10 Superhero Movies That Made Major Changes To Iconic Comic Moments

9. The "Alien" - Watchmen

The Comic Book Moment: At the end of the greatest comic book ever written, it's revealed that everything - the Comedian's murder, Dr Manhattan causing cancer, the kidnapping of comic book artists - was part of a scheme by former-superhero Ozymandias to trick the US and USSR into peace; he teleports a meticulously-designed monster into the centre of New York City, uniting the superpowers over a fear of a greater threat. Chillingly, his plan works (until a certain diary is uncovered, that is).

The Movie Version: The conspiracy is pretty much the same in Zack Snyder's stylistic adaptation, but the final step is a little different - instead of a squid creature in New York, Adrian Veidt attacks several major cities with bombs that mimic the trace of Dr Manhattan, framing the superman and forcing humanity into harmony of fear of a more relatable greater power.

Did The Change Work? I'm really torn here. As much as I'm a massive fan of the source and thus want it to be treated with the upmost reverence, the whole squid idea is rooted in Alan Moore's deconstruction of the comic book medium, so would feel odd on screen. Snyder's solution is a solid back-up, fitting movie conventions and tying up the character endings a little more tightly.

It's probably better than Terry Gilliam's proposed version though, which would have had the characters transported to the real world at the end (in what could be called a Rebirth).