'Watchmen' Star Yahya Abdul Mateen II Reacts To Doctor Manhattan Twist

(WARNING: Massive Watchmen spoilers will be found below, so get outta here if you haven’t watched!)

This week’s Watchmen contained an enormous curveball that landed like a hammer to the head for HBO’s audience. Doctor Manhattan was not only revealed to be hiding in Tulsa and pretending to be human, but he was unveiled as Cal Abar. To put it mildly, this disclosure from both Lady Trieu and Angela (who’d apparently been keeping the secret all along) also surprised Cal, who didn’t understand why Angela called him Jon before knocking him out. She dug a shiny disc out of his brain, and his blue reflection shone during the closing moments of the episode. Boom.

Doctor Manhattan, the immortal god who’s impervious to the passage of time, had been hiding in the body of a Black man. This twist is, of course, an especially resonant one, considering that showrunner Damon Lindelof began the series with the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, and the series recently unveiled Hooded Justice (the first costumed vigilante) as a Black man (played by Louis Gossett Jr.) as well. Before Watchmen launched, we spoke to the Aquaman star who portrays Cal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who did an excellent job keeping his secret. The role was initially downplayed as a small one, that of a supportive husband, not the only superpowered being of the whole series. Can you imagine how difficult it was to keep the details locked down?

Well, Abdul-Mateen had an absolute ball on Sunday night right before his big reveal aired. From the backseat of a car, he tweeted a video of himself laughing and laughing.