British Invasion
Watchmen is set in New York, but it’s “two Englishmen’s view of New York,” says production designer Alex McDowell, referring to the graphic novel’s creators, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, so McDonald’s becomes Gunga Diner, an Indian fast-food chain. “When you read Watchmen, there’s something inexplicable and impossible about the design of it,” says director Zack Snyder. “We wanted to capture that feeling.” To McDowell, that meant taking iconic locations from the graphic novel—like the Gunga Diner—and transplanting them to the screen.

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• Articles by Dan Kois
• Table of Contents: Mar 9, 2009 issue of New York | Subscribe!