Neil Gaiman confirms Netflix’s Sandman series will be set in 2021

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Neil Gaiman's seminal SANDMAN series of graphic novels has had a rocky road to the screen, with many attempts at a big-budget, blockbuster film (the last version to be written/directed, and possibly starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt) descending to development hell. However, it looks like it's finally coming to live-action, in the form of a Netflix television series. Here's the official synopsis:

The main character of The Sandman is Dream, also known as Morpheus and other names, who is one of the seven Endless. The other Endless are Destiny, Death, Desire, Despair, Delirium (formerly Delight), and Destruction (also known as 'The Prodigal'). The series is famous for Gaiman's trademark use of anthropomorphic personification of various metaphysical entities, while also blending mythology and history in its horror setting within the DC Universe. The Sandman is a story about stories and how Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, is captured and subsequently learns that sometimes change is inevitable.

Meanwhile, here's what Gaiman had to say, in an interview with Digital Spy:

We’re working with Netflix, we were meant to start shooting at the end of May…Given this COVID world, everything is on pause. The Netflix version is going to begin in 2021, so Morpheus will have been kept prisoner in the Netflix version for 105 years rather than 70 years.

Sounds good to me! It seems like an obvious choice to move it to the present, though I personally find it more interesting that they're not shifting all the events forward 20-30 years, and instead keeping the opening – and Sandman's initial capture – in 1916. That does mean some things will have to inevitably be changed/shifted, so I'll be interested to see how the adaptation handles that!

In the meantime, there is an Audible version of SANDMAN – starring the likes of James McAvoy, Kat Dennings, and Michael Sheen – which is available right now!

So what do you guys think? Would you have preferred a period piece? Either way, sound off below!