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Comic book fans have been waiting for years for a film to be made of “Watchmen,” the famed graphic novel about a group of misfit crimefighters battling a plot to eliminate their members while the world awaits nuclear war.

“We’ve heard a few comments from diehard fans where they’re just saying, ‘Wow, we’re really impressed,’ ” said Malin Akerman, who plays Laurie Jupiter/Silk Spectre II in the movie.

Praising director Zack Snyder, whose resume includes the highly successful “300″ and “Dawn of the Dead,” Akerman said the film will make fans proud.

“This is just sort of a huge feat for Zack to take on. But him being a true fan, he came in with the mind of these fanboys and really kept that in mind and I think that he did a great job,” she said.

“Watchmen” had a long road to the screen. The original comic book series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons came out in 1986 and 1987 and was compiled into a book.

Since then it has been considered both brilliant — it made Time magazine’s list of the 20th century’s greatest novels — and unfilmable. Watch “Watchmen” stars talk about the film at its premiere »

Rights passed from studio to studio, with any number of directors attached (including Terry Gilliam and Paul Greengrass), before ending up with Warner Bros. (like CNN, a division of Time Warner) and Snyder. A longtime fan himself, Snyder said he was determined to remain true to the book.

“Zack respected the source material so much that he knew the only way to adapt it was to hew as close to the source material as possible,” said Snyder’s wife and producing partner, Deborah Snyder. EW: A “Watchmen” primer

Jackie Earle Haley, who stars in the film as Rorschach, said Snyder’s passion for the film will lead to it