#WATCHMEN SILK SPECTRE UPDATE#
#WATCHMEN SILK SPECTRE SERIES#

Her presence in the original story is required to-among other things-motivate Doctor Manhattan to save the Earth, but Laurie gets little agency of her own. To say that Laurie was the most underused and underappreciated character in the bookhardly feels like an exaggeration. Her primary role in the story is generally to parade around in an uncomfortable, overly revealing costume and serve as a love interest for two different men.

Like most of her teammates, she doesnвЂ™t have any particularly special abilities, but unlike her male compatriots her very identity was forced upon her by someone else (her mother). But if Laurie herself is meant as an attempt to undercut this trend in some way, the book doesnвЂ™t go nearly far enough in that regard. There, she seems to exist in large part because traditionally, superhero teams always featured a token girl, whether it was Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Sue Storm, or Jean Grey.

#WATCHMEN SILK SPECTRE UPDATE#

WatchmenвЂ™s third episode, вЂњShe Was Killed By Space Junk,вЂќ introduces Laurie Blake, a modern day update of the original comicвЂ™s female lead Laurie Juspeczyk, the second Silk Spectre. Albeit under very different circumstances. As does the fact that it chooses two women to serve as the axis around this story turns вЂ“ one entirely new creation and one weвЂ™ve seen before. That its small screen descendant decides to do from its opening frames feels like an important step forward. The original comic never addressed racial politics in any significant way and featured few characters of color. This is even more true in the world of Watchmen. Since most superhero stories still tend to focus on the concerns and anxieties of white male heroes from major urban centers, the very idea of a black woman vigilante from flyover country is in and of itself fairly revolutionary.

A talented fighter and intrepid detective in her own right, she also sports what is possibly the most comfortable, sensible costume in superhero television today (itвЂ™s difficult to overstate how exciting it feels to see a female costumed hero who appears as though she doesnвЂ™t need the assistance of an entire hair and makeup team to get dressed). Angela Abar is an ex-police officer who, in the wake of a brutal attack by white supremacists, dons a mask and cape to become Sister Night. HBOвЂ™s take on Watchmen confronts this issue head on by making its main character a complex and capable woman of color who not only serves as our main window into the story, but into what it means to be a hero in this world. In doing so, Watchmen positions itself to directly confront some of the more problematic elements of its own legacy, particularly how the original treated its women.

#WATCHMEN SILK SPECTRE SERIES#

Here, rather than focusing on a group of damaged and broken men, the series frames its narrative around a pair of powerful female characters in Angela AbarвЂ™s Sister Night (Regina King) and former vigilante turned FBI Agent Laurie Blake (Jean Smart). The television version of Watchmen takes place 34 years after the events of the comic, and though the series still keeps the frisson of existential despair threaded throughout the original, it changes several other key elements, including the primary lens through which we view the story. In doing so, the series must also confront the failings of that original, of which Watchmen has several, despite the fact that it was and is a truly groundbreaking genre story. HBOвЂ™s Watchmen is the best kind of prestige revival вЂ“ one that doesnвЂ™t try to recreate the success of the original property, but which, instead, builds on its legacy in new and interesting ways.

Watchmen silk spectre