How similar is The Sandman to the comic? What Neil Gaiman said on changes

There is always a lot of discussion about the meanings of adaptations when they are released. Did the snipping that comes with altering a book or comic to a show or movie make it better, worse, different in a way that’s unrecognizable? Is it possible for the creator to make these changes?

That question will likely be on fans’ minds as they watch Netflix’s The SandmanThe series is based on Neil Gaiman’s comic. It was developed by Gaiman along with David S. Goyer, Allan Heinberg, who serves as an executive producer. The fact that such a prominent creator was involved in creating a show has some consolation. But that’s not to say SandmanIt is unchanged

“There were things that we’d go, What is the point of each scene? And I would talk with Allan about why a scene had been written, about what I was trying to do, about what I meant, about what mattered to me,” Gaiman tells Polygon. “You take a character like Death; what mattered to me was that we cast an actress who can actually convey the niceness, who could convey the emotion, and the idea that you’d fall in love with her just a little bit.”

In Gaiman’s mind, Kirby Howell-Baptiste captured that perfectly; she was the kind of person who, as Death, could generously say, “You know you should look both ways before you cross the street,” and you’d “kind of like her for having said it.” It mattered less that Howell-Baptiste, a Black woman, perfectly matched the character drawn so many decades ago — though Gaiman said that wasn’t always the case.

Laurence Cendrowicz/Netflix Photo

“I mean, that was one reason why Gwendoline Christie was so perfect as Lucifer. She is exactly like Lucifer, Mike Dringenberg’s and Sam Kieth imagined. Sandman #4. So that alone — but the fact that she could also embody that Lucifer, that she’s brilliant and imposing and really dangerous,” Gaiman says. “That’s good, that’s what we need.”

Gaiman made certain changes as the story progressed to television. This episode of “The Last Man Standing” was not only about the casting aspect, but also the episode’s aesthetics. The Sandman centered on Death pulls from the original comic “The Sound of Her Wings” and merges it with a short story called “Winter’s Tale” that Gaiman wrote. You can also find other chapters. Sandman makes a few changes here and there to the story — shying away from the true brutality of the “24 Hours” chapter in alterations to the show’s episode “24/7,” or cementing a singular look for the castle of the Dreaming instead of an ever-changing castle. Martian Manhunter isn’t there anymore.

“We tried reproducing the comics exactly, and it didn’t quite work,” Gaiman said in a Vanity Fair video discussing some changes to the look of the Endless’ domains. “And then we had to think: Well, how would it work?

Image by Netflix

“The comics were always the bible; sometimes they were more the Old Testament. We let things change, but the things that changed tended to change with the times, or with the need to make something into television.”

Beyond that, many of the actors say they were given free rein to make their characters work for them, working with Gaiman and Heinberg to dial in performances that felt true to “the soul” of the work, the only thing Gaiman felt was important to maintain.

“I think in terms of room to play, so much of it came from discovering the relationships with other characters, because we’ve seen that on the page, but how does it work in real life?” Howell-Baptiste says. “For me, I used the source material in the comics because it’s goldI am referring to my character.

“They gave me the script before they told me who the character was. My reading was instinctive. From that point, I felt like they really responded and allowed me to explore what was in my hands. So I just felt a lot of freedom and liberation from Neil and Allan to play and explore.”

Image by Netflix

Jenna Coleman who portrays Johanna Constantine agrees. However, her character has been greatly altered from the original book version. It was deliberate for her Constantine to accept the changes. She is now at the very top of her game, and serving the royal family.

“We’ve seen various Constantines, there’s been various interpretations through lots of different mediums. And I think it was a very deliberate reason that I was tasked in terms of Neil and Allan’s vision, and a very deliberate move and departure away in terms of costume,” Coleman says. She notes that her callback audition was with Gaiman, which “was sort of like I’ve never had such a green light in my entire life.”

“I’m sure, you know, like so many adaptations are so separated from their creator. There are many ways to make your life easier. […] The Sandman is Neil’s dream, both the 1989 comic for the beginning of it, and now, to this show that’s on Netflix,” Coleman adds. “He has directly taken his work and reimagined it. And so for me, just having him around and knowing that we had his seal of approval — that allowed us to be much more free in our work.”

Tasha Robinson also reports.