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Neil Gaiman's SANDMAN on Netflix (TBD)
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2 hours ago, Gatsby77 said:

I forgot to include # 30 - "August."

Disturbing historical fiction brilliantly told.

Let’s not forget the Corinthian. I would love to see that on screen! (thumbsu 

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Possibly the most popular of the Endless is Death, the second oldest of the siblings. She’s the embodiment of the end of all things, sure, but she’s also a cheery goth girl who’s a lot more easy-going than most of her siblings. If you see her, it probably means your life is over, but at least she’s gonna be nice about it.

 

We’ll get a preview of what an animated Death would like when Wonder Woman: Bloodlines — a direct-to-video animated movie produced by DC — comes out this October. Included in the package will be a short film featuring Death (voice of Jamie Chung) helping an artist (Leonard Nam) come to terms with his artistic legacy…and his own demise.

 

Basically, I’m cool with anything that involves Sandman characters coming to the screen. With any luck, the short — simply called ‘Death’ — will prove that Gaiman’s creations can work outside the pages of comics.

 

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In an AMA session on Reddit (via CBR), the 58-year-old author not only assured fans that the adaptation would remain faithful in spirit to the source material, but that it would also follow the comics’ story properly. Wonder Woman co-writer Allan Heinberg will serve as show-runner with both Gaiman and David Goyer executive producing.

 

There have been countless attempts to turn the seminal Sandman comics into live-action adaptations before, dating back into the 90s when the series began. Recently Joseph Gordon-Levitt was attached to star in and direct a feature film adaptation at WB’s New Line Cinema before that version failed to materialize.

 

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'People have talked to me about adapting Sandman since, I think, 1991,' says Gaiman

 

When the president of Warner Bros. asked Neil Gaiman to adapt his Sandman comics for the big screen in 1991, he pleaded for them to shelve the idea.

 

"I said, 'Please don't. I'm writing the comic. If there was a movie right now it would just screw everything up,'" Gaiman told Day 6 guest host Saroja Coelho.

 

Screen versions of The Sandman have been through various stages of development since that first conversation, but nearly three decades on, a TV series based on the beloved DC comics has been announced by Netflix.

 

The Sandman follows the main character Dream, also known as Morpheus, who rules over the dream realm that people go to each night when they fall asleep. He's one of seven siblings collectively known as The Endless.

 

After success developing two of his novels, American Gods and Good Omens, for the small screen, Gaiman says that he felt now was time to turn The Sandman into a TV series.

 

"I had spent 2016 through till the beginning of this year making Good Omens ... into television and really understood how it was done and had learned the practicalities and could no longer be baffled by it," he explained.

 

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Netflix shocked many when it announced its ambitious plan to create a live-action adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s masterpiece, The Sandman. But exactly how much of a contribution will Neil Gaiman make to the upcoming series?

 

The Sandman is undoubtedly one of the most beloved comic series of all time, and has for many years has been deemed unfilmable. The critically-acclaimed series follows the adventures of Dream, who is the personification of dreams. He goes by many names: Sandman, Morpheus, the Dream King, Shaper, Oneiros, and more. Dream is one of the seven beings in an anthropomorphic family known as the Endless. Other members include Death, Destiny, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium (formerly Delight).

 

In the first volume, Dream is mistakenly captured by Roderick Burgess, from the Order of the Ancient Mysteries, who intended to capture his older sister Death to achieve immortality. In fear of penalty, Burgess keeps Dream imprisoned for 72 years. When Dream finally escapes, he faces the perilous challenge of reclaiming his totems of power: his helm, a ruby, and a pouch of sand.

 

This is merely the first of 10 incredible volumes. At bottom, The Sandman is a story about stories, interwoven with classic retellings of legend and myth in which Dream takes a starring role. It’s so visually imaginative, and it goes on so many fascinating digressions, that someone would have be very brave to take it on.

 

Neil Gaiman has signed on to serve as an executive producer/writer on the Netflix series, alongside David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight). Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman) will act as show-runner. It remains to be seen if Gaiman will have any further involvement in the production, but he gave us a clue on Twitter:

 

 

 

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We have casting information about Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman…probably! Industry insider Daniel Richtman, who have a solid track record of providing accurate industry news, revealed a couple of casting descriptions on his Patreon account. Of course, these remain rumors until confirmed, but we’re very excited for this show and will take what we can get.

 

First up, there’s a casting description for Dream, aka Morpheus, aka The Sandman, the main character. Netflix is looking for a male of any ethnicity between the ages of 25-34. “He is tall and thin with bone-white skin, black hair and two stars in place of eyes,” reads the description. “He is meticulous in his pursuit of his duties but slow to understand humor and can occasionally be insensitive. He is often self-obsessed and slow to forgive a slight.” It sounds like they’re sticking very close to how the character is depicted in the comic.

 

Richtman also has a casting description for the Corinthian, a nightmare creature from Dream’s realm.  For this role, Netflix wants a white male between the ages of 30 and 35. Apparently, the breakdown describes him as “a sexy villain,” which is…an interesting way to put it. The Corinthian has some swagger to him, but he’s also a serial killer who has mouths lined with sharp teeth where his eyes should be, meaning he wears sunglasses most of the time.

 

 

 

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Neil Gaiman will serve as both executive producer and narrator for the new series, to launch this summer.

 

More than 30 years after comic book readers first entered the Dreaming to meet Morpheus, Death, Lucien and Matthew, the worlds of DC’s The Sandman are traveling to a new home — and a new medium. A new partnership between DC and Audible will see the beloved comic adapted into a multi-part audio drama to launch later this year.

 

Beginning with the accidental capture of the younger brother of Death and the journey that begins when he is released seven decades late, the audio series will feature a full cast bringing the comic book series by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg and many other creators to life. The original run of the comic book series ran for 75 issues from 1989-1996.

 

The new Audible version of the series will see co-creator Gaiman serve as creative director, executive producer and series narrator, with Dirk Maggs — who has previously worked on audio adaptations of Gaiman’s Neverwhere, Stardust, Good Omens, and Anansi Boys — on board as executive producer, director and scriptwriter. The series will also feature an original score by BAFTA-nominated composer James Hannigan.

 

“Almost 30 years ago, Dirk Maggs approached DC about adapting The Sandman info audio form,” Gaiman said Wednesday in a statement about the project. “I’m glad it didn’t happen, because we are in a Golden Age of audio drama right now, and Dirk and I are much better at what we are doing. This is a rich audio adaptation of the Sandman graphic novels, brilliantly crafted by Dirk Maggs, with an all-star cast.”

 

“Audible prides itself on creating and producing immersive and entertaining storytelling, and the exclusive audio production of Neil Gaiman’s legendary comic book series marks a thrilling addition to our original content offerings,” added Audible Originals editor-in-chief Dave Blum. “We’re excited to join Neil and DC in bringing this extraordinary and beloved universe to Audible’s millions of listeners worldwide, for the very first time.”

 

The series will be available to download this summer in English, with French, German, Italian, and Spanish editions forthcoming in subsequent months.

 

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Sandman is one of the most famous comic series of all time. The Neil Gaiman-scripted Vertigo series centers around Morpheus, otherwise known as Dream, of the divinely powerful Endless. The series is finally coming to live-action in the form of a Netflix streaming series.

 

The Illuminerdi has seen the character breakdowns for the first season of Sandman, which indicates that the show will at least be – in part – expanding on the first arc of the series, “Preludes and Nocturnes” and potentially lengthening the storyline by setting some of it in the past.

 

WHAT THREE MAJOR CHARACTERS IN SANDMAN TELLS US ABOUT THE NEIL GAIMAN NETFLIX ADAPTATION?

 

Sandman-Alex.jpg?resize=878,1024&ssl=1

 

As previously reported on by various outlets including CBR, the casting breakdowns of Morpheus and his enemy the Corinthian (who is being elevated from his role in the book to be a recurring character) have made their way to the internet. Morpheus appears to be very comics accurate, while the Corinthian (a minor antagonist in the original comics) will be more present in the show, at least initially. But the casting breakdowns also mentioned three other major players, who have a very specific role in the overall story of Sandman that hints at the direction of the season.

 

The first season will be adapting – at least in part – the events of the first issues of Sandman, specifically the story collected in Preludes and Noctures. It’s even likely that part of the season will be in a period-setting, as the early events of Sandman happened almost a hundred years before the main events of the series.

 

Roderick Burgess will be an important character, but won’t be a consistent player in the series. Instead, his role is listed as Guest Star. This suggests he’ll still fill his minor, but vital role in the overarching story. Roderick was the man who tried to capture Death in a bid to become immortal towards the start of the 20th century.

 

But his attempt failed, and he instead captured Morpheus – Lord of the Dreaming. He held the Endless in this prison for the rest of his life – setting up Morpheus to travel through an unexplored world when he is finally released at the beginning of the story proper. It’s likely this will be the beginning of the show as well. However, the prominence of two other minor characters from the comic suggests that more time will be spent in this period.

 

Alex Burgess was the son of Roderick, who learned more about what his father had done and who he had imprisoned. Roderick eventually died and Alex took over as Morpheus’ watcher. Eventually becoming an old man himself, he tried to force Morpheus to grant him immortality. But in doing so, Alex accidentally breaks the containment spell that was holding the Endless at bay. This released Morpheus, who in turn tortured Burgess by trapping him in eternal waking – a perpetual state of always waking from a nightmare. There wasn’t much depth to the character in the original narrative.

 

neil-gaiman-is-working-on-the-first-two-

 

But the character listing instead paints a picture of a much more sympathetic character. He may be involved in the plot to hold Morpheus at least at first, but he’s also described as being a bookish and conflicted young man who is trapped by his family’s legacy.

 

He’s also hinted to be exploring his sexuality, suggesting the show will explore that complicated growth in a time period where being open about your preferences is impossible. This could all make for a more compelling character – especially if he does follow through on his father’s wishes and end up in eternal waking, turning a minor but necessary player from the original series, into a more engaging role for the first season of the show.

 

Ethel was an even more minor character than Alex, and is now listed as an important recurring character. She was Roderick’s mistress around the time he captured Morpheus. But she ended up leaving him – taking Morpheus’ helm, pouch, and ruby with her. Each of these items possesses magical powers. Ethel is hinted to be a crafty and seductive force of chaos. This means Ethel will actually get time to develop, potentially even getting her moments with Morpheus after he’s captured. What makes her most important however is what happens with one of the items she stole.

 

Although the other artifacts eventually ended up out of her possession, she ended up holding onto Dream’s Ruby. She eventually gave it over to her son John Dee, aka the villainous Doctor Destiny. This allowed him to briefly infect the world with his madness, making him one of the biggest threats Morpheus has to deal within Preludes and Nocturnes. It’s possible that her obsession with magic and the power it brings could even have her fulfill the role that her son did in the original comics.

 

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I wonder how involved he'll be in writing the -script? I loved Good Omens the book, but the tv show's writing left something to be desired. Maybe tv scripts aren't his bag. Or maybe not having Terry Pratchett's input hurt the series. Don't get me wrong, I liked it; it just wasn't near the quality and fun of the book.

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The Sandman creator Neil Gaiman has given fans an update on the state of Netflix’s live-action adaptation of his groundbreaking comic book series, which follows a group of immortal beings as they see to their duties managing the human experience.

 

Netflix announced the ambitious project in July of last year. Gaiman is working on the show alongside Davis S. Goyer (The Dark Knight, Man of Steel) and showrunner Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman). The first season will consist of 11 episodes. The Sandman is already on track to be a record-breaker, as it’s shaping up to be the most expensive TV show that DC Entertainment has ever produced.

 

In short, there’s both good and bad news. It looks as if development on the fantasy drama was going smoothly, at least until the coronavirus hit and shut down the entertainment industry. In response to a Tumblr user who was curious about how production was going,

Gaiman revealed that the scripts are all written and directors have been hired. He even revealed that sets were being built!

 

"The scripts for the first season are written, casting had started, directors hired, sets were being built. Everything was ready to go into production, and then we moved into a pause."

 

A lot of what he says here regarding casting and scripts are things that we’re already aware of. But it’s good to have confirmation that The Sandman is basically in a holding pattern like the rest of the television industry. “It’s going really well, except it’s kind of hibernating right now until people start making TV again,” Gaiman wrote. “As soon as the world is ready to make TV drama, Sandman will move smoothly back into being made.”

 

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