Watchmen casting all but confirmed

About a month ago, Ain't It Cool News reported on some casting rumors for the upcoming movie based on Watchmen - our personal favorite comic of all time - directed by Zack Snyder, notably Keanu Reeves as Dr. Manhattan and Jude Law as Ozymandias.

Recently, Snyder commented on the rumors, and didn't exactly deny them:

"Um -- you know what? I would say 'No,' but then you'd call me later and go like, 'Dude, what are you doing?' I don't know who's leaking this stuff, but they're good."

We'd say it's safe to assume the casting rumors are pretty close to real. And, as big-time Watchmen fanboys, we feel compelled to comment.

Jude Law as Ozymandias is not terrible; we'd maybe prefer someone older, but whatever.

But Reeves as Dr. Manhattan is a different story. If it's a physical thing, then it doesn't really fit. Dr. Manhattan is, essentially, a God, an all-powerful physical specimen awe-inspiring enough to single-handedly win the Vietnam war and keep the Russians at bay in the Cold War. When I think that, I'm not sure I think Keanu Reeves.

But fine, let's assume the 43-year-old Reeves gets himself into crazy shape and shaves his head down to the bone. That wouldn't be a problem if Dr. Manhattan was just a guy who shows up and kicks everyone's ass or whatever. But as anyone who reads the comic will tell you, he isn't. Without revealing the story - because if you haven't read it yet, you need to - Manhattan has both super intelligence and a philosophical bent, and he has difficulty relating to others. We're not sure Reeves can demonstrate the necessary range of emotions. Also, we want his dialogue to sound otherworldly and mysterious, not vaguely confused, like Reeves often does.

What's more, we're not sure Reeves is a gigantic box office draw at this point. Constantine wasn't exactly a huge hit or anything, and neither was The Lake House. So would he really bring anyone unfamiliar with the comic out to the movies?

Also, we don't know anything about the guy they cast as Nite Owl, Patrick Wilson. We're sure he'll be fine. But we were rooting for them to cast Kyle MacLachlan. Even if John Cusack wanted the part.

UPDATE: Reeves has reportedly turned it down. Jason Patric is the new name making the rounds as a Dr. Manhattan possibility. That's an improvement.