Neil Gaiman’s major comic The Sandman spent 30 years on screen counting the days in production hell, following the example of the main character who spent several decades in the cultist’s basement trying to catch Death, but accidentally caught the movie’s master. dreams. It was some kind of way. In 1990, wanting to make a movie from The Sandman, Warner Bros. In his first meeting with the producers, Gaiman asked him not to shoot anything because he didn’t want to be bothered working on the comic. Of course, no one listened to his words. But then the tape still did not materialize: the project changed its concept and screenwriters several times, until it finally died. One of his draft picks, Gaiman, later called it “not only the worst Sandman script he’s ever seen, but also the “worst script he’s ever read”.
Extremely respectful of his work, the author nevertheless changed his mind about the film adaptation, but expected someone who would treat his comics with the same fragility as Peter Jackson’s – “Lord of the Rings” and Sam Raimi – for “Spider-Man.” While Gaiman waited, strange but often sweet things emerged, like a pair of fan shorts (both author-approved) or the Lucifer series about the lord of hell who, in Gaiman’s opinion, escaped from boredom to the human world. The show eschewed dark fantasy, favored a laughing Castle-style procedure, and generally only kept the names of characters from the original source, which angered fans. But the latter rejoiced: for example, Audio sound playback with a magnificent cast, faithful to the original letter (James McAvoy, Taron Egerton, Riz Ahmed, Andy Serkis, Michael Sheen, John Lithgow, David Tennant, Bill close).
But it still didn’t work out with the official film adaptation of The Sandman. Logan director James Mangold unsuccessfully presented the idea for the show to HBO. The series, directed by Supernatural creator Eric Kripke, also wasn’t getting the green light. The subsequent attempt to turn Sandman into a feature film also failed (including Joseph Gordon-Levitt among the producers).
As a result, Gaiman himself turned out to be the right person and got into the habit of tailoring himself (from close collaboration with American Gods showrunners to full control over Good Omens). The comic found its on-screen home in streaming Netflix, which received permission from Warner to film it. Now that seems like the most successful scenario: now “Sandman” would have resulted in the demise of some HBOs, given the fire associated with the cancellation of everything and everything (including the nearly finished “Batgirl”) that swept WarnerMedia after the merger with Discovery. He has almost zero chance for a second season.
And it more than deserves the extension. It’s an excellent movie adaptation in form (i.e. a series, not a movie) and excellent in content: in some cases the show manages to surpass the original. Before The Sandman, Gaiman had never been interested in comics, and this was admittedly felt: the first issues weren’t particularly smooth in terms of plot (the author himself calls them “weird”, but emphasizes that some elements still make him proud). The Netflix series smooths out all the snags and turns the first two volumes – “Preludes and Nights” and “A Doll’s House” – into ten episodes within the framework of The Sandman, with a plot that is in principle as consistent as possible.
According to Gaiman, he invented his character 30 years ago according to the principles of Michelangelo – as if cutting out everything unnecessary from the marble block, like a dream. Now about the same thing happened: optional lines were removed or significantly reduced, and added details and missing emotional depth to the mandatory ones.
It seems that the protracted ordeal went to “Sandman” only for good. It’s always been a story about transformation, accepting change and rejecting the archaic, but now we’re at the point where it can be transferred to the screen without spilling anything substantial along the way. When a large broadcasting company can spend a lot of money on a project that involves an extremely slow, sleepy plot without huge amounts of special effects (divine beauty) and large-scale battles. When passion (according to the comics – a creature that is not constrained by a particular gender) can be played by a real transperson (Mason Alexander Park from the cowboy-bebop version). The heated discussion about the consequences of the casting did not justify itself in principle: the star of “Rock Wave” Tom Sturridge, who took the lead role, dispels all fears with a delightfully dead expression on his face, on which Robert Pattinson involuntarily appeared. – either from “Twilight” or Batman.
As a result, the entire season is watched in one sitting. And parting with him in the end is annoying – as in a pleasant dream disturbed by the morning sun. Fortunately, it will be much easier to return to the Sandman, unlike such a dream.