Neil Gaiman gives major filming update on The Sandman!

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, Neil Gaiman gives us a start date for production on The Sandman, plus a sneak peak of the script!

It seems like we’ve been waiting forever for news about Netflix’s adaptation of The Sandman, Neil Gaiman’s seminal fantasy comic about a group of immortal beings known as the Endless. Now, we finally have a start date, plus a clue-ridden image of the scripts!

Like a lot of other movies and TV shows, The Sandman has suffered delays thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Looking on the bright side, Gaiman has said that it gives him and the writing team more time to make the scripts as good as possible. But now we’re finally seeing some movement! This week, Gaiman took to Twitter to announce that the show will begin filming in just three weeks. “It’s starting to feel real.”

He also included an image of a script, possibly of the pilot episode. The exterior location is the driveway at Fawney Rig, a manor in Wych Cross, Sussex. This is the manor from Issue #1 of the comic, “Sleep of the Just,” where Roderick Burgess sets up the Order of Ancient Mysteries and captures Dream instead of Death, which was his original target. This is the start of the whole series.

The title of the episodes, “The Space Between Universes,” sounds like a reference to the origins of the Endless. They are not mortal beings, but rather personifications of human ideas.

If filming is just a few weeks away, it means a cast must be in place. However, we still don’t know who will be playing beloved characters like Dream, Death and Delirium, and Gaiman isn’t divulging any secrets:

Perhaps we can find casting clues in the recent Audible adaptation of The Sandman, which starred actors like James McAvoy, Kat Dennings and Michael Sheen. Gaiman has drawn actors from audio dramas before, so it’s possible he follow suit with The Sandman.  “One of the joys of doing audio drama is that you get to try things out,” he told RadioTimes. “You know, Josie Lawrence played Agnes Nutter on the BBC Radio 4 audio version of Good Omens, and I was determined that she was going to be Agnes Nutter on the telly as well, once I’d seen her do that.”

Might he do something similar with The Sandman? “It would be definitely fair to say that I’ve been taking notes.”

Personally, I think James McAvoy would make a great live-action Morpheus. After listening to the audio drama, I can’t picture anyone other than Andy Serkis playing Matthew the Raven, either.

All this said, while filming on The Sandman is getting closer, the coronavirus pandemic could complicate matters. Let’s hope everything goes smoothly.

There have been many attempts over the years to adapt The Sandman for the screen, and Netflix finally seems determined to see it through. The fact that it is now just three weeks away from filming is a major breakthrough!

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