Neil Gaiman says Netflix’s Sandman series was ready to go before COVID-19

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Hollywood has been attempting to adapt Neil Gaiman's highly-acclaimed comic-book series "The Sandman" for decades, but after numerous delays and creative departures, the saga was finally going to be brought to life as a Netflix TV series, until that pesky little bastard COVID-19 brought everything to a standstill.

While answering questions on Tumblr (which still exits), Neil Gaiman offered an update on the series, which was apparently quite close to kicking off production before the coronavirus pandemic swept across the globe.

It’s going really well, except it’s kind of hibernating right now until people start making TV again. The scripts for the first season are written, casting had started, directors hired, sets were being built. Everything was ready to go into production, and then we moved into a pause. As soon as the world is ready to make TV drama, Sandman will move smoothly back into being made. In the meantime, we are taking the opportunity to get the scripts as good as we can.

Well, son of a bitch, but it is nice to know that this time is being used to polish up those scripts, and hopefully things will still be ready to move forward when this current crisis is behind us. The main character of "The Sandman" is Dream, who is also known as Morpheus, Oneiros, and by many other names. He's one of the Endless, a group of extremely powerful beings who are the embodiment of natural forces. In addition to Dream, the other Endless include Destiny, Death, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium. The series begins with Dream having been imprisoned for 70 years after being captured in an occult ritual. Finally escaping in to the modern-day world, Dream sets about rebuilding his kingdom while also trying to correct the wrongs of his past.

Netflix gave the Sandman series an 11-episode order last summer with Allan Heinberg (WONDER WOMAN) tapped to write and serve as showrunner. David Goyer and Neil Gaiman will serve as executive producers and the pair will also co-write the premiere along with Heinberg. "We're thrilled to partner with the brilliant team that is Neil Gaiman, David S. Goyer and Allan Heinberg to finally bring Neil's iconic comic book series, The Sandman, to life onscreen," said Channing Dungey, Netflix's VP of  original content. "From its rich characters and storylines to its intricately built-out worlds, we're excited to create an epic original series that dives deep into this multi-layered universe beloved by fans around the world."