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Warning: This is another Watchmen post that contains heavy spoilers. Read further at your own risk.

Last week, I reluctantly shared the news that Zack Snyder's adaptation of Watchmen may actually have done the unthinkable, and changed the ending. This went against all reports to the contrary, and wasn't exactly from the most reliable of sources. All such reports came from anonymous test screeners, were posted in oddball forums and IMDB, and yanked offline as quickly as they appeared. I think it's telling that no full-fledged reviews popped up on sites like Ain't It Cool News where, despite any NDR you sign, you can usually share your unvarnished thoughts.

Theories run rampant. Many wondered if Warner Bros was testing alternate endings. Some think it was a buzz generating prank -- Snyder did, after all, select that Smashing Pumpkins' song for the trailer with an eye to teasing the fans. But a song is a long way from filming an expensive alternate ending. Others think the anonymous reviews were faked by mean-spirited fans, or posted by studio plants.

It seems like that first theory might be true, after all. Rich Johnston of CBR's Lying in the Gutters column reports that Warners is testing out alternate endings. Apparently, there's more than one floating around, with "the multiple atomic detonations" version being one of many. The date, time, and place of the screening was deliberately leaked to fan outlets in order to lure in the faithful, and see what they thought of the switch-a-roo. Warner Bros is trying to gauge the fan reaction in order to see how far they can push us, with the idea that a squidless ending might be more appealing to the mainstream audience. However, the FX on the squid-alien have been created and he might just be appearing on a big screen near you.

More after the jump

Warning: This post contains heavy spoilers. Really big ones. Those who haven't read Watchmen and want to remain unspoiled, skip this post altogether.

Put this firmly into the "might not be true" category of your brains, and then take it with an additional grain of salt. I hesitate to even spread this further because it is unverified, but I think it's worth discussing. And hey, maybe someone who caught the movie might weigh in.

There was a test screening of Watchmen last week. And according to the gang at /film, the buzz is building that the ending of the graphic novel has been changed in the movie. Devotees of the book remember that Ozymandias engineers a giant alien squid in order to destroy New York, an event so horrifying that it stops the world in its tracks, and deflects a nuclear war with Russia. According to a few members of the test audience, the faux-alien is nowhere to be found. Instead, Ozymandias' plot involves a machine he builds with Dr. Manhattan which mimics Manhattan's powers, and sets off atomic-bomb like attacks all over the world.

It's very perplexing, as there have been numerous reports that the ending remained unchanged. Patrick Wilson laughed off reports, as have numerous cast members. An unofficial set report confirmed the squid's appearance. Zack Snyder insisted it was left intact, despite that it was an unorthodox one for a movie. So many reports confirming the squid would tip the balance against the test audiences.

However, in the interest of fairness to those movie-going spies, Collider's recent interview with Kevin Smith suggests the whispers might be true after all. "It's a little different. While it is a slight departure, it actually makes sense in the context of the story because it brings the characters back into it. It kind of makes the movie more about them by the end of it because of the switch they made. I would never say that Alan Moore f***ed it up or something. I love the ending of the Watchmen comic book, but I think this ending works just as well."