With the news that Gwendoline Christie had been cast as Lucifer for Netflix's adaptation of The Sandman, some fans have been wondering where this puts the show in relation to Lucifer, the Fox/Netflix series whose titular character, played by Tom Ellis, comes from the same DC comics universe as The Sandman.
Sandman author Neil Gaiman addressed this question directly on his Tumblr blog, explaining how Christie's Lucifer will depart from the characterization and mythology of Ellis's.
The comment he was responding to was put forth by a fan called @clevercunningambition, who inquired, "I was wondering since Netflix owns both sandman and Lucifer, why isn’t Tom Ellis playing Lucifer isn’t the sandman series? And does this mean the two series won’t connect?"
Although Lucifer is an ancient Biblical figure, he was first employed as a DC character through the imprint label Vertigo, appearing in the first arc of The Sandman in 1989. The popularity of Gaiman's Lucifer led to him receiving a spinoff title, written by Mike Carey, which is the primary source for the TV show starring Ellis.
Gaiman broke down the difference between the usage of the character in the two series, saying, "The theology and cosmogony of Lucifer is a long way from Sandman’s. It’s 'inspired by' Sandman, but you can’t easily retrofit the Lucifer version to get back to Sandman, if you see what I mean."
Given that Lucifer has had a long run of his own in both the comics and the TV series, it's natural that he would have drifted away from the character that Gaiman originally conceived. Gaiman also implied that staying true to the Sandman comics was more important to the production team than allowing crossovers: "It seemed easier and more fun to have the Sandman version of Lucifer be, well, much closer to the Sandman version of Lucifer."
A rich blend of modern myth and dark fantasy in which contemporary fiction, historical drama and legend are seamlessly interwoven, The Sandman follows the people and places affected by Morpheus, the Dream King, as he mends the cosmic — and human — mistakes he's made during his vast existence.
Executive produced and co-written by Neil Gaiman and David S. Goyer, Sandman will be the first-ever live-action adaptation of the Vertigo Comics series. Allan Heinberg will serve as the series' showrunner, executive producer and co-writer.
Source: Tumblr