Production on Netflix's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's acclaimed DC vertigo comic series The Sandman was originally scheduled for last month, but with the COVID-19 pandemic still causing mass delays, that obviously never happened. Updates have been few and far between since the show was officially announced last year, but Gaiman has now given fans a bit more to go on during a virtual press roundtable.
Recent character breakdowns suggested the adaptation would be making some pretty major alterations to the source material, and Gaiman now seems to have confirmed as much while revealing that the Netflix show will update the story and characters for the 21st century.
"Okay, it is 2020, let's say that I was doing Sandman starting in 2020, what would we do? How would we change things? What gender would this character be? Who would this person be? What would be happening?"
Gaiman also touched on why so many previous attempts to adapt his classic tale never came to fruition.
"People have tried making movies and TV adaptations for 30 years, and actively tried making them for 25 years, and they've never worked," the writer continued. "And they never worked because of all the special effects and what would be needed to do the special effects. They never worked because you were making something that was adult. People would write Sandman movie scripts, and they go, 'But it's an R-rated movie, and we can't have $100 million R-rated movies.' So, that wouldn't happen. You needed to get to a world in which long-form storytelling is an advantage rather than a disadvantage. And the fact that we have seventy-five issues of Sandman plus -- essentially, 13 full books -- worth of material, is a really good thing. It's not a drawback."
Gaiman went on to reveal that he's seen some of the production designs for Lucifer's castle and the gates of Hell, and wishes he could show everyone how well everything is coming together.
For the time being, Morpheus fans will be able to get their fix when The Sandman Audible Drama hits the Dreaming on July 15.