Netflix is officially adapting Neil Gaiman’s Sandman as a series!
By Corey Smith
It’s a good time to be Neil Gaiman. Not only does the master of off-beat fantasy have American Gods and Good Omens airing on Starz and Amazon respectively, but now the crown jewel of Gaiman’s portfolio, the Sandman comic series, is officially coming to Netflix, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Prepare to enter the Dreaming and get to know its master, Morpheus.
Like its main character, the dreamlord Morpheus, the Sandman series has long been imprisoned in Hollywood developmental hell. As part of DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint, Sandman has been in various stages of adaptation since its first issue landed in 1989. At one point, New Line was going to make a feature film directed by Joseph Gordon Leavitt, of all people, but that version collapsed three years ago, putting the property back into limbo.
And then came Netflix. Per THR, Sandman will be “the most expensive TV series that DC Entertainment has ever done.” Warner Bros. shopped the series to sister company HBO before landing at Netflix, but HBO couldn’t make the financial commitment, which makes sense considering how many other irons it has in the fire right now.
Sandman is a visually splendid comic that will take some serious dough to bring to any screen, big or small. It would have been cool to see it on HBO, but in a way, I think the network still played a role in dragging Sandman out of development hell; I think the success of Game of Thrones has made studios more willing to invest in expensive TV series like this one.
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Sandman follows the god-like being Morpheus, also called Dream. He is a member of the Endless, which also include his lovable siblings Destiny, Death, Destruction, Desire, Despair and Delirium (formerly Delight before she had a bit of an episode). The series takes us through Dream’s adventures in eternity, both on Earth and in a variety of fantastical realms. It’s a wild journey that brings in historical figures like William Shakespeare and Julius Caesar as well as mythological ones like the Norse god Loki and Cain and Abel from the Bible. Through it all, the story focuses on the concepts of growth and the evolving nature of the human divine condition.
Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman, Grey’s Anatomy) will serve as showrunner and writer, while Gaiman and David Goyer (Blade, Krypton, Da Vinci’s Demons) are on board as executive producers.
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