“The Sandman”
“Unfilmable” comic starts as a series
Jenna Coleman and Tom Sturridge in the new Netflix series The Sandman.
© Liam Daniel/ 2022 Netflix, Inc.
Neil Gaiman’s comic “The Sandman” was long considered “unfilmable”. Now the story appears as a series.
After years of waiting, a dream has finally come true for fans of unusual fantasy worlds: “The Sandman” is conquering home screens. A film adaptation was considered impossible for many years. Neil Gaiman (61) worked on an implementation of the comics again and again, but it was never supposed to work.
Eric Heisserer (52), who, among other things, adapted the screenplay for the much-praised sci-fi drama “Arrival”, was last supposed to implement “The Sandman” for New Line Cinema. However, he left the project in 2016 and already hinted at the time that an adaptation of the comic could only work as a series. He put in a lot of work and had numerous discussions with Gaiman. Eventually he came to the conclusion that the whole thing would be best implemented “as an HBO series or mini-series” and “not as a feature film or even a trilogy”. he explained in an interview with “io9”. A few months earlier, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (41), who was to direct and star, resigned due to creative differences.
Better no film than a bad one
In the summer of 2019, it was announced for the first time that Netflix was planning a series adaptation. “I hope we can do something on TV that feels as personal and true as the best of the ‘Sandman’ comics did,” Gaiman wrote on Twitter at the time. He’s on board himself – the first time he’s been willing to do it, as he explained to Netflix. That could be a good sign, after all he’s just been trying for more than 30 years to avoid bad adaptations. Thanks to new technologies, you can now also implement your vision for the television. Ten years ago, you could only dream of it.
So now the time has come: On August 5, more than 30 years after the publication of the first comic, the story lands on TVs thanks to Netflix. Fans can look forward to ten episodes. The author himself describes “The Sandman” as a “mixture of modern myth and dark fantasy, in which stories from the modern world and historical drama and legend seamlessly merge”.
Everything just a dream
Tom Sturridge (36) plays the king of dreams, Morpheus. His name came up in the first email from those responsible for the casting, as Gaiman tells in a video from “Vanity Fair”.. 1,500 to 2,000 actors were looked at for the role, “and there was nobody who was Tom”. According to Netflix, around 200 possible actors finally spoke. Sturridge “could really make you believe he was a being billions of years old – someone who existed in dreams and wasn’t human,” Gaiman explains. Morpheus, imprisoned for 100 years, is faced with the task of righting the mistakes he made during his infinite existence. A trailer for “The Sandman” at least hints at itthat viewers expect images that could also come from a fever dream.
Starring alongside Sturridge are Jenna Coleman (36) as Johanna Constantine, Kirby Howell-Baptiste (35) as Death and Charles Dance (75) as Roderick Burgess. David Thewlis (59) plays John Dee, Stephen Fry (64) plays Gilbert and “Game of Thrones” star Gwendoline Christie (43) plays the role of Lucifer, based on the young David Bowie (1947-2016). Meanwhile, Patton Oswalt (53) and “Star Wars” icon Mark Hamill (70) lend their voices to the raven Matthew and Mervyn Pumpkinhead respectively.
Mason Alexander Park came to the production in a special way as the character Desire. Park wrote to Gaiman on Twitter and asked him who was responsible for casting, he tells Vanity Fair. The author became curious, watched some videos on YouTube and thought: “This performance is exactly what we are looking for.”
“Every part of this show feels like ‘Sandman'”
Speaking to Netflix, Gaiman tries to allay viewers’ concerns. He is aware that the adaptation will mean a lot to fans. “I want them all – because they’re all going to be worried that we’re going to make garbage – be a little bit happier after watching the first episode,” he tells the streaming service. “Every part of this show feels like ‘Sandman’. That’s the most important part to me and what makes my heart happiest.” Gaiman looks forward to fans being able to see the story “that has only existed in her head until now and for over 30 years”.