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'Watchmen' Episode 6: Both Superman and Batman seem to have inspired the show's version of Hooded Justice

Both Will and the Man of Steel have similar origins as orphans saved from the destruction of their homes when their fathers sent them away in a vehicle. For Superman, it was a spaceship, and for Hooded Justice, it was a regular old wooden cart, but the similarities are obvious.

When Alan Moore created the world of 'Watchmen', he meant for the characters to be twisted versions of existing comic book characters like the Justice League. HBO's adaptation of the comics expands on that idea in Episode 6 'This Extraordinary Being' by drawing parallels between Hooded Justice / Will Reeves (Jovan Adepo) and everybody's favorite Kryptonian, Superman.

Both Will and the Man of Steel have similar origins as orphans saved from the destruction of their homes when their fathers sent them away in a vehicle. For Superman, it was a spaceship, and for Hooded Justice, it was a regular old wooden cart but the similarities are obvious. In fact, we wouldn't be too surprised if Will's last name is revealed to be a reference to Christopher Reeves, the most iconic actor ever to play Superman in live-action.

Within the episode, the similarities between the characters are highlighted with a scene where Will reads Action Comics #1, the comic book that introduced the world to Superman. Much like Superman, Hooded Justice is also seen as the first legitimate costumed hero of his world, to the point where the Minutemen needed him to join them so that they could gain credibility as heroes.

However, despite the surface-level similarities to the Man of Steel, Hooded Justice's actual path is more similar to Superman's dark colleague, Batman. They're both heroes who deal with the dark underbelly of crime, never fully appreciated by their colleagues and driven by a deep-seated rage stemming from the loss of their parents.

Though the similarities are in place, Hooded Justice ultimately makes his own path as a hero. Being a normal man of flesh and blood, he could never become the kind of legendary superhero that Superman is and as similar as he might be to Batman, there are some lines the Dark Knight would never cross that we now know are not a problem to Hooded Justice, at least not anymore.

'Watchmen' Episode 7 'An Almost Religious Awe' will air on HBO on December 1.