Watchmen’s Doctor?

I’m still holding my breath that the feature of WATCHMEN isn’t struck by some kind of Gilliam-esque tragedy, but it seems to actually be edging closer to production. A handful of actors are rumored to be strong contenders in the superhero deconstruction, including Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley and Jude Law.

Will angular actor (and MasterCard voiceman) Billy Crudup join them in the adaptation of Alan Moore’s seminal comic story? That’s what my hirsute former cohort at CHUD claims: that Crudup will change hue to play the big blue nuclear dude Dr. Manhattan in Zack Snyder’s film. Crudup, who is bafflingly not a major star (I loved him in BIG FISH), would step into the role of the detached post-human supposedly spurned by Keanu Reeves and Jason Patric.

Snyder intends to shoot some of his movie 300-style with green-screen backdrops and digitized post-production, but we’ll almost definitely get a formal announcement of cast and intended aesthetic in a couple of weeks at Comic Con.