Coronavirus Pandemic Spurs Virtual Edition of Emmy Awards 2020

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"'Watchmen' speaks so specifically in so many unprecedented ways to the moment in which we're living right now," said Hill.

"I think people will probably get pretty tired of hearing Watchmen's name getting called... it's as much of a lock as we have right now."

'Last chance'

With HBO's record-breaking Emmys juggernaut "Game of Thrones" having finally mounted a dragon and soared off to Westeros, the awards in the drama series categories promise to be more fiercely contested this year.

"It's a relief for HBO that they have 'Succession' hitting at the right time," said Deadline awards columnist Pete Hammond.

The critically adored show about a powerful family's back-stabbing battle for control of a dynastic media empire won a writing Emmy in its first season, and has amassed 18 nominations this time.

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But it is tied with "Ozark", a dark money-laundering tale set in the American heartland from Netflix, which despite landing a record 160 nominations this year is still desperate to win its first major series Emmy.

Lurking in the background are British royals saga "The Crown" and Star Wars tale "The Mandalorian", which boasts lavish Thrones-esque production values and has already scooped five Emmys in technical categories this week for newcomer Disney+.