The Sandman creator Neil Gaiman promises that the franchise's more squeamish fans will (probably) be just fine watching the upcoming series.
Gaiman responded to a fan with precisely that concern in a recent tweet. Gaiman said, "It's never (I hope) too graphic." He also promised that the upcoming adaptation's horror "Does most of the work inside your head." The description does shed light on the series, which will see Tom Sturridge (Irma Vep, Sweetbitter) in the title role.
The Sandman is based on the comic book series of the same name, first published in 1989 under DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The series followed the exploits of Morpheus, better known as Dream, one of the seven Endless. The immortal beings are the anthropomorphic forms of universal concepts such as Destiny, Death, Despair, Desire, Destruction and Delirium, the latter of whom was once known as Delight. Gaiman previously noted that the first season of the upcoming series will be "a little bit more" than merely an adaptation of the first volume of The Sandman comic Preludes & Nocturnes.
Despite the comics' often whimsical settings and stories, they are also home to some genuinely horrifying sights and characters, including the living nightmare that is the Corinthian. The unhinged horror has long been a brutal character in the comics, including The Sandman's 2021 Locke & Key crossover, and will be portrayed on the Netflix series by Boyd Holbrook. The Sandman will also introduce plenty of other fan-favorites, such as Doctor Who's Jenna Coleman as Johanna Constantine, the ancestor of DC's own Hellblazer, John Constantine.
Gaiman has been steadfast in his defense of The Sandman's colorblind casting process, notably over Death actress Kirby Howell-Baptiste, simply stating, "It's the Endless – we did color-blind casting, because why wouldn’t you?" He continued, "The comics establish that the characters look like whatever we want them to look like. Anyway, Kirby’s amazing. And I think that people who have been grumbling that she doesn’t look like Death are going to not be grumbling [any more] once they see her be Death."
The acclaimed creator has also opened up about his initial concerns with adapting The Sandman for television. "It may sound silly, but when I was 14 or 15, my favourite comic was Howard the Duck," he confessed. "I was so excited when I heard George Lucas was making a movie. And then [the film] came out. Howard the Duck became a bad joke. I never wanted that to happen to Sandman, and I saw scripts that would have made that happen."
The Sandman is set to premiere on Netflix on Aug. 15.
Source: Twitter