Neil Gaiman confirmed that The Endless in the upcoming The Sandman TV series would stay true to the comics and change form based on who is viewing them. Gaiman, who boasts a long list of awards and other accolades, is an English author who has tried his hand at everything from short stories, comic books, novels, as well as writing for stage and screen. Over the years, many of his works have been adapted for the screen, including his novels Stardust, American Gods, and Good Omens, which he co-wrote with the late Terry Pratchett.
The Sandman, considered one of Gaiman’s most influential works, is a 75 issue comic book series he penned for DC Comics between 1989 and 1996. There have been multiple attempts to bring Gaiman’s iconic work to the screen. In the 1990s’ Roger Avary, who had collaborated with Quentin Tarantino on Pulp Fiction, was the first director attached to a big-screen version of the project before it all fell apart. Again in 2013, Man of Steel screenwriter David S. Goyer announced he would be producing a new cinematic adaptation alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Gaiman himself. However, this, too, would ultimately end up being shelved. Finally, in June 2019, Netflix announced that they had struck a deal with Warner Bros. to develop a live-action TV series, and both Goyer and Gaiman were brought back as executive producers.
With filming on the first season now officially wrapped, and a first-look trailer dropping last month, fans have begun bombarding Gaiman with questions about the series ahead of its release. Taking to Twitter to answer some of these questions personally, one eager fan asked, “Are the Endless going to change form based on who’s viewing them? As a kid reading the comics that really opened my eyes to different cultures and their different belief structures.”. Gaiman’s simple one-word answer was “Yes.” Check out the original Tweet below:
The Endless are a group of seven powerful beings who embody natural forces of the universe, including Destiny, Death, Destruction, Desire, Despair, Delirium, and the series’ main character Dream, aka Morpheus. More powerful than Gods themselves, the seven Endless appear in many different forms to fit the expectations of the one who sees them. Gaiman confirming that this new series will hold to that aspect of the source material is good news for fans who hold the original comics in high esteem.
Earlier this year, Gaiman fought back against certain parts of the fandom who took issue with some of the series’ casting decisions, including The Good Place’s Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death and non-binary performer Mason Alexander Park as Desire. As the author was quick to point out, however, he “spent 30 years successfully battling bad movies of Sandman“, and he is taking this latest adaptation of his seminal work very seriously. Gaiman’s latest confirmation is further proof of his dedication to the project and his intention to make sure the story’s core parts are given justice onscreen. Currently, Netflix has not announced an official release date for The Sandman.
