Johanna Constantine is “upgraded” in Netflix’s The Sandman

After years of waiting, Netflix will finally premiere its ambitious adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s seminal comic The Sandman this August. The show looks to be a faithful adaptation of the comics (it was never in doubt with Gaiman involved), but it also changes a few things. For instance, Johanna Constantine, who takes over John Constantine’s role from the books, is a more “upgraded” version of the character, with a higher class of clientele.

The Sandman is a difficult story to explain, but let’s give it a go. The story follows Dream of the Endless, aka Morpheus — the literal personification of dreams — as he deals with the numerous trials and tribulations that come with his position as the King of Dreams. At the beginning of the story, he gets captured and imprisoned, and when he finally escapes, he learns that his realm, The Dreaming, has fallen into decay.

Not only that, but while he was imprisoned, his three totems of power are stolen: his helm, his ruby, and a pouch of sand. Upon escaping, Morpheus embarks on a quest to retrieve the three artifacts. In order to reclaim his pouch of sand, he seeks the help of occultist detective John Constantine. However, in the show, the character has been gender-swapped and is now Johanna Constantine.

Why is John Constantine not in The Sandman on Netflix?

Why was the character changed? We can make some educated guesses. To start, John Constantine is a major DC Comics hero and is already set to appear in J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Hellblazer series at HBO Max. Netflix may not have the rights to use him. Whatever the reason, I think we can all agree that Doctor Who veteran Jenna Coleman looks awesome in the role:

Of course, Johanna Constantine was already a character in the original Sandman comics. However, she wasn’t involved in the same storyline that Coleman’s character will take over for the TV show. In the comics, Johanna is an ancestor of John Constantine.

So what made Jenna Coleman want to play the character? Well, they share the same initials, for a start. “Just from the first reading of the script. The character was so fleshed out,” she said during the Sandman panel at Geeked Week. “The idea of her being the lone ranger in the world with this tough exterior and her cynicism and wryness and wit to kind of not let anybody close. Yeah, quite a tortured soul with a big compassionate heart hidden somewhere underneath.”

And in what other ways has the character changed? “She’s a bit posh,” showrunner Allan Heinberg added. “She operates in a world that’s sort of at a higher level. I mean, the Queen and the royal family are her clients, so you can’t really get any higher than that.”

We can’t wait to see the new version of Johanna Constantine!

See new images from The Sandman!

Besides the great teaser trailer, the Geeked Week event also saw the streamer drop some new stills from the series. Let’s take a tour, beginning with this shot of Dream (Tom Sturridge) and Johanna Constantine in her badass trench coat. See also: Roderick Burgess (Charles Dance), and The Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook).

Next up, there’s Lucienne (Vivienne Acheampong), Desire (Mason Alexander Park), and Dream walking with Rose Walker (Kyo Ra).

And finally, we’ve got a shot of Dream and Lucienne observing the broken kingdom, as well as the first look at John Dee (David Thewlis), Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), and Gilbert (Stephen Fry).

The Sandman premieres on August 5 on Netflix. The wait is almost over!

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