Netflix’s upcoming series adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman graphic novels will adapt some of his toughest stories in “genre-bending” episodes. The original 75-issue Sandman comic ran from January 1989 to March 1996. The story follows Dream, one of the Endless, seven immortal siblings who represent metaphysical concepts of the world. Dream, also called Morpheus, is captured during World War I and escapes in the modern-day, calling upon the other Endless (Destiny, Death, Desire, Despair, Destruction, and Delirium) to restore his kingdom of the Dreaming.
Some have called the Sandman stories unfilmable, and indeed the property has languished in development hell for over two decades. In 2019, Netflix announced they were developing the series from Wonder Woman co-writer Allan Heinberg, with Gaiman and David S. Goyer tapped to produce. Despite being delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, production resumed last October. Though Netflix has remained mum on release date details, the first season of The Sandman has concluded filming.
Now, producer David S. Goyer has given fans a slight taste of what’s to come in Netflix’s adaptation. Speaking with Collider, Goyer mentioned how some issues they’re adapting are “the trickiest standalone issues in Gaiman’s run.” Gaiman is known for dealing with heady, complicated subjects, so this is unsurprising. However, Goyer has proudly announced that the episodes adapting those particular issues are “the most interesting and genre-bending” of the season. Read the full quote here:
I think it’s a very truthful adaptation, and some of the individual issues that we adapted, that were perhaps the trickiest standalone issues in Gaiman’s run, have ended up being the most interesting and genre-bending episodes. And I’m really proud of those.
Goyer has previously described the series as “strange and funky and weird,” so this is certainly in keeping with that assertion. So far, no specific plot details are known beyond this. However, the Sandman cast will include Tom Sturridge as Dream, Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer (the same character portrayed by Tom Ellis in Netflix’s Lucifer), Boyd Holdbrook as Corinthian, Charles Dance as Roderick Burgess, Mason Alexander Park as Desire, and Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death.
It’s unclear which particular issues of The Sandman gave the production the most trouble, and it’s not easy to guess, considering the ideas Gaiman is constantly juggling across the entire run. However, it is known that the show will only be adapting the first two volumes of the comic, which include just 16 issues, so that narrows the field a little bit. Luckily, Gaiman himself has been highly involved in the development of this project, so he has been on hand to make sure these bold episodes will fit with his original intentions.
