The Sandman Writer Neil Gaiman, Tom Sturridge Tease Netflix Series

The world premiere of the highly anticipated Netflix series The Sandman on Wednesday night at London’s BFI Southbank was a star-studded triumph, with Neil Gaiman and the cast greeted with cheers and admiration.

Aside from Gaiman, on whose iconic comics the series is based, the cast and crew, executives from Netflix and Warner Bros. Television, the audience consisted largely of comic book lovers who were obviously familiar with the nuances of each of the 75 comics in the series.

The first two episodes of the series were screened to an enthusiastic audience, and Gaiman began the post-screening Q&A by describing how he’d spent well over 30 years fighting “horrible film adaptations” of his comics. And after Netflix jumped into the project, “suddenly in 2019 it was the opposite,” Gaiman said. “It was okay, now we can do it. Now we don’t have to try to squeeze 3,000 pages of history into two hours of film.”

The series was filmed on locations in London and the UK amid various COVID-19 lockdowns. Of the first two episodes, Gaiman said, “Think of it as the start of the roller coaster ride, to the top of the roller coaster. Now the journey begins. It’s just a wild ride to episode 10 from here. And it doesn’t stop – it’s lovely, and these people and Tom [Sturridge]it is magic.”

Sturridge plays Dream, also known as Morpheus, one of the Seven Endless. “First and foremost, I’m a fan of this piece of literature,” Sturridge said. “It’s so close to my heart, it’s a story about stories that I wanted to live inside myself.”

“When you think of Morpheus you think of quite abstract ideas, the Prince of Dreams and Endless – someone who’s lived for thousands of years, I don’t really know what that means or how to do it,” Sturridge added. “But I know what it means to create a dream, because when you create a dream, you know how someone feels. What is a dream if not the clearest articulation of our true selves?”

Sturridge continued: “And then I realized that he knows how everyone feels and that he is actually – contrary to how people sometimes perceive him to be the extraordinarily sensitive being – this unstable thing that is the collective unconscious of the… Universe is so incredibly managed dangerous thing that all our feelings are. And in order to do that, he has to shove it in his stomach and hide it, because the consequences are catastrophic.”

Gwendoline Christie, who plays Lucifer, said she met Gaiman through his 2013 novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane and when showrunner Allan Heinberg and Gaiman approached her, she read the comics. “Lucifer in the comics is extraordinary – Neil was always talking about this idea that Lucifer was inspired by a young David Bowie, this idea of ​​a junkie angel. The idea of ​​being God’s favorite and an outcast was really exciting to me,” Christie said. “And as a female performer playing this character, I was able to connect with the imagery of this stifled bitterness of resentment at endless, countless disappointments. It was a wonderful, wonderful experience.”

The original “Sandman” comic book series was published by Vertigo, a DC publisher for mature readers, and ran from 1989 to 1996 with a total of 75 issues. The series was known for mixing a variety of literary, mythological, and historical themes, and for its large cast of ensemble characters. Widely considered one of the best comics of all time, The Sandman has won over 20 Eisner Awards and received several spin-offs and follow-up miniseries.

The Sandman was developed for television by Gaiman, David S. Goyer and Heinberg, who are all Executive Producers. The series, produced by DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television for Netflix, will air on August 5.