The Sandman, based on the Neil Gaiman and Sam Keith comic released by DC Comics’ now-defunct Vertigo brand, is one of Netflix’s most anticipated graphic book adaptations this year.
The Sandman world spans seven years and 75 issues, following The Endless, a dysfunctional family of siblings who anthropomorphize Delirium, Desire, Despair, Destiny, Destruction, Death, and Dreams.
Neil Gaiman created the dark fantasy horror comic series The Sandman, for which he also served as an executive producer and writer for the Netflix adaptation. It depicts the interactions of a powerful entity that controls all human dreams and nightmares. We see him travel through history, influencing actual events, and visiting places like Hell (a realm that only exists because of human fears). For this first season, Netflix adapted Gaiman’s first two of The Sandman books, Preludes & Nocturnes and The Doll’s House.
However, the term “adaptation” is virtually an insult to the creators’ accomplishments.
The series is possibly the best screen adaptation of large-scale fantasy literature since Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Except for a few modifications, everything stayed true to the books: famous frames, lines of dialogue, actors’ makeu,p and costumes.
In 1916 England, The Magus (Charles Dance), a power-hungry playboy, cult leader, and arrogant fool, yearns to control Death. He concocts a spell to capture Sandman’s sister, Death’s personification. The Magus and his cult capture Dream, a.k.a. the Sandman, as well as some of Dream’s powerful instruments, but not Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste). With Dream’s capture comes a mysterious sleeping illness that leaves millions unable to sleep or in a coma.
Dream is trapped and nude behind a wonderfully crafted glass cocoon, refusing to tell anything to the mortals around him. For more than a century, Dream never utters a word, refusing to provide details to his captors — whose lives are extended due to their proximity to his power tools.
Dream eventually escapes and returns to his kingdom in modern times, only to find it abandoned, desolate, and ruined. He must reclaim the equipment taken from him by his human captors in order to repair the realm of Dreams.
Dream must accept that repairing what has been damaged does not always imply returning the world to its previous state; sometimes, adjusting and adapting is required so that the breaking does not occur again. Even his universe requires reform, as his followers discovered a reason to abandon their primary goal rather than wait for their master to return. His rage at their departure quickly turns to pity, as it was his lack of foresight as a leader that caused them to leave.
The godlike perspective of Dream on humanity allows us to reflect on our peculiarities and sensitivities: why do we fear Death, why do we cling to fanciful dreams, why do we sacrifice so much for love and friendship, or, why do we seek immortality when so much of life is pain?
While these questions are never answered satisfactorily, Dream’s growing fascination with what makes people tick leads to exciting writing and interactions.
This is all intermingled with, for example, managing Rose Walker into a vortex, a battle of wits with Lucifer, confronting nightmares, and preventing the universe’s inevitable doom.
The Sandman’s visuals are breathtaking. The program frequently juxtaposes beauty and horror, from The Dreaming’s “hand” carved bridges and waterfalls to Hell’s twisting walls of human bodies. Through seamless visual effects, costuming, and excellent sound design, an immersive experience is created.
As he navigates the human world, Sturridge appears both ancient and youthful, intelligent and naive. Gwendoline Christie’s Lucifer is equally impressive, oozing power, elegance, and hatred with a lilt of an eyebrow. Acheampong is fantastic as Dream’s cynical employee, and despite Mason Alexander Park’s brief appearance as Desire, you can’t take your eyes off them.
Equally underused is Mervyn Pumpkinhead, The Dreaming’s janitor, who stole every scene he was in, voiced by Mark Hamill.
In 24 Hour Diner, David Thewlis again provides a compelling performance as the unhinged John Dee (Doctor Destiny). Dee psychologically and physically imprisons restaurant patrons, gradually peeling away their inhibitions one by one until nothing remains. The psychological and physical trauma depicted in this scene is the stuff of nightmares. (Which is, of course, the goal.)
The Sound of Her Wings is equally noteworthy. It’s the only episode in which Dream’s sister Death (Kirby-Howell-Baptiste) appears, and her calm and considerate reaper is a welcome relief after the horror of the other attacks, coaxing her traumatized sibling to touch grass every now and then.
Netflix has yet to announce whether The Sandman will be renewed for a second season, but fans have been treated to an unexpected bonus episode from Season 1.
Episode 11 is practically two episodes in one, bringing the first season to a satisfying close. It begins with an animation of a human caregiver putting a small kitten to sleep. Late at night, another cat appears and invites the kitten to join him on an adventure. As they travel, they are joined by other curious cats who have noticed her.
Hundreds of cats have gathered in a tomb, and one lovely purebred cat stands and expresses her feelings and hopes. Sharing her experience of living in the human world and having a human take and kill her kittens, which prompted her to pray to the King of Cats and Dreams. This led her to The Dreaming, where she took a difficult path through the darkness and vacuum to meet the Cat of Dreams in a cave.
From the realm to reality
Then we jump to August 2018, in the real world outside of animation. A man is delivering a writing lecture. We then follow him to a house, where an older man responds and asks about his most recent essay.
He is given a quantity of hair as a gift and speaks of its capabilities. Erasmus, an elderly gentleman, leads Richard to a hidden room where a woman named Calliope is imprisoned. Erasmus presents her as a gift to Richard, promising to release her before his death. Calliope is a goddess, Zeus’s daughter, and an artistic muse.
Richard and Calliope depart the house, with Calliope beseeching him to let her go. Richard graciously asks that she inspire him for one novel before releasing her. Richard locks her in a room and rushes downstairs, where he begins writing immediately and is unable to stop. Instead, he tries to seduce Calliope with gifts, begs for inspiration, and she begs for freedom—but he never delivers it to her.
Eventually, Morpheus comes to Calliope’s rescue, and Richard suffers a cruel fate that he fully deserves.
Why Diversity is the Right Way to Go
The Sandman has garnered significant attention (both positive and otherwise) for changing the race and genders of several significant characters, such as Death, Johanna Constantine, Lucifer, Lucienne, and Rose Walker, among others, as well as casting a non-binary actor for the role of the androgynous Desire. Furthermore, several characters in the show are portrayed as gay or bisexual, leading to the creation of memes that poke fun at the show for having ‘zero heterosexuality’.
Although the comic book isn’t as inclusive and diverse as one would expect with 2022 standards, it did its part in making its world fairly accepting of people across the gender spectrum, including not only the androgynous Desire, but also a transgender character named Wanda who appears later in the books. Neil Gaiman himself made a conscious decision to support the show’s update of these characters as well as its colorblind casting.
In an interview with The Queer Review, Gaiman recalled a “very grumpy letter” from the ‘Concerned Mothers of America’ he received years ago when the comic was being published, The organization criticized the comic for not having enough straight representation, and said that “due to the number of gay characters in The Sandman they would be boycotting us and we had to repent.” Gaiman, of course, never relented, and the sales “just went up, and up, and up.”
“When I was writing it, and today, I had gay friends, I had trans friends,” Gaiman said. “I wanted to see them represented in the comics that I was writing. And it felt like to me that if I wrote comics and left them out then I would not be representing my world or the world that I was perceiving accurately, bravely or truly and that was the point of art so for me that was a given.”
In response to recent criticism about the TV adaptation’s diversity, Gaiman shared this exasperated tweet. “I give zero fucks about people who don’t understand/haven’t read Sandman whining about a nonbinary Desire or that Death isn’t white enough.”
Sci-fi author John Scalzi was among the many who tweeted in support of Neil Gaiman’s defense of his show, saying that Desire “was really the first time I encountered in fiction the idea of a person being non-binary. It helped me when reality presented me without non-binary people, some of whom I now know and love. I can’t imagine reading Sandman and desiring Desire as anything other.”
It might seem to many viewers, especially those in a homogenous culture like in Bangladesh, that American pop culture content has gone overboard in representing diversity in recent years, especially those belonging to the LGBTQIA community. But they are not only a recognized minority in places like the United States, they also command a growing creative voice and are contributing to their fair share of art and entertainment.
In some cases, diversity can indeed be ‘forced’ and just be ‘performative wokeism’. But in The Sandman’s case, it is perfectly in line with the source material’s legacy and happening with the full support of its creator. Hopefully, it’s a step in the right direction for queer and POC representation.
The Verdict
Finally, The Sandman exceeded not only my expectations, but also my preconceptions of what it would be like. There is much grief, tragedy, and melancholy, but I was never overwhelmed by it. It is a series fueled by trust, goodness, and acceptance that depicts humanity’s horrors and our role in an incomprehensible and terrifying life.
Nonetheless, it demonstrates how our society unites us in our fight against the world’s failings and our fears over everything else. It is staring at the flame of a candle in a black-painted glass jar.