Sandman isn’t as unadaptable as you think

Why Neil Gaiman’s metaphysical comic book about dreams and storytelling is actually tailor-made for longform TV

FOR MANY COMIC-BOOK fans it looked like a dream that would never come true. Since Neil Gaiman’s (below) The Sandman debuted in 1989, it was arguably the greatest comic book to remain unadapted, deemed too expensive, too expansive, too uncommercial and too damned weird to ever work on the big screen. All of which was probably once true. However, it is ideal for the new golden age of longform TV — a fact Netflix, which greenlit an adaptation, has woken up to.

It centres on Dream, aka Morpheus, lord of the realm of dreams, and one of The Endless, a dysfunctional family of metaphysical beings who each represent an aspect of the human condition: Destiny, Despair, Desire, Delirium, Destruction and Death. Spanning aeons, and with guest appearances from Lucifer, Loki, the Furies and Shakespeare, it’s not a simple narrative.

But that’s the beauty of longform TV. It doesn’t need to be. With access to Netflix’s deep pockets, The Sandman’s vast, Cgi-dependent scope is finally achievable, while its strong horror flourishes and its out-there thinky concepts will hardly scare off viewers in the Peak TV era. It also comes custom-built for a six-to-seven season run — one for each of its storylines, including Dream’s initial quest to regain his power after he’s accidentally imprisoned by an occultist, his journey to recapture errant nightmares who wander the world, and his inconvenient inheritance of Hell.

Of course, that would be crazily ambitious, and it remains to be seen what showrunner Allan Heinberg’s (Wonder Woman) strategy is. But he’s got everything he needs — budget, running time, awesome source material — to create something truly, deeply mind-blowing. If you’re gonna dream, dream big.