Is Netflix adapting Neil Gaiman’s Sandman just to cash in on a trend? Can any TV show do justice to his sprawling story? The author is here to put minds at ease.
Filming has begun on The Sandman, Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s beloved comic book. The story revolves around a family of immortal beings called the Endless, but that sells it short. Through his characters, most prominently the dour Dream, Gaiman explores themes of history, mythology, mutability, and the human condition, jumping all over time to tell a tale that has resonated for decades.
Fans are hyped, and Gaiman is happy to pour fuel on the fire. The author is very active on social media and lately has been answering even more questions about the show than usual. Last week, Gaiman turned heads when he said he’d been watching dailies (unedited footage) of the show. It sounds like he was watching scenes from the first ever issue, “Sleep of the Just,” when Morpheus is captured by Roderick Burgess and his fellow cultists in the Order of Ancient Mysteries:
Every day I watch the Sandman Dailies (the footage they shot the day before). Today I watched as the summoning spell succeeded, and Dream appeared in Roderick Burgess's cellar. It's really Sandman. I am filled with too many emotions. #HereInThe Darkness
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) November 14, 2020
Of course, many fans worry that Netflix’s take on Gaiman’s work won’t be up to snuff, but the author is here to assure us that he cares about making an adaptation that captures what made The Sandman great. After all, he spent years side-stepping potentially mediocre adaptations. According to him, now is the best time to create a live-action Sandman that actually feels like Sandman.
It matters to me. I've spent 30 years stopping bad adaptations and mediocre adaptations of Sandman, or even good things that just weren't Sandman, from being made. This one has to be Sandman, to look and feel like Sandman, or there isn't any point. https://t.co/K6ZNMIQVr1
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) November 14, 2020
The people who are working on the show are dedicated to getting it right. As the author, Gaiman’s credentials should be beyond question. There’s also showrunner Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman) and executive producer is David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight).
Sandman is being made by people who love it as much as you and who care as much as you do, and who are losing sleep over the same questions (or are happy to have solved them). Don't stress.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) November 14, 2020
For good or ill, Sandman is going to be Sandman. https://t.co/wKNR35hXqJ
We’ve also heard that Netflix’s adaptation will be set closer to our time, whereas the original was set in the ’80s and early ’90s, the same time when it was written. (Of course, the time period is sort of meaningless when so much of the story is set in fantastical realms beyond human imagination, but there are still parts rooted in the “real” world.) But according to Gaiman, this doesn’t mean they’re going to “modernize” the show, or that it’s just a quick cash grab at a time when comic book adaptations and glossy fantasy stories are in vogue:
It's not a "modern take on it". It's just Sandman. And why would we turn it into a superhero story, when it never was that to begin with? It's Sandman. https://t.co/eaHvct00qJ
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) November 14, 2020
If this is a cash grab, it’s a very expensive one. In fact, it will be the most expensive drama DC Entertainment has ever done!
One thing that’s going to have to change in some capacity is the use of DC characters within the series. In the first volume, “Preludes and Nocturnes,” Gaiman uses a few characters from the DC canon, most notably Constantine, early in the story, although their presence diminishes as it goes on.
Will those characters turn up on the show? Gaiman plays coy:
I think using the 1989 JLI might confuse even comics fans at this point.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) November 14, 2020
It would definitely confuse me if the 1989 Justice League International turned up…although possibly not in a bad way.
We’ve learned a lot from Gaiman’s tweets, but still know very little about the series. We don’t even know who’s in it, although rumor has it that English actor Tom Sturridge (Mary Shelley, The Boat That Rocked) will play the title character. There are also rumors of either Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games) or Dacre Montgomery (Stranger Things) may play the nightmare creature the Corinthian!
The next few months are surely going to bring even more exciting Sandman news. Stay tuned!
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