According to surveys of potential moviegoers released Monday, young males may not be embracing “Watchmen” as heartily as older die-hard devotees who can't wait for its arrival. And the thing is that young men, especially teens, are a critical component of the movie-going audience because their ticket purchases can transform a mere hit into a global blockbuster. In other words "Watchmen" is one of the greatest graphic novels of all time, but is almost unknown outside comics fandom.

In the 1980s, illustrator Dave Gibbons and writer Alan Moore (who has said he doesn't want to be associated with a "Watchmen" film) crafted only 12 chapters of the comic book-turned-graphic novel. The nearly three-hour R-rated movie is faithful to the original novel, leaving almost nothing on the cutting room floor except "Tales of the Black Freighter," a comic-within-the-comic woven throughout "Watchmen." It will be released March 24 on DVD as an animated short film along with "Under the Hood," the tell-all memoir from "Watchmen."

As those familiar with the graphic novel know, the story is set in an alternate 1985 where superheroes exist, Richard Nixon is still president, and tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union are at an all-time high. The vigilante Rorschach is investigating the murder of former hero, the Comedian, and uncovers a plot to discredit and murder various heroes. However, while investigating, Rorschach discovers a far wider-ranging conspiracy involving his colleagues' past, which could completely change the course of history.

While "The Dark Knight" was director Nolan's attempt to put comic-book characters amid real-world textures (he cited "The French Connection" as a compass point), this year's big cape affair goes in the opposite direction, cramming the real world into a comic book -- to the point where the JFK assassination is reenacted with a masked hero firing the fatal shot. Snyder said it's advantageous that "Watchmen" didn't get made sooner. Only now, with the superhero cinema truly alive, is the genre ripe for snuffing.