Neil Gaiman: The Sandman “missed what we were aiming for” with Despair
By Ashley Hurst
The Sandman season 1 was one of the most faithful comic book adaptations of all time, bringing a story that was once deemed “unfilmable” to the small screen with style. That said, there are few things fans have taken issue with, including the depiction of Despair, played by Donna Preston. As it happens, Neil Gaiman agrees with them.
Fan kissfromadarling made a critique of how the character was drawn on Tumblr:
"I recently finally got around to watching The Sandman and while I overall enjoyed the episodes and the show…. I do have a genuine question. I’m a plus size woman and it was quite disheartening for me, to see Despair being portrayed in that way. She’s only seen as frumpy, depressed and not really loved by anyone. Is there any chance we’ll ever see some positive plus size representation for someone who looks like me in the series? It would be nice to see more of that in media for women my size."
Gaiman shares this concern, and assures fans that we’ll see a very different Despair in season 2. “Mostly, what I hope is that the next time you see Despair on the screen you won’t think of her as frumpy, depressed and unloved,” he wrote. “She isn’t in the comics, and I think we missed what we were aiming for in Sandman season 1.”
Despair didn’t have a large role in season 1. Expect more of her in the next batch of episodes. We’re particularly excited for the chaotic Endless family dinner!
Neil Gaiman: “Scripts are written” for The Sandman season 2
It’s all happening on Neil Gaiman’s Tumblr! In the last few weeks, he also posted an update regarding the status of The Sandman season 2:
"Scripts are written. We are casting the first episode we will be shooting. Sets are being designed."
Currently, we don’t know how many episodes are in the new season. Netflix isn’t even referring to the new episodes as a “season.” New episodes are being made, whatever they end up being called.
Filming on the new episodes is set to begin this summer! Expect them to hit Netflix sometime in 2024. In the meantime, all 11 episodes in The Sandman season 1 are currently streaming on Netflix.
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