The Sandman

For 20 years film projects have started and stalled, defeated by the sheer nebulous enchantment of Gaiman's vision, until Netflix had a go.

But once The Sandman hits its stride there is a kind of magic at play here. Instead Tom Sturridge, naked and trapped in a glass bubble, looking like a Twilight wet dream, is required to communicate his bottled up power via intense stares. That would account for a pacing in the opening episodes that is leisurely to say the least.

And that's true. Because while The Sandman is technically about Morpheus, a pasty chap who happens to be the personification of dreams, DC's cherished comic ...

With this kind of role, there's a risk of hamming things up too much, taking that arrogance in a pantomime direction, but Mason revels in the part without letting it consume them. But you'll want to keep binging anyway, because The Sandman has a canny knack of ending each episode with something that pulls you back in for more, even if some of those earlier instalments do feel more standalone. If only there was more Lucifer... and Death... and The Corinthian... and Desire... and Constantine... and the list goes on. The same also goes for Jenna Coleman's gender-flipped role as Johanna Constantine, which pretty much demands to be expanded in a sorely-needed spinoff. It's easy to see why Gaiman and Heinberg ended up casting Sturridge out of all the thousands who auditioned. Netflix really put their whole Netussy into this project, showering the visual effects team with the kind of money that puts Marvel's team to shame. The more you read about The Sandman, the more you'll hear that this is really a story about storytelling. It's curious then that The Sandman is notorious for being a tricky story to adapt and retell in other mediums. Morpheus is no stranger to the depths of Hell, and the same can also be said for countless movie adaptations which have long languished in development hell. That's quite the story, but what about the actual story of the show itself? In order to do the material justice, a decision was then made to try for TV instead. Because while The Sandman is technically about Morpheus, a pasty chap who happens to be the personification of dreams, DC's cherished comic book series explores so much more than just the world of this one character.

An icy, emo Tom Sturridge is perfectly cast as Dream, ruler of the land of Dreaming who returns from a long imprisonment to find his kingdom in disarray.

That’s not to say that The Sandman is not compulsive viewing – it most certainly is. The comics and the show open as Dream, who also goes by the name Morpheus or the titular Sandman, is imprisoned for a century, an incident that causes a cascade of world-altering events. Arriving on Netflix is a 10-episode adaptation of The Sandman. And like the comics it’s derived from, it feels every bit as inventive, vital and disruptive. In a way, it’s antithetical to streaming’s binge-watch business model, which is reliant on you wanting “just one more episode” – it deserves to be savoured. As a means of driving the overall plot forward, it does very little. Literary in style and uncompromising in scope, it is widely considered one of the greatest graphic novels ever created.

Comic book fans across the globe can breathe a collective sigh of relief as Netflix's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman is a worthy take on the comic.

The first season of this Netflix adaptation is extremely faithful to the source material – from delirious diners to "cereal" conventions – bringing the world of the esteemed comic book into live-action with appropriate visual flair. It doesn't help that Oswalt is horrendously miscast, with his abrasive and instantly recognisable tone feeling completely out of place among the otherwise understated world of the show. Just as in the source material, the story simmers away with an unrelenting tension, which is only heightened by the claustrophobic score from composer David Buckley. He's the villain you'll love to hate, with Holbrook portraying him as the smooth, charming type who seems to leave everyone with butterflies in their stomach (not literally, I should clarify). Unfortunately, the character's distinctive appearance from the comics – which I won't spoil here for anyone unaware – is one of the few visual effects in this show that doesn't look particularly convincing. Not only does he look as if he just strolled over from the comic book page, but his voice strikes an authoritative tone that brings credibility to every threat and commands attention even in quieter scenes. However, when something like The Sandman comes along, you're reminded of the value of the platform, as surely no other outlet on the entertainment landscape would (or could) have invested so much in such a gamble.

Netflix's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's comic The Sandman stars Tom Sturridge as Dream of the Endless - but is the series itself the stuff of nightmares?

As noted, Dream can feel like The Sandman’s least interesting character; while he’s more often than not a way into more interesting worlds, at times the series veers away from that, and Dream feels less like a conduit and more like an obstacle. It’s not that the opening episodes are manifestly weaker, exactly, but where they struggle to articulate the significance of dreams and storytelling, the intense variety of that later short story-esque approach comes closer to embodying The Sandman’s full potential. The Sandman is full of memorable, striking imagery, from its vast CGI dreamscapes to more tactile bits of set design, like Dream’s gas-mask-by-way-of-HR-Giger-style helmet. The series is quite willing to take detours and get sidetracked, often finding itself more interested in the lives of its side characters than its eponymous-if-only-nominal lead. Sometimes, though, there’s a sense that Dream himself is The Sandman’s least interesting character. A warmth bleeds in, eventually, but for much of the Netflix series Dream proves an intriguingly difficult protagonist.

The series is based on the popular comic book series from Neil Gaiman.

He plays a nightmare named Corinthian, who has escaped the Dreaming and has no desire to return. Efforts to adapt The Sandman began in 1991 and floundered in development hell for many years. Due to the prolonged development of the film, production company Warner Bros. shifted its focus to television. With 10 volumes of comics covering 75 issues over its seven-year run from 1989-1996, there's a mountain of material to play with. But who is in this new series, what is it about and how many episodes are there? Netflix's long-awaited adaptation of The Sandman from Neil Gaiman has finally been released on the streaming platform.

As far as comic books are concerned, there is nothing quite like Neil Gaiman's Sandman saga, a 75-issue, sprawling, dark fantasy epic considered the best of ...

What was true of the comics is true here: for all the mystery, horror, and personified concepts older than the universe, The Sandman is about the lives of ordinary people — the waitress, the kindly woman who offers you a ride, the romantic and the liar, and how they weave a world for such magic to exist, through their dreams and nightmares. But it is David Thewlis’ John Dee, a pyjama-clad, escaped mental patient in possession of Morpheus’ Ruby, who steals the show during the first half of the season, and becomes the centre of the chilling fifth episode, ‘24/7’. It is in John Dee’s pathetically human quest to steal hope from people in order to reveal the truth that The Sandman sees its greatest strength revealed. Morpheus is both the lead and the straight man, which with the wrong actor could make him boring.

Comedian Munya Chawawa has made his Netflix acting debut in the brand-new series, 'The Sandman'.

In the series Munya Chawawa plays Choronzon, a Duke of Hell, who Morpheus goes head to head with during his quest. Comedian Munya Chawawa has made his Netflix acting debut in the brand-new series, The Sandman. Munya Chawawa Makes Netflix Debut In New Series ‘The Sandman’

It was a project long thought so unfilmable, even its creator didn't want anyone to try to adapt it. But it seems that despite recent quality control issues ...

The Sandman looks like a hit, and could turn into that “40, 50, 60, 70, 80 hours of quality television” over time, that Gaiman is so excited about. The Sandman is not being presented as a limited series, meaning if it does well on Netflix, that it could come back for more. The Sandman is reviewing well so far among both critics and fans.

THE SANDMAN is on Netflix now and it features the antagonist John Dee, who meddled with Dream's ruby pendant. Who is John Dee in The Sandman?

Who is John Dee in The Sandman? The Sandman has just arrived on Netflix and the series draws inspiration from the comics of the same name. Express.co.uk has all you need to know about the TV series adaptation of the character. Who is John Dee in The Sandman? Dream and John ended up in a fight and John ended up destroying the ruby in the hope Dream would die as a result. Who is John Dee in The Sandman?

In the second episode of Netflix's adaptation of the Neil Gaiman comic, Dream meets Cain and Abel and learns where he's going to need to go to get all his ...

In the 90 years or so since she left England, Ethel has become an art thief, or perhaps just a fence, and has taken the time to learn all sorts of languages and get an amulet that can explode her enemies. Just keep one and reuse it, like that one open grave in L.A. that is recycled in every TV show and movie. Maybe the ruby is holding his brain’s development back in the same way it’s delaying his aging. • It’s an LOL that Cain and Abel, two characters that predate Jesus (both in Christian writing and because in Sandman lore, they’ve existed since the first time a one-celled organism killed another one), use crosses in their giant cemetery. Overall, the CGI has been getting in the way of how yucky The Sandman could be texturally. Much in the same way as he was trying to do to the Corinthian in episode one, Dream needs to do the Infinity War Snap on something to reabsorb it into himself. Speaking of that mother and son, we get more of a sense of what Ethel Cripps has been doing with her absurdly long life span. Dream needs to get his tools back, the ones Ethel Cripps stole when she escaped from Roderick Burgess. And to do that, he needs to get stronger by absorbing something he has created. Both Cain and Abel are legacy DC characters, having hosted horror comics from the ’50s to the ’80s. Neil Gaiman added them to his story as a little nod to the past, the same way that Jordan Peele cast Keith David in Nope. In The Sandman, Cain and Abel together represent the first story. They have to reenact that first murder over and over and over. You know the kind: An NPC needs three items, you run around the map getting them, then maybe you get a cool sword or something at the end. I wept for Gregory. If The Sandman were on Does the Dog Die?, the answer would be “yes.” Technically gargoyles aren’t dogs, sure, but then why does this one come when called and play fetch, huh?

Rose (Vanesu Samunyai), who unwittingly goes to meet the Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook) to collect her brother Jed (Eddie Karanja), discovers this and tries to ...

The origin story placed Azazel as trying to make a deal with Morpheus to return his lover Nada (who is imprisoned in hell) in exchange for the keys to hell. When Roderick Burgess lost his son he was so incensed he sought to capture Death and make her bring him back to life. The weight of the guilt results in suicides and police confessions and that was the end of their stab-happy ways. Unity tells Rose to reach inside of herself and give her whatever it is that makes her the vortex. He is the co-ruler of hell. The Corinthian is reduced to an emblem with Morpheus assuring him that "Next time I make you, you won't be so flawed and petty, little dream." He tells them the generals command action, to which they reply, "Then I shall act." He apologises to the lost and confused nightmare for creating him so poorly saying, "This was my fault not yours." Feeling torn and desperate to live but also to do the right thing Rose puts an end to the discussion, which pretty much consisted of them yelling at her, and tells them she will find her own way. The Corinthian is not best pleased with being talked down to and Morpheus attempts to banish him. Apparently, he's just trying to save her from Morpheus (Tom Sturridge), who intends to kill her to stop the vortex within from destroying the Dreaming. 100 years-plus is a lot to fit so let's clear some of the finer details up.

THE ENDLESS is the name given to the siblings on the Netflix adaptation of The Sandman. Who is Prodigal?

DON'T MISS... Jenna Coleman once linked to Prince Harry – 'Pretty awkward' [INSIGHT] Tom Sturridge age: How old is The Sandman Morpheus actor? Who is Prodigal in The Sandman? The Sandman has just arrived on Netflix and the series features characters from Neil Gaiman's comic book series. [EXPLAINER] Who is The Corinthian in The Sandman? [INSIGHT] Who are The Endless in The Sandman? The Endless siblings explained: Who is Prodigal in The Sandman?

The TV adaptation is extremely loyal to Neil Gaiman's original comic books—and that's as enticing as it is frustrating.

Where the series cannot hope to compare to the comics is in its visuals; although the CGI in The Sandman is lavish and ever present, it can’t render a dreamworld in as impressionistic a style as an illustrated comic can. Their showdown is one of the most arresting and horrifying Sandman issues ever published, but I found the TV edition surprisingly grating, hampered perhaps by the attempt to stretch a few dozen pages of comics into an hour of television. During his journeys, he voyages to hell to barter with its ruler, Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie), and meets up with his sister Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), the cheerful and levelheaded guardian of all mortality. In the premiere, Dream is kidnapped and imprisoned in the early 20th century by an occultist named Roderick Burgess (Charles Dance). The story develops over decades as Dream escapes and then works to rebuild his kingdom, seeking lost artifacts and gathering up stray nightmares. Devotees of The Sandman such as myself will have much to exult in with Netflix’s version, but I wonder what the show will mean to newcomers. The Netflix adaptation, created by Gaiman, David S. Goyer, and Allan Heinberg, embraces that pacing, letting things unfold with the care of a monthly comic rather than the punchiness of weekly TV. It makes for some very high highs—and a few languorous lows.

It's been a long wait for the author, the fans, and even the cast and crew who worked tirelessly on the show over the past couple of years in the midst of Covid ...

It would still be years until The Sandman hit Netflix – they had to wait until Good Omens was finished, and then Covid-19 hit. It’s difficult to see how a film (various of which were pitched to Neil) could have ever worked due to the sheer length and richness of the source material. That’s not to say people haven’t tried.

The Netflix adaptation of The Sandman has been long anticipated both by early fans of the DC comic and by those who have come to enjoy the many wonderful ...

Soon The Sandman will be added to the list of shows for which they are known and admired. Although Mark Hamill will always be Luke Skywalker and Patton Oswalt has his own resume of guest appearances in nerdy fare across the spectrum, they also both have a rich history of providing their unique voices to animated characters. Boyd Holbrook will play The Corinthian in The Sandman, a nightmare who escapes into the world to become a serial killer. In The Sandman he plays John Dee, who attempts to steal some of Dream’s power, but as Ares in Wonder Woman, he was a god who had plenty of his own. Viewers may also know Thewlis from his role as V. M. Varga in season three of Fargo, or they may have heard his voice in Big Mouth or Human Resources, in which he plays Shame Wizard. Mason Alexander Park is another Broadway heavyweight coming to the small screen, best known for their lead performance in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. You may also remember them from their role as Gren in the short-lived live-action Cowboy Bebop adaptation.

The Sandman season one is here and people have a lot of questions about Neil Gaiman's world - here's who The Prodigal in Sandman is.

Netflix's 2022 adaptation of The Sandman takes only a few liberties with the ending. But what is next for Dream? And will Lucifer enter new realms with the ...

That’s how Dream met up with the Justice League, and it’s how Will “Shakesbeard” might have something to offer Dream of the Endless. “And we get to do an awful lot of the side stories and interesting byways and diversions along the way.” Though the show has rearranged the storylines a bit to fit into the arc of the season, it seems likely that they could return in season 2 (or beyond). Of course, the root of the word certainly suggests a bit of judgment on the part of the remaining Endless siblings, as opposed to merely an abdication of duty. The answer is slow-played in Sandman season 1; beyond a few mentions, we get little by way of details. With 75 issues in the original run of the series, there’s certainly a lot for The Sandman to get through, should Netflix allow it. But as the comics continued, there was less emphasis on the overall arc of the story and more on the small, almost vignette-like chapters of Dream’s journeys. One of them is to not spill “family blood,” or else bad news will befall you — namely you summon the Furies, who are no joke and will be mad. Lord Azazel pops up to share something on behalf of the “assembled lords of hell.” In episode 10 (or even the full season) we don’t get a sense of what’s so taboo about it. Suffice it to say, there’s a lot of details to keep track of, even if you did read the comics. As Dream learns in the final moments of season 1, Rose Walker’s whole existence is predicated on Desire having impregnated Unity while she was asleep during Dream’s absence.

Scotney Castle in Kent is the stuff of dreams, and Netflix certainly took this into account when they used it in their adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The ...

Soon after, we meet Cain and Abel of the age-old biblical stories, played by Sanjeev Bhaskar and Asim Chaudhry, respectively, who keep Gregory as a sort of pet. - 3Scotney Castle makes an appearance in Netflix's The Sandman Scotney Castle makes an appearance in Netflix's The Sandman

THE SANDMAN is finally out on Netflix for DC Comics fans to binge-watch but is Star Wars' Luke Skywalker star Mark Hamill in the fantasy series?

"Mark Hamill loved the comics. Netflix subscribers have long been waiting for The Sandman to be released and now all 10 episodes are ready to watch on the streamer. Is Star Wars' Mark Hamill in The Sandman on Netflix? The Sandman is available to watch on Netflix. Is Star Wars' Mark Hamill in The Sandman on Netflix? THE SANDMAN is finally out on Netflix for DC Comics fans to binge-watch but is Star Wars' Luke Skywalker star Mark Hamill in the fantasy series?

Film London's Winona Navin- Holder spoke to Naomi Johns, Filming Manager at Lincoln's Inn, and Casper Mill, Location Manager, about their experiences worki.

They were obviously pleased to be filming in such a unique venue and were sensitive to the demands of filming in a historic location. We have also had a long stretch of major building works for the last six years which are now coming to an end, so we are actively seeking and would welcome the opportunity to host more filming here.” We are very much looking forward to seeing the outcome once the series is released and seeing how it translates from our experience on set.” The cast and crew were a delight to deal with from the first recce all the way through to completing strike of the set. I think the series will stay true to the books original aesthetics, whilst also reimagining locations and scenes in new and There are still new corners or areas of the Inn that Location Managers discover for their scripts that we have not filmed in before, and we are flexible to the possibility of using any space where feasible.” I would say up to 50% of the locations used were within the M25’.” “In terms of choosing the Library, it just gave us such a wonderful scale and look to begin with. The public will have a chance to see for themselves on Saturday 17 and Sunday The main job was removing and covering modern day items like photocopiers and computers, then adding in our own desks, and chairs, as well as a bit of book rearranging. The second visit was an interior shoot in our Library and Upper Vestibule, with our Great Hall being used as a video village. During the shoot the crew also used one of our interior chamber rooms, and the Ashworth Centre as a crowd base.

Netflix's The Sandman brings Neil Gaiman's famous fantasy comic series to the small screen with an impressive cast and exciting plot.

The 36-year-old Brit is no stranger to the performance world, boasting screen credits in movies like Being Julia, Like Minds, and The Boat That Rocked, as well as a number of theatre productions. Patton Oswalt voices Matthew the Raven, Dream's magical and loyal bird. Charles Dance plays Roderick Burgess, the calculating occultist who tried to capture Death in 1916 but accidentally caught Dream instead. Boyd Holbrook, who plays Dream's self-created nightmare Corinthian, also has plenty of acting experience in the bag. Determined to get back to business, he pledges to reconstruct it once he has tracked down all his lost belongings ‒ most of which have been hijacked by powerful creatures or misused by helpless mortals. Also known as Dream and Oneiros, the ageless character emerges from his imprisonment to find that the land has been destroyed in his absence.

The enduringly popular comic book series about gods and the afterlife gets the big-bucks, amazing-cast Netflix treatment. And it's good. Very good, in fact.

These two episodes – one set in a diner, one set in the same pub at hundred-year intervals – really show what you can do with one story and one character and one hour of ingenuity, and give the whole series more of an anthology feel than an endless story where someone does hand gestures a lot and magic comes out. I have a potted history with fantasy television: we had a lot of it a couple of years ago, almost all of it bad, because they ignored the two primary rules for fantasy that I have made up and never actually bothered to tell anybody. Boyd Holbrook is having an awful lot of fun playing the Corinthian, a devilish nightmare with teeth instead of eyes. The former is a lot rarer than the latter, sadly, and culturally we are poorer for it. What if a supernatural cabal actually ran the government but started getting nosebleeds and died? So it is with a heavy heart that I must announce that I have watched The Sandman (available now on Netflix), the Netflix x Warner x DC crossover event of the summer.