Watchmen premiered nine months before the recent mass protests against systemic racism and police brutality happened around the world, but the show feels more timely than ever. Now, HBO is making the entire nine-episode series available to anyone to watch for free this weekend.
The network is making the episodes free as “an extension of the network’s content offering highlighting Black experiences, voices and storytellers,” according to a press release, adding that HBO is proud to offer the “timely, poignant series that explores the legacy of systemic racism in America” to anyone who wants to watch. The series starts in Tulsa 1921, demonstrating the events of the Tulsa massacre in which a mob of white Americans attacked black residents and businesses in Tulsa’s Greenwood District.
The show, which stars Regina King, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Jeremy Irons, among others, jumps back and forth between different eras, but the focus remains on the conversation of race in America. Watchmen received an abundance of critical praise for its handling of issues like systemic racism and the effect of white supremacy on police forces in the United States.
“It’s all of our collective jobs to understand the history of policing in this country,” showrunner Damon Lindelof said in a recent Hollywood Reporter roundtable while talking about the show. “We kind of need to understand it, we need to do our homework, and then hopefully that will inform our storytelling.”
Notably, HBO is making the series free beginning on June 19th, otherwise known as Juneteenth, a day that many people and some companies celebrate and honor as the day slavery ended in the US. Watchmen will be free from June 19th through June 21st on HBO.com.
