Author Neil Gaiman gives an early peek at what readers might expect from his graphic book The Sandman‘s Netflix adaptation. The Sandman is based on the story of Dream, one of the seven Endless (along with Destiny, Death, Desire, Despair, Delirium and Destruction). The first issues of The Sandman were released in 1989, and the series is still going strong. The Sandman is also one of the few graphic books to ever reach the top of the New York Times Best Seller list.
While several adaptations of The Sandman have been tried in the past (including one starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Gaiman’s classic will finally see the light of day thanks to Netflix. Lucifer will be played by Tom Sturridge, Charles Dance, and Gwendoline Christie in the Netflix series. In order to assure a faithful adaptation, Gaiman is serving as the series’ developer. It appears that enlisting Gaiman’s help was a wise idea, as the TV version is attempting to tone down the source material.
Gaiman teased what to anticipate from the genre-bending series in a recent interview with Empire. According to Gaiman, The Sandman will be a series that spectators will have a difficult time categorizing. “Downton Abbey, but with magic,” he said of the first episode. However, Gaiman went on to suggest that by the second episode, viewers will be asking themselves, “What the hell is this?” Gaiman also hinted that episode five will be “about as dark and painful as anything ever gets,” with episode six being “the most feel-good of all the episodes.” Here’s the rest of his quote:
“You watch Episode 1 and think, ‘Oh, I get this thing: it’s like Downton Abbey, but with magic.’ Then you’ll be wondering, ‘What the hell is this?’ by Episode 2 when you’re meeting Gregory The Gargoyle in The Dreaming. Episode 5 is about as dark and traumatic as anything is ever gonna get, then you’ve got Episode 6, which is probably the most feel-good of all the episodes.”
Gaiman compares The Sandman to Game of Thrones as he proceeds to describe the show’s eclectic tone. “If you didn’t enjoy one episode of Game of Thrones, you probably won’t like any other episode of Game of Thrones,” Gaiman has said.” Gaiman, on the other hand, has claimed that The Sandman is “It’s all about shocking you. It’s all about self-reinvention. It’s all about putting you on an adventure you haven’t had before.” This strategy should help The Sandman to stand apart from other TV programs, with each episode serving as a separate entity. If the creative team succeeds in pulling this off, The Sandman may become one of today’s most inventive series, demonstrating how to shift around tonally in the same plot while maintaining continuity.
Fans of Neil Gaiman‘s comic novel The Sandman will be relieved to learn that Netflix’s adaptation is moving in the right way. The Sandman is known for its inconsistency in tone from issue to issue, so it’s nice to know that with Gaiman at the helm, that component of the tale will be preserved. Perhaps even more encouraging is Gaiman’s apparent enthusiasm for the series. When Gaiman’s Sandman series debuts on Netflix, it’s extremely probable that Gaiman fans will rapidly become Sandman fans.
