The Sandman, a popular comic by critically acclaimed author Neil Gaiman, is coming to the small screen in a live-action television series by Netflix. On Sept. 25, Netflix dropped the first look at the new show, which replicates the opening scene of "Sleep of The Just," the first issue of the comic.
In the first look, viewers are introduced to Charles Dance's Roderick Burgess, a sorcerer from early 20th century England. The one-minute and 13-second clip depicts Burgess and a few other occultists gathering in a dark room within his mansion, where Burgess explains his goal: he is going to summon and imprison Death. Burgess then goes on to recite a few lines of his iconic chant: "I give you a coin made from stone. I give you a feather pulled from an angel's wing. I give you the blood from my vein."
Burgess successfully summons an otherworldly entity into his summoning circle. As he does, another occultist tells Burgess that Death has other family members, some of which include Desire, Destiny and Despair. Burgess then asks, "Which one have I got?" The entity he summoned is revealed to be Dream, who does not look too pleased to be pulled out of his realm. Burgess is then warned, "You're going to need all the help you can get," hinting at ominous consequences for his actions.
The Netflix first look replicates nearly every detail of the first few pages of the comic, though there are some notable differences. Firstly, the exterior shot of Burgess' mansion is shown during a dark, foggy night. In the comic, that same exterior shot appears on a clear, fogless night. The comic also provides more context for Burgess' motivations for wanting to imprison Death.
In the comic, during his conversation with Dr. John Hathaway, who had recently lost his son to war, Burgess reveals his understanding that death is not something that just happens to people but an actual entity. It is further uncovered that Burgess dreams of power and glory during his waking hours, which hints at a narcissistic personality. He's also been thinking about death a lot, indicating that he knows his death is quickly approaching. This motivates Burgess to try and control his own fate by controlling Death itself.
On the midnight of the next full moon, Burgess descends into a basement within his mansion where he meets with other cloaked occultists. This scene is replicated in the Netflix first look, right down to the summoning circle. The way Burgess says his iconic chant is also nearly identical to the one in the comic, though there are additional lines: "I give you a song I stole from the dirt. I give you a knife from under the hills. And a stick that I stuck through a dead man's eye." In the comic, Burgess makes additional offerings in his chant before he offers the blood from his vein.
Another notable difference is what the other occultists chant as Burgess attempts to summon Death. In the comic, the occultists chant "come," whereas they say "hear us" in the Netflix clip. After Burgess finishes his chant and Dream is summoned, Burgess realizes he failed to summon the right entity in the comic. This is different in the Netflix clip as Burgess does not know who he summoned, and another occultist informs him he summoned Dream.
While it's possible the Netflix first look didn't depict everything that's actually featured in the summoning of Dream scene, the similarities and differences from the comic are already obvious from the first clip.
With The Sandman still listed as "Coming Soon," Netflix still has yet to confirm a release date.