Everything you need to know about Netflix’s The Sandman teaser

This weekend, Netflix’s held its first-ever “TUDUM” event, showcasing its most exciting upcoming projects to millions of eager viewers. The event was jam-packed with goodies, including new looks at everything from Stranger Things 4 to the live-action Cowboy Bebop series and beyond.

We also got a preview of Netflix’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s ambitious comic, The Sandman. Take a look:

So what is The Sandman about? That’s a hard question to answer. The Sandman takes place across time and space, explores many different cultures and dives into the meaning of stories. It blends myth and legend together in an eclectic tale where we do everything from visit Williams Shakespeare at the first performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to attend a serial killer convention where the gust of honor is a nightmare creature with teeth in place of eyes.

Put simply, The Sandman follows Dream, aka Morpheus, aka Oneiros (he goes by many names) as he goes about his duties as the anthropomorphic personification of dreams. He rules his own Kingdom, The Dreaming, the place where everyone goes when they fall asleep. Morpheus is one of seven immortal entities, named the Endless, who each embody a key element of the human condition: Dream, Death, Destiny, Delirium, Desire, Despair and Destruction.

The story begins when power-hungry occultist Roderick Burgess (played by Charles Dance, the one and only Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones) and other members of the Order of Ancient Mysteries attempt to capture Death… but instead seizes her brother Dream. That’s what’s happening in the teaser. “Tonight we will achieve what no one has even attempted. We will summon and imprison Death,” Burgess declares.

Exactly like the first issue of the comic, “Sleep of the Just,” Burgess offers up a few peculiar sacrifices, including a coin made from stone, a feather from an angel’s wing, and blood from his veins. After which, his ritual seems to be a success as a cloaked figure falls to the ground. But this is not Death. This is Dream of the Endless. As one character tells him: “You’re gonna need all the help you can get.”

The atmosphere of the teaser feels like a perfect match to the comic — Netflix has already released a fantastic side-by-side comparison. We even get a glimpse of the Gates of Ivory, through which the dreams that are lies/deception pass through.

The Sandman character posters! 

Let’s also take a look at some official character posters. So far, we only have posters for Dream (Tom Sturridge), Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) and Desire (Mason Alexander Park). Take a look:

I would’ve liked to see a bit more creativity put into these posters. They seem a little too generic, but it’s still early. There’s a lot more to get excited about. That said, I do really like the shadow of Matthew the Raven on Dream’s face.

Neil Gaiman hypes The Sandman on Netflix!

Neil Gaiman, who has seen potential adaptations of The Sandman fall through the cracks over the years, took the stage of the TUDUM event. He rhapsodized about the hard work that has gone into this new project. Throughout the process, one phrase has stuck out: This is The Sandman being made by people who love The Sandman. That’s evident throughout, from the glorious set designs from Jon Gary Steel (Outlander) to the admiration the cast has for the original comic. This doesn’t feel like just any adaptation, it feels like a labor of love. In the previous behind-the-scenes teaser, Gaiman summed up his feelings like this: “Holy shit.”

After his opening speech, Gaiman passed things off to Tom Sturridge, who has the difficult task of doing justice to one of the most beloved comic book characters of all time, Dream of the Endless. “When I found out I’d been asked to play Dream,  I was terrified of a moment like this because I know how important he is to you, simply because of how important he is to me,” Sturridge said, his voice deep and dour, perfect for Morpheus.

Kirby Howell-Baptiste, meanwhile, is playing the fan-favorite character Death. “Death of the Endless is, to say the least, a character with a profound legacy who has brought real comfort to so many people,” Howell-Baptiste said. “This role was a responsibility as well as a privilege and I can promise you I did not take that lightly.”

Let’s talk about Dream’s eyes

Amid all of the excitement surrounding the trailer, fans did notice one glaring difference from the comics: on the page, Dream has stars in his eyes; they’re one of the most notable parts of his character. However, in the teaser for the TV show, Morpheus just has regular human eyes.

That said, there will be moments when we do see his starry eyes. “Sometimes, yes. Not often,” Gaiman wrote on Tumblr.

"Sometimes you need the eyes to convey information. We did a lot of make-up, contact lens and CGI trials, tests and experiments starting out, and reluctantly came to the conclusion that we didn’t want to lose Tom’s eyes, because when we did we diminished the magic of his performance."

That’s all for now. Hopefully, we get more The Sandman content at DC FanDome on October 16, though nothing has been confirmed yet. Things are off to a great start. The show drops sometime in 2022!

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