Director Zack Snyder may already be busy with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and just about everybody else in the DC universe, but that's not stopping him from revisiting another group of superheroes from his past. HBO has confirmed that it is in "preliminary talks" with the filmmaker about a TV series adaptation of Watchmen, the classic Alan Moore graphic novel that Snyder turned into a feature back in 2009. Collider first reported the news.

That film adaptation of Watchmen was hyped for its devotion to the source material, recreating visuals, and even specific frames from Moore's book. That led to a big opening weekend, after which audience interest quickly cratered, with even die-hard fans criticizing the condensed plotting and changed ending. Ultimately, Snyder's movie adaptation barely crawled north of $100 million at the US box office.

TV is arguably a better fit than a movie ever was

Television, however, offers a completely different format that's arguably much better suited for the complex structure of the source material — and a better canvas for the broader deconstruction of superhero mythology that Moore and artist Dave Gibbons accomplished. However, it's not clear what form a potential TV series would take, be it a straight adaptation, sequel, or prequel — nor what Snyder's precise involvement would have. In any case, HBO has proven with Game of Thrones that genre fiction can have incredible crossover appeal when played as drama, and with Netflix building out a slate of Marvel superhero shows the cable network would no doubt like to have something to offer fans as well.