Since the first Watchmen footage arrived I’ve been impressed by the film’s visual achievement, but worried about how these characters would sound walking and talking. Can Snyder and his actors successfully give voice to these characters that already have such strong personalities on the page? Now a new trailer finally lets everyone in on the secret of how Snyder’s Rorschach and Doctor Manhattan sound. (Sure, we’ve head a line or two from Rorschach already, but seeing dialogue cut into something that resembles a scene is a different story.)

Comparisons between Rorschach’s voice and Batman’s were to be expected, given both the nature of the character(s) and the role they play in their own stories. And I dig the overall effect; the problem is that in The Dark Knight the notion of a gravel-voiced ‘hero’ was pretty much beat into the ground. And I didn’t figure Manhattan would sound just like Billy Crudup, with no affect or filter on the voice. Hurm. Patrick Wilson’s Dan Dreiberg, though? Love it.

As promised, this trailer also gives out many more story details, the better to convince people that there really is more to see here than a bunch of pretty pictures. See and hear the Watchmen below, or go to Yahoo Movies to see the clip in HD.