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LOST @ 15: Damon Lindelof Shares "Souvenir" from Series with Greatest Finale Ever [VIDEO]

Even though Damon Lindelof is still busy at work on his (contrary to what others at Bleeding Cool would have you think) 112% fully-authorized "remix" of/pseudo-sequel to Alan Moore and David Gibbons' celebrated comic book series Watchmen doesn't mean he doesn't have time to look back on his past successes. When the calendar shows "September 22," then you know there's only one project that comes to mind: LOST.

Now, we could spend time listing off all of the influences LOST had on the television scene, even 15 years after its initial flight. We could make a joke about how LOST created the concept of "hotly-debated series finales" before HBO's Game of Thrones made it "cool" (the finale was amazing and if you think otherwise, you're just so painfully wrong). But instead, we're going to leave it to Lindelof – whatever you may think of him and his work, one thing is clear: he's a creator who takes risks and takes on challenges others wouldn't:

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September 22, 2004. Jack makes a plane out of a banana leaf. Fifteen years later, that very same leaf is framed on my wall… brown with age, but miraculously still intact. There are no words for how much this show impacted my life, suffice to say it made me and then it broke me and then it made me all over again. LOST was created with love… and by a family in front of and behind the camera. This spirit of ohana inspired the whole idea of "live together, die alone." Together. That's the word I think of most when it comes to LOST… not just among those of us who made it, but with those of you who watched it. Who committed to it and loved it. Who were frustrated and perplexed and inspired and impassioned by it. We weren't dead the whole time… we were alive the whole time. Together. Happy 15th, LOST.

https://youtu.be/-33JCGEGzwU

From Damon Lindelof and set in an alternate history where masked vigilantes are treated as outlaws, this drama series embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel of the same name while attempting to break new ground of its own. The cast includes Regina King, Jeremy Irons, Don Johnson, Jean Smart, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Hong Chau, Andrew Howard, Tom Mison, Frances Fisher, Jacob Ming-Trent, Sara Vickers, Dylan Schombing, and James Wolk.

Watchmen is based on the graphic novel co-created and illustrated by Dave Gibbons and published by DC.

HBO's Watchmen stars Regina King as Angela Abar, Don Johnson as Chief Judd Crawford, Tim Blake Nelson as Det. Looking Glass, Louis Gossett Jr. as Bass Reeves, Adelaide Clemens as Pirate Jenny, Andrew Howard as Red Scare, Jeremy Irons as Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias, Frances Fisher as Jane Crawford, Jacob Ming-Trent as Panda, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Cal Abar, Adelynn Spoon as Emma Abar, and Jean Smart as Agent Blake – as well as Tom Mison as Mr. Phillips, Sara Vickers as Ms. Crookshanks, Dylan Schombing, and Lily Rose Smith.  Joining the series in recurring roles are James Wolk as Senator Keane, Hong Chau as Lady Trieu, and Dustin Ingram as Agent Petey.

Nine Inch Nails duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are on board to compose music for the series.

In the following featurette, Lindelof explains how the original comic book series influenced him to take the core themes of the series and find a way to apply them to a modern society. King offers more details on both the terrorist group at play during the season as well as the personal conflicts that arise when one dons a mask in the name of the law:

In May 2018, Lindelof shared a series of Instagram posts to update fans on progress on the project (with a pilot directed by Kassell) and to emphasize that his vision was not a direct adaptation of the original graphic novel, but rather a "remix" that utilizes important elements from the original story while telling its own narrative. Here are some excerpts from those posts:

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"We have no desire to 'adapt' the twelve issues Mr. Moore and Mr. Gibbons created thirty years ago. Those issues are sacred ground and will not be retread nor recreated nor reproduced nor rebooted.

They will however be remixed, Because the bass lines in those familiar tracks are just too good and we'd be fools not to sample them. Those original twelve issues are our Old Testament. When the New Testament came along it did not erase what came before it. Creation. The Garden of Eden. Abraham and Isaac. The Flood. It all happened. And so it will be with 'Watchmen.' The Comedian died. Dan and Laurie fell in love. Ozymandias saved the world and Dr. Manhattan left it just after blowing Rorschach to pieces in the bitter cold of Antarctica."

"This story will be set in the world its creators painstakingly built…but in the tradition of the work that inspired it, this new story must be original. It has to vibrate with the seismic unpredictability of its own tectonic plates. It must ask new questions and explore the world through a fresh lens. Most importantly, it must be contemporary. The Old Testament was specific to the Eighties of Reagan and Thatcher and Gorbachev. Ours needs to resonate with the frequency of Trump and May and Putin and the horse that he rides around on, shirtless. And speaking of Horsemen, The End of the World is off the table…which means the heroes and villains–as if the two are distinguishable–are playing for different stakes entirely."

"Some of the characters will be unknown. New faces. New masks to cover them. We also intend to revisit the past century of Costumed Adventuring through a surprising yet familiar set of eyes…and it is here we will be taking our greatest risks…"

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