Every sci-fi and fantasy show you should watch in 2022

The Sandman — Netflix — 2022

Published between 1989 and 1996, The Sandman may be the best comic book series ever written. I know that’s a really dramatic statement, but until a better comic book comes along I’m sticking to it.

The Sandman is about Dream, the anthropomorphic personification of dreams. He is one of several beings known as the Endless, all of whom are responsible for a different facet of the human condition, from Despair to Desire to Death. Very roughly, The Sandman traces Dream’s journey as he tries to put his realm back in order after a long period of captivity, but no blurb can do justice to this sprawling, highly imaginative tale. Throughout the pages of this comic, we will see what cats would do if they ruled the world, learn where Shakespeare really got the ideas, go to Hell, and much more. With a premise this wild there’s really no place the story can’t go, and author Neil Gaiman takes it just about everywhere.

The Sandman is dense, complex, funny, weird, horrific, and tense. It’s complicated, which makes it a tricky story to adapt. I have my doubts as to whether Netflix can pull it off — I have my doubts as to whether anyone can pull it off — but the very fact that they have the guts to try has me intrigued. I wish them the best.

Filming on The Sandman is over, but we don’t know exactly when this year it’s going to premiere. Look out for it sometime in the middle of the year. — Dan