2¢'s
ReplyDeleteWhat would be the inspiration for the Batman comics on the wall, if the Wayne's were not killed, sparking Batman in the first place? Obviously Batman exists already, and for a while, since he's famous enough for the wall and Robin is on the cover too, indicating he's been around for quite a long time.
ReplyDeleteOne of the posters says Gotham on it
ReplyDelete