In advance of its panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, Netflix unveiled a two-minute trailer for the popular comic novels by Neil Gaiman that will be the subject of its upcoming series. At the beginning of the video, Morpheus (Tom Sturridge of Sweetbitter) says, “Your waking world is shaped by dreams.” Nightmares and dreams.
Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman has grown to become one of the genre’s most beloved examples of narrative in its more than three decades of existence, standing shoulder to shoulder with the giants of DC and Marvel (although, given it was published by Vertigo, it’s more the former anyhow). For many years, it was resistant to adaptation (partly because Gaiman didn’t want to see a poor movie version come to life), but it’s now been given the full Netflix treatment. And, as the show approaches its August premiere, there was a lot of excitement at this year’s Comic-Con, including a discussion with the cast and crew and, of course, a new trailer…
Many of you are probably familiar with Neil Gaiman’s sweeping story The Sandman (which he co-created with artists Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg), but in case anyone is unfamiliar, here’s a description…
“When we close our eyes and sleep, another world awaits us – a place called the Dreaming, where The Sandman, Master of Dreams (Tom Sturridge), gives expression to all of our greatest fears and dreams.” However, Dream’s surprise capture and subsequent century-long imprisonment set off a chain of events that would forever alter both the dreaming and waking worlds. Dream must travel across various worlds and timelines in attempt to correct the errors he’s done over his lengthy existence. He will encounter new cosmic and human beings as well as old friends and enemies along the way. Even so, there is still room in The Sandman for myths, stories, gods, monsters, angels, devils, and Dream’s family, including older sister Death. (The show’s Kirby Howell-Baptiste.)
As one of the few series to make it to Hall H with a scattering of the cast (Sturridge, Howell-Baptiste, Gwendoline Christie, Vivienne Acheampong, Boyd Holbrook, Mason Alexander Park, Jenna Coleman, Vanesu Samunyai, Patton Oswalt, plus Gaiman and showrunner/executive producer Allan Heinberg), the panel for the series was obviously going to be a big one.