Netflix's upcoming series based on the classic comic series The Sandman will be updated for the 2020s. The DC Comics series originally debuted in the late 1980s, predating the Vertigo imprint for which it later helped flagship in 1993. It ran for 75 issues, ending in 1996, but both the title and its cast of characters have consistently come back in various incarnations ever since, including DC's current line of titles dubbed "The Sandman Universe."
And the series' arduous journey to a screen adaptation has been nearly as long, and contained as many incarnations, as the series itself. Most recently Joseph Gordon-Levitt was involved in co-writing a proposed film adaptation (which he was also to direct and star in), but that Sadman movie fell apart a few years ago. The Netflix series was first announced last summer, when it was ordered straight to series. Writer/co-creator Neil Gaiman later confirmed that the first season would consist of 11 episodes, comprised of the first graphic novel collection ("Preludes and Nocturnes"), and a little beyond. Prior to the COVID-19 shutdown a few months ago, all of the scripts for The Sandman season 1 had been completed, casting had started, and The Sandman season 2 was already in development.
According to Comicbook, Gaiman has approached the new Netflix series with a fresh 2020 perspective in mind, particularly in response to gender and what would be happening in the world around the character. While the original comic series was always considered far ahead of its time in regards to female supporting characters, Gaiman hinted that even the gender of the main character, Morpheus, had the potential to be reconsidered. When speaking on how to approach the Netflix series, Gaiman explained, "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?".
In the comics' original incarnation, the seven members of the Endless had a perfect gender split. Dream (Morpheus), Destiny, and Destruction were male, Death, Delirium, and Despair were female, and Desire was gender fluid. If Dream is to identify as anything other than male in the new series, that may signal that another member of the Endless would also switch genders (preserving the original series' 50/50 balance). It may even be a sign that none of the members of the Endless will even be gendered at all anymore.
The Sandman was one of the first comic series of the modern era to capture a significant female readership, and preserving the series' appeal across gender lines has always been important to Gaiman. Morpheus and his six fellow siblings in the Endless (Death, Destiny, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium) were all the embodiment of ideas, so it makes sense that their gender identity could be reevaluated over time, or perhaps be fluid. Regardless of exactly how a current 2020 perspective to gender identity and gender issues manifests in the upcoming Netflix series, capturing a significant female viewership will likely be important to both Netflix and Gaiman himself.
Source: Comicbook
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