WARNING: Massive Watchmen TV series spoilers will be found below.
The past few episodes of HBO’s Watchmen have spun through the effects of the series’ biggest, Damon Lindelof-delivered curveball. Doctor Manhattan was revealed to be hiding out in Tulsa in the body of Cal Abar, portrayed by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. The Aquaman actor did a pretty terrific job of locking that secret down while talking to us before the series launched, but Abdul-Mateen could let everything hang out on Tuesday night’s edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live!. That is, after he tweeted a laughter-filled video following the big reveal happening in the show itself.
Needless to say, that moment of visible relief was eclipsed by his initial reaction to learning the Manhattan thing. Lindelof apparently waited until after filming a few episodes to tell Abdul-Mateen that he wasn’t simply playing the role of a devoted, stay-at-home dad. Rather, he was gonna be a blue god with full-frontal nudity intact. Kimmel remarked to Abdul-Mateen that at least he’s “blessed” in that department, and he’s not wrong. Here’s how the meeting between Lindelof and his Manhattan went, though:
“I have this thing that I do when I’m dealing with someone of a higher work status … I would imitate their body language. It makes me more comfortable, and it puts me at ease … so I was naturally very comfortable, and I sort of received the information in the same way that he gave it to me, and I sort of [calmly] said, ‘Wow, okay, yeah. Thank you, that’s very awesome news.’ But on the inside, man, I was tearing the room up, man. I was [gestures frantically] going, ‘Ohhhhh, I’m Doctor Manhattan!'”
Then the Candyman star realized it was time to quickly hit the gym so that he could get naked on camera. And he added, “I knew I should have asked for more money.” Lesson learned, but Abdul-Mateen’s in everything these days (including playing Black Manta as the lead villain in Aquaman II), so he’s gonna be just fine.
Catch the Watchmen season finale this Sunday night (9:00pm EST) on HBO, and watch the Kimmel discussion (beginning around 2:30) below.
