Ron Perlman has announced that he was considered to play the Comedian in the Watchmen film.

Now I'm not entirely sure if this is referring to a previous incarnation of the attempt at the comic book adapation, but it does read like it. Here's what Perlman reportedly said to Newsarama through Superhero Hype:

Well, Frank Darabont is a really close friend of Guillermo’s and they share a boyish passion for comic books. The first time I ever met Frank was in a comic book store here on Melrose in Los Angeles. In aisle three we had a long, wonderful meeting and he told me I had to read League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and everything that Alan Moore wrote. Then Watchmen came up because [Hellboy producers] Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin have the rights to make the film version of that. They were pushing for me to play the Comedian.

Now I've included the whole quote and it does quite clearly state that this was the first meeting between Darabont and Perlman, which we could assume was a little time ago so I think that this was indeed a previous incarnation of the Watchmen film adaptation.

Perhaps I'm really wanting that to be the case because I just can't see him as the Comedian at all, can you? He just doesn't fit that role for me.