Neil Gaiman responds to claims that Netflix’s The Sandman is “woke”

It seems like every day that someone online makes a strange comment about Netflix’s upcoming live-action adaptation of The Sandman, only for creator Neil Gaiman to swiftly shoot it down. The latest in a long line of criticisms, quibbles, and concerns is that the series is doomed for being “woke.” According to Gaiman, The Sandman has always been woke.

As Gaiman explains, The Sandman comic was extremely progressive when it started back in 1988, and with the TV adaptation being a faithful adaptation of the source material, we should expect nothing less. Throughout its run, Sandman explored stories involving interracial couples, gay couples, and so on; it prominently featured trans and nonbinary characters long before trans people had entered the mainstream conversation.

Gaiman put this succinctly on Twitter: “Sandman went woke in 1988, and it hasn’t gone broke yet”:

He also affirm that the essence of his comic remains unchanged for the TV show. He concedes that the show isn’t necessarily ahead of its time, but rather that time has caught up to the original book:

Clearly, the show is in the best hands possible. It has the feel of a passion project. We’ve heard so many times that it’s Sandman being made by huge Sandman fans. It’s a show for people who love the comic. As Gaiman tweeted a year ago, “I give zero fucks about people who don’t understand/ haven’t read Sandman whining about a non-binary Desire or that Death isn’t white enough. Watch the show, make up your minds.”

Well said, Neil Gaiman. Well said.

The cast of The Sandman on Netflix gathers for interviews!

Netflix has set June 6-10 as the dates for its Geeked Week event, where we’ll hear a lot more about The Sandman. The event will also feature a ton of interviews with the cast.

Take a look at some behind-the-scenes stills of the cast as they sat down with Den of Geek. At long last, the marketing for the show is finally revving up!

Currently, The Sandman doesn’t have a release date, but it seems likely that we’ll get one, and possibly a full trailer, during Geeked Week in June.

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