By Ryan Scott

Copyright slashfilm

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The world lost an absolute legend recently as Robert Redford, one of the greatest actors of all time, passed away at the age of 89. From his Oscar-nominated roles in movies like “The Sting” to his Oscar-winning work behind the camera in “Ordinary People,” he was a singular talent. He was also widely beloved, one of those people that nobody seemed to dislike. Indeed, that very charm and likability is what made him the perfect candidate to become President of the United States in “Watchmen.”

Created by Damon Lindelof (“The Leftovers”), 2019’s “Watchmen” series on HBO served as a sequel to the all-time classic graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. In Lindelof’s version of the future U.S., it was Redford who succeeded Richard Nixon as President of the United States. Thanks to abolished term limits, Redford actually served for seven terms in this universe. Speaking ahead of the show’s release in July 2019, Lindelof explained this bit of “Watchmen” alternate history and how it all unfolded:

“We’re interested in exploring what would happen if a very well-intentioned liberal white man was President for way too long. Nixon was still president in ’85. He remained president, was re-elected in ’88. He died in office. Gerald Ford became President as Nixon’s Vice President and then was defeated in ’92 by Robert Redford.”

“We’ve created a world that does not have an internet,” Lindelof added at the time, explaining that the Redford administration created a very different world than the one we actually live in. “People do not have smart phones. Even though it’s set in 2019, the Redford administration saw the writing on the wall and stepped in to make sure we could not troll each other.”