Easter Eggs (And Missing Parts) In Watchmen's Titles

The beautiful title sequence to Watchmen is loaded with secret references that couldn't fit into the film (like the entire history of the Minute Men). Check what you may have missed and what got cut.

Everybody wants to know more about Zack Snyder's title scene from Watchmen and interestingly enough it was one of the first things that got the director rolling on this project. Snyder explains how he dreamed up this gorgeous little shot:

From the very beginning I said I want to do a cool title sequence from the movie. It was actually the thing that got me started drawing Watchmen [the storyboards]. Because they wanted to know how much did this movie cost....So to get a handle on some of the things I went to the title sequence to see how big that was. I literally went to the beginning of the movie and started. I couldn't just draw it as a stand along piece because it didn't make sense to me. I just started drawing from the beginning of the movie and I knew when the button lands we're going to go into the eye of the button, and that's where it will start. So I drew up to there. It was funny because I had the music, I knew that was going to be "The Times They Are A Changin'" and I was pretty positive about that. It started to take shape for me as let's find out where we are in the world. Tracing the alternate history.

And those five minutes, in which we get to know the history of the Minutemen and so forth, are absolutely jam packed with Easter Eggs and Watchmen shout-outs for things that couldn't fit into the movie. But there were also a few shots that didn't make that cut..

The opening shot, with Nite Owl giving a fist full of justice has a big Batman reference. First, check out the posters to the right. Look familiar? And isn't that Mr. and Mrs. Wayne at the back entrance of the opera, being saved from a bloody death? And according to commenter Rainbucket, the opera bills say: "Die Fledermaus" (The Bat). So can we safely come to the conclusion that the original Nite Owl stopped Batman from popping up in their universe?

As for shots that didn't make the cut Snyder told us at the Watchmen presser that we missed out on one more Comedian moment:

There are a bunch of shots that we didn't use, because it just got too long. The title sequence would have been ten minutes long. I had the Comedian raising the flag on Iwo Jima by himself. I had like Nixon getting sworn in. We shot them, but I don't know if they'll be in the DVD. Maybe as their own thing, because they're all green screen shots.

Would it have been too much?

My mouth dropped to the floor with the appearance of the Enola Gay with Sally Jupiter on the side - it looked so much like the real thing.

Dollar Bill's death scene. Alas another character that didn't make the cut in the main film, but you gotta love the "capes are nothing but trouble" motif. Dollar Bill was actually a victim of poor marketing as the bank he was employed to protect designed his costume, and its terrible cloak that caused his death.

OK, this was the most obvious of the shout outs, but did you notice Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis all cozy in the corner? Aw I can't wait until Under The Hood the DVD comes out, and we can learn more about their secret love. What other theories can you pull from these side by side pics?

Not really an egg, but it was very nice that they included the Comedian's involvement in the JFK shooting. It was an especially nice touch that they showed Dr. Manhattan shaking hands with the president right before, as he could have stopped the president's assassination from happening.

To the left is Laurie's snow globe that haunts her memories. Sad they couldn't incorporate it into the movie when she breaks down, but at least they threw it in somewhere.

Funny story: the on set photographer Clay Enos told io9 that this Castro was, in fact, not the original. He was part of the crew and stepped in to fill in when another actor couldn't be there.

Who are those good looking cats outside of Studio 54 that know Ozymandias? Hey, it's Mick Jagger and David Bowie. Here's a better look at the duo from Eno's Watchmen Portraits book.

Send an email to Meredith, the author of this post, at meredith@io9.com.

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