Neil Gaiman reveals the episode count for Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of The Sandman. Created by Gaiman, the comic was brought to brilliant life by a string of incredible artists, including Sam Keith, Mike Dringenberg and Jill Thompson. The epic tale unfolded across 75 issues from 1989-1996, with the latter half released on DC’s soon-to-be defunct Vertigo imprint. Centering primarily on Dream of the Endless, the comic also introduced his fellow immortal siblings: Death, Destiny, Destruction, Desire, Despair and Delirium. Seamlessly blending genres, The Sandman incorporated events, both real and imagined, weaving the extraordinary story throughout the course of human history.
Long in development hell, it was just announced that The Sandman had found new life as a Netflix series. There have been several prior attempts to bring the property to the big screen. Most recently, Joseph Gordon-Levitt was in talks to direct and star in a New Line film adaptation. The script was to be written by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child scribe Jack Thorne and Gaiman was involved as well. However, Gordon-Levitt eventually dropped out over creative differences in 2016. Just before he stepped down, Eric Heisserer was hired to work on the script, but he soon left the project as well, explaining that the source material would be better served as a TV show. Luckily, that’s exactly what form the project has now taken.
Gaiman has been revealing more information on Twitter, most notably, the show’s episode count. He stated that season 1 will be 11 episodes, covering “Preludes and Nocturnes” and a bit beyond that. This implies that Netflix plans to keep The Sandman around for quite a few seasons, considering that material is only the first proper story arc of the series. Gaiman backed this up by stating he had no intention of telling this story in a single season. He also explained that he would be co-writing the pilot and that he hoped the Netflix series would feel as “personal and true” as the comics did.
The Sandman is one of several works by Gaiman to be adapted for the small screen. American Gods has had a successful run on Starz and was renewed for season 3. The long-awaited Good Omens miniseries from BBC and Amazon Prime, based on a novel by Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, recently released to rave reviews. It’s also worth noting that Netflix rescued Lucifer from cancellation, airing another season and renewing the series for season 5, which will be its last. The titular character was introduced in The Sandman and he is an integral part of the comics. It's too soon to know if Tom Ellis would reprise the role, but both shows will air on Netflix, so fans can hope.
Although comic readers have spent years hoping for a proper adaptation of The Sandman, rendering such a complex series to the screen was never going to be an easy task. Anyone familiar with this epic can understand why a film version fell apart multiple times. This story is simply too big for a movie or even a trilogy. DC and Netflix have already committed a lot of money to the project, which will be necessary to replicate the comic’s spectacular visuals. As nerve-wracking as it can be to see something so meaningful to so many people adapted to a different medium, it should ease fans’ fears to hear that season 1 is only going to focus on enough material for a single trade paperback. Hopefully, The Sandman will have plenty of seasons over which to unfold the unforgettable story of Morpheus and his siblings.
Source: Neil Gaiman
