Netflix kicks off day two of Geeked Week with first look at The Sandman set
Neil Gaiman, the series' creator, was in awe of attention to detail.
TV News The Sandman
Seeing as Netflix decided that it’s Geeked Week, we can all wear our pocket protectors, glasses with tape over the bridge, and flood pants that keep our cuffs bone dry without fear. Admittedly, Geek Chic™ isn’t the most comfortable sleep gear. Well, unless, of course, you’ve been visited by the Sandman. Netflix is way ahead of you, with a flurry of Sandman news to help you drift peacefully into a sound slumber.
Sandman is one of Netflix’s most ambitious and anticipated projects of the year. Based on Neil Gaiman’s seminal comics series, Sandman follows the Endless, a gang of godlike entities that oversee the mortal realm of Earth. More concepts than characters, the Endless are the personification of various states of being, such as Death, Desire, Delirium, and Dream, who is ostensibly the main character. Still, as you’ll learn, the human world drives the main narrative just as much. Gaiman said that this first season would follow “The Doll’s House,” Sandman’s second major story arc. Nevertheless, some characters and elements come from Sandman’s first eight-issue run, “Preludes And Nocturnes.”
Netflix’s Sandman stars Tom Sturridge as Dream (also known as Morpheus), Game Of Thrones’ Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer, Cruella’s Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death, Mason Alexander Park as Desire, Donna Preston as Despair, and Jenna Colman as Johanna Constantine, the ancestor of John Constantine of Hellblazer and Keanu Reeves fame. Rounding out the cast is a who’s who of character actors, like Charles Dance, Stephen Fry, Patton Oswalt, and the always welcome David Thewlis (Thewlis stans rise up).
As part of its Geeked Week, Netflix gave a first glimpse at the behind-the-scenes, including the set. Even Gaiman himself was amazed by how detailed it looks, saying, “Holy shit, it’s amazing! We’re in the undercroft. Our art department, our set decorators, our production designers…they are wizards.”
Adaptations of Sandman have been in some level of development since the late- 90s—it’s been such an arduous journey that “Sandman Development Hell” could be a member of the Endless. Some huge names have thrown their hat in the ring, too, including Academy Award-nominee and Logan-director James Mangold and, curiously enough, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who at one point signed on to star and direct. Netflix cracked the code or, at the very least, persisted long enough, and Sandman is happening. But we don’t know exactly when it’s happening yet. Production is currently underway, so the show will likely premiere at some point at the end of the year or in 2022.
17 Comments
It’s so weird listening to Gaimen, he always sounds like he’s performing.
I’ve listened to him narrate several audiobooks which adapted his books (including the full cast audiodrama which more closely adapts the Sandman) and he has the same inflections.
He sounds exactly like the voice you hear when you think “educated British man in his 50s”
I’ve always thought the most important question regarding a Sandman adaptation is who’s the director. It very much needs someone with an eye for the visually sumptuous and spectacularly surreal. David Fincher, Tarsem Singh, and Alex Proyas have all come to my mind as great picks to direct. Hell, give David Lynch a call, unlikely as that would be.There’s been no news on who’s directing this Netflix show, which has me worried.
I’ll give you a hint: his name rhymes with Rhett Shatner.
It’s Wes Anderson.
I still the obvious choice for directing this is Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead (they already made a film called The Endless! come on!) but since Marvel snatched them for Moon Knight, I sure hope Netflix has found someone who can handle surreal horror, weird dark comedy and extremely British character arcs about repressed feelings and emotions at the same time
I’ll give that young actor a chance, but my dream choice (pun intended) for Morpheus would’ve been Tilda Swinton in a wig. Or for any role.
Tilda Swinton as every member of The Endless? I’m down
Swinton is perhaps the ONLY actor capable of playing ALL of the Endless. and i have no doubt she’d be spectacular as each. Destruction might be a bit of a stretch but i’d be intrigued to see how she’d approach the role.
She already played Gabriel in Constantine.
In my mind, she would have been perfect for Desire who needs an androgynous, but lusty appeal. She already played Orlando.
Who Sands the Sandmans?
If Gaiman’s happy, I’m happy.
Wasn’t Gaiman happy about American Gods too? They shit the bed on that one
He was happy with season one, then was out of the country working on Good Omens for season two, and was less happy with some of the choices they made while he was away.
“Cautiously optimistic” since Gaiman is involved and both the intent and budget are there.Although enough time has passed so I now think it would be actually hilarious to film the Jon Peters script from last millennium (Dream in tights, punching someone, yelling “Foolish Mortal!”)only article I can locate about it is cw:harry knowles and I would skim the first half:
http://legacy.aintitcool.com/node/2571
Gaiman said that this first season would follow “The Doll’s House,” Sandman’s second major story arc. Nevertheless, some characters and elements come from Sandman’s first eight-issue run, “Preludes And Nocturnes.”You keep saying that, but he’s actually said the first season will cover the first two books.