HBO and producer Damon Lindelof have named the six leads for the Watchmen pilot. Regina King (American Crime, The Leftovers) Don Johnson (Miami Vice, Nash Bridges), Tim Blake Nelson (O Brother, Where Art Thou?), Louis Gossett Jr. (An Officer and a Gentleman), Adelaide Clemens (Rectify), and Andrew Howard (Hatfields & McCoys) will star, but neither the network nor Lindelof have identified which characters they are playing (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Just this week, Lindelof doubled down on previous comments about the show, indicating that he plans to deviate from the source material (see “Lindelof Talks 'Watchmen,' No Sugar for 'Ash Vs. Evil Dead' at Starz, Dreamworks and Netflix Get 'Fast & Furious'”). He posted a long letter on his Instagram account, taking a Watchmen-esque narrative look at his past and present to announce that his take would be original and the comics would not “be retread nor recreated nor reproduced nor rebooted.” (Lindelof also let fans know that he had sent a letter to writer Alan Moore to beg his forgiveness and that Moore not “place a curse” on him).

HBO ordered the pilot last September (see “Watchmen' Greenlit for Pilot”), with Nicole Kassel, who directed two episodes of Lindelof’s The Leftovers, at the helm (see “HBO's 'Watchmen' Pilot Names Director”).