Minutemen

The **Minutemen** are a superhero group that came before the Crimebusters. The group was founded in 1939 during the Golden Age. The group later disbanded in 1949 following some public controversies. Moore loosely based the Minutemen off the Mighty Crusaders. Among its notable members are:

#### Captain MetropolisEdit

**Captain Metropolis** (real name **Nelson Forrest Gardner**) is a former MarineLieutenant. He was one of the more active members of the Minutemen, having organized its formation. Metropolis was involved in a sexual relationship with Hooded Justice. The relationship was reported to be abusive, with Hooded Justice abusing and cheating on Metropolis until H.J.'s mysterious disappearance in the early 1950s. In the 1960s, the Captain unsuccessfully attempted to recruit the second generation of superheroes into a new group called the Crimebusters. He was killed in a car accident in 1974 that left him decapitated.

He was portrayed in the film by Darryl Scheelar.

Two versions of the character appeared in the HBO series. One was portrayed by Chris Whitley as a fictionalized character in the series' show-within-the-show "*American Hero Story: Minutemen*", which details his relationship and affair with Hooded Justice. The real Captain Metropolis, seen in the episode "This Extraordinary Being", was portrayed by Jake McDorman. In this episode, Nelson Gardner finds the identity of Hooded Justice and recruits him to the Minutemen as well as developing a secret affair with him. However, their alliance is superficial as Nelson is more preoccupied with the Minutemen's publicity than earnest crimefighting. When Will Reeves / Hooded Justice discovers the location of the white supremacist group Cyclops, Nelson declines to rally the support of the Minutemen, telling Will "black unrest" is his issue to deal with. Gardner's last will and testament, published on the tie-in website Peteypedia, reveals that he died in regret and bequeathed his estate and property to Will, where he is still living in 2009.

#### Dollar BillEdit

**Dollar Bill** (real name **William Benjamin "Bill" Brady**) is a bank-sponsored member of the Minutemen who was created by National Bank Inc. for publicity purposes. While he is described as having no actual superpowers, Dollar Bill was known for having apparently supernatural luck, surviving many things that should have outright killed him. Socially conservative, he is portrayed in *Before Watchmen* as homophobic (barely tolerating his homosexual Minutemen colleagues) and good friends with the ultra-right-wing Comedian, voting to let him stay after the attempted rape of Sally Jupiter. He dies during a bank robbery at National Bank Inc. in 1947 when his cape is caught in the bank's revolving doors, allowing the robbers to shoot him at point-blank range. This was a problem he warned his employers at National Bank Inc. about, but they insisted the cape had to be part of the costume as Mason laments in his book. Even Rorschach, who dislikes Ozymandias for making his superhero alter-ego into a toy line, laments Dollar Bill's death while Hollis Mason commented in his book that his death would've been averted if Dollar Bill designed his own costume.

In the film, he is portrayed by Dan Payne.

In the first episode of the TV series, a racist poster with Dollar Bill on it was seen in one of the hideouts of the Seventh Kavalry. The same poster also appears in the subsequent sixth episode as a part of the Minutemen's promotional materials. In episode 3, Laurie Blake used National Bank Inc. to fake a bank robbery in order to draw out Mister Shadow.

#### Hollis MasonEdit

**Hollis Mason** is the first **Nite Owl** who retired in 1962, and author of the autobiography "Under The Hood" which appears in excerpts throughout the story. Hollis was the only member of the Minutemen who did not have any social problems and mainly enjoyed being a costumed adventurer. On Halloween 1985, The Knot-Tops led by Derf assault Hollis in retaliation for the release of Rorschach, which was caused by Nite Owl II (Daniel Dreiberg) and Silk Spectre II (Laurie Juspeczyk). Derf hits Hollis on the head with Mason's own Nite Owl trophy killing the former superhero (in the film, this event is only depicted in the director's cut version). Hollis' death was avenged when Derf is among those killed by Ozymandias' giant monster.

*Before Watchmen: Night Owl #1* showed that Dan Dreiberg's obsession with the original Nite Owl led him to plant a remote microphone device on Hollis' vehicle in order to track him down. At the funeral of Dreiberg's father, Hollis discovered Dan's abusive childhood via police reports. He confronted Dan and agrees to take him on as his sidekick. After training Dan, Hollis instead announced his retirement and granted Dan the Nite Owl identity, rather than creating a sidekick persona for him.

In the film, he is portrayed in old age by Stephen McHattie and in youth by Clint Carleton.

#### Hooded JusticeEdit

**Hooded Justice** is the first masked vigilante, often initialled **"H. J."** by his teammates. His real identity is never conclusively revealed but in Hollis Mason's book it is suggested to be circus strongman **Rolf Müller**.

This is retconned heavily in *Before Watchmen: Minutemen* #6, where we learn that he is not Rolf Muller (a character that sexually abused and killed children), but it is strongly implied that he is Muller's son or ward, **Jacob**. Assuming that he himself was a victim of Muller's abuse, it explains a great deal about his violent persona, costume, and mask. A violent vigilante, Hooded Justice shared a romantic homosexual relationship with Captain Metropolis and a deep-seated rivalry with Comedian, after he prevented Blake from sexually assaulting Silk Spectre. Hooded Justice's relationship with Metropolis was a fractured one; Justice repeatedly cheated on his boyfriend with male prostitutes, physically abusing them in sadomasochist sexual encounters. This resulted in bribery of his lovers and the usage of Silk Spectre as his public girlfriend. He ultimately disappeared in the 1950s after refusing to cooperate with HUAC's new policy on costumed vigilantes. In the original novel it is suggested that he was murdered either by the Comedian for voting him out of the Minutemen (as Ozymandias believes), or by the Stasi of his native East Germany. In the retcon we learn that Hollis Mason, mistakenly believing him to be Muller, attacked Hooded Justice and snapped his neck, killing him. He was never actually unmasked, and Metropolis burned down the headquarters with his former lover's body inside; it later turns out that the Comedian was the one who misdirected Mason to believe that Justice was Muller, so Ozymandias was partially right. Much of the "Under the Hood" information on Muller and HJ is revealed to be a deliberate lie on Mason's part. This may be contrary to the intent of the original novel. In chapter 1, the fourth panel of page 25 focuses on two old men sitting affectionately together near Dan and Laurie in Rafael's restaurant. They look very much like older versions of Rolf Muller and Nelson Gardner, and it was speculated by many fans that these were in fact Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis, who had faked their deaths in order to retire and be together. Dave Gibbons said this was unintended but allowed that it might be true. In the retconned world of *Before Watchmen*, it is obviously not the case.

In the film, Hooded Justice was portrayed by Glenn Ennis who speaks the character's one line with a subtle German accent.

In the TV series, Hooded Justice is revealed to have been **Will Reeves**, a black man who had escaped from the 1921 Tulsa race riot(portrayed by Louis Gossett Jr. as an old man and Jovan Adepo as a young man). He became one of the first black officers in the New York City police force. After stumbling into a plot by the Ku Klux Klan called "Cyclops" which sought to incite violence between black people, Reeves was nearly lynched by white officers as a warning to stay out of their business. While still wearing the noose and hood, Reeves helped a young couple fend off thugs that were trying to rob him, and his deed named him a hero the next day. Reeves took up the name Hooded Justice, using the costume to mask his race. He was invited into the Minutemen by Captain Metropolis, but cautioned from revealing his race to the other members. When Reeves found further clues to "Cyclops" including the use of hypnotic strobe effects to coerce black people into violence, the Minutemen refused to help, and Reeves took it on himself to end the New York City operation. This led to Reeves becoming disillusioned to his role, staying behind when his wife and son returned to Tulsa. In 2019, Reeves reveals himself to Angela, his granddaughter, and uses a modified version of the Cyclops hypnosis effect to chase down those with association with Cyclops. When Angela restores Doctor Manhattan's memories, he sends their adopted children to Reeves where they were when Veidt caused frozen squids to rain down on Lady Trieu and her followers. Will even wrote out a speech for Lady Trieu to read to the Seventh Kavalry and the Cyclops leadership. Angela found that he and her adopted children took refuge in a theater where Reeves stated that he saw the movie that inspired him to become Hooded Justice. In addition within the fictional show-within-a-show *American Hero Story*, a mock version of Hooded Justice is portrayed by Cheyenne Jackson.

#### MothmanEdit

**Mothman** (real name **Byron Alfred Lewis**) is a former member of the Minutemen who suffered from alcoholism and mental illness later in life. Lewis had a privileged upbringing and sought to help the less fortunate and fight oppression and corruption as a crimefighter. To this end, Lewis created a costume with special wings that helped him glide, dubbing himself "Mothman". However, a series of near death experiences in perfecting his wings left Lewis in constant pain, a drug addict and an alcoholic, with him requiring a drink each time before he flew for "courage". Lewis' mental stability ultimately deteriorated after he was called before HUAC, leading to him being forcibly brought to a mental asylum in Maine, but was briefly released for the Minutemen's reunion.

In *Doomsday Clock* #2, the obituary in the newspaper revealed that Mothman is dead. In *Doomsday Clock* #4, a flashback involving the earlier history of Reggie revealed that he met Mothman at the same asylum following the alien monster's attack. Reggie and Mothman grow closer as Mothman plans to train Reggie to defend himself against the guard Jason. When Reggie saw the news that exposed Veidt's involvement with the alien monster attack, he set fire to the asylum. When Mothman sees the fire, he states that it is calling to him and walks towards (and presumably into) it. Mothman is also notoriously stinky.

In the film, he is portrayed by Niall Matter.

In the TV series, he is portrayed by Brennan Kerr.

#### Sally JupiterEdit

**Sally Jupiter** (real name **Sally Juspeczyk**) is the first **Silk Spectre** and founding member of the Minutemen who is now retired. She is later the domineering "stage mom" of Laurie Juspeczyk (who becomes Silk Spectre II). Sally married her manager, Laurence Schexnayder, shortly after retiring. She narrowly avoided being raped by the Comedian, although years later she had a consensual affair with him, and ultimately bore his child. Sally adores the attention she receives from fans of "The Silk Spectre", though Laurie is repulsed at her mother's sexually explicit exploits in promoting herself.

In the film, she is portrayed by Carla Gugino.

#### SilhouetteEdit

**The Silhouette** (real name **Ursula Zandt**) was a gun-toting vigilante and member of the Minutemen. *Before Watchmen* gave a new backstory, that Ursula was motivated by the deaths of her parents and sister at the hands of the Nazis in their native Austria. According to the first Nite Owl, Silhouette was the first member of the Minutemen who went public with her career as a super-hero, when she busted a child pornography ring in New York. She had a close working relationship with Nite Owl and, after being forced out of the Minutemen (upon being publicly outed as a lesbian), continued to work with Nite Owl. She investigated a string of child murders until she and her lover Gretchen were killed by The Liquidator, a criminal she had fought years earlier as seen in *Before Watchmen: Minutemen* #4. In the film, the words "lesbian whores" scrawled on the wall at the scene of her murder implied that her killer was motivated by homophobia and not necessarily revenge.

She is portrayed by Apollonia Vanova in the film.