The following contains spoilers for The Sandman Season 1, Episodes 1-5, now streaming on Netflix.

The best adaptations don't just copy the original, but improve upon them. The Sandman on Netflix is one of those rare adaptations that manages to stay loyal to the source material while making changes that give it a stronger narrative. One such change is the backstory of John Dee, the unhinged wielder of Dream's ruby. In the comics John Dee was once Dr. Destiny, a villain that faced off against the Justice League only to end up a broken husk of a man in Arkham Asylum.

The Sandman features few connections to any DC Universe outside the inclusion of Johanna Constantine and some references in the background like toys and cartoons. The decision to cut John Dee's connection to the Justice League was a given, but it left room to expand upon his connections to Dream's imprisonment. The Sandman shifts focus to John Dee's connection to Roderick Burgess, the Magus who imprisons Dream at the start of the series, and in doing so creates a stronger narrative than the original comic.

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Charles Dance cuts his arm as Burgess in Netflix's The Sandman

While John Dee's relation to Burgess is mostly implied in the comics and rarely dwelled upon, the Netflix show dedicates more time and attention in order to flesh it out. By connecting Dee to Burgess, the first five episodes of The Sandman share a connecting narrative thread that ties the whole story arc together. John Dee also becomes a somewhat more sympathetic character.

The actions of Burgess -- from his imprisonment of Dream to the way he treats his sons -- have a ripple effect that continues to impact Dream for decades after the Magus' death. Alex Burgess, desperate to earn his father's approval and fearful of what Dream would do to him, continues to hold the Endless captive long after his father's death. Despite the death of Roderick's eldest son being his main motivator for trying to capture the spinoff-worthy Death, he constantly belittles Alex and seems to place no value in him. That indifference extended to John Dee when Ethel Cripps became pregnant, demanding that she get an abortion.

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John Dee in the diner in Netflix's Sandman

That motivates Ethel to finally end her relationship with Roderick, taking Dream's vestments along with her. It makes both Ethel and John more sympathetic, as opposed to the comic story in which she leaves the Magus for another member of his order. Dream's tools -- his ruby in particular -- play a large role in John's upbringing, with Ethel using the ruby every year on his birthday to grant him a wish. He also witnesses first-hand the effects of the amulet of protection that she obtained by trading Dream's Helm to a demon -- a horrific sight that would surely leave psychological scars.

When John finally gets his hands on the ruby -- an artifact that has the power to alter reality -- he ends up killing several people that he claims were trying to take it away from him. These events happen off-screen, leaving The Sandman viewers to fill in the blanks with their imagination while they are shown an adult John Dee being held in a hospital under heavy security. David Thewlis lends an unhinged yet strangely fragile air to the character, eliciting a mix of tension and sympathy from the audience.

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the sandman comics john dee dreamstone ruby

The John Dee depicted in the Sandman comics is far more villainous, and while he is pitiable, many of his actions paint him as a much darker character. Comic Dee kills Rosemary despite all of her kindness, and spends a portion of his time in the diner forcing the people trapped there to worship him like a god. Thewlis' John Dee has a far clearer, if misguided motivation: truth. Growing up with his mother constantly lying, stealing, and changing their identities left a deep mark on John Dee's psyche. He believes that the world would be a better place if everyone were truthful, even if it means that everything were to fall into chaos.

When Dream arrives at the diner, he is confronting the last of Roderick Burgess' legacy. In the first five episodes of Netflix's The Sandman, everything has a direct cause and effect that can be tied back to Roderick Burgess. Ethel Cripps traded the pouch of sand to start a new life with her baby fathered by Roderick, traded the helm for protection from the being that Roderick captured, and used the ruby to indulge her son's birthday wishes, planting the seeds in John Dee's mind that would lead to him coveting and obsessing over the ruby's power. In the end, John Dee's downfall was the same as Roderick's: he meddled with powers that were not meant for mortals.

The Sandman is now streaming on Netflix.