DC and Vertigo’s Sandman Is Coming to Netflix Very Soon

After years of being delayed, one of DC Comics’ popular properties from the Vertigo imprint, Sandman, might finally land on Netflix soon according to Deadline. Having been stuck in development hell and numerous attempts to turn it into a feature film starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sandman is nearing final negotiations for a Netflix acquisition.  According to The Hollywood Reporter, the said deal with Warner Bros. Television and Netflix is the most expensive TV series that DC Entertainment has been involved with. 

The creative minds behind the Sandman series

Sandman has been on the drawing board since the ‘90s, with it picking up steam in 2016, having tapped Birdbox writer Eric Heisserer for the script. But in the latter part of 2016, Heisserer said that he will not be involved with the project anymore. “I … came to the conclusion that the best version of this property exists as an HBO series or limited series, not as a feature film, not even as a trilogy,” Heisserer said in an interview with io9. “The structure of the feature film really doesn’t mesh with this. So I went back and said here’s the work that I’ve done. It needs to go to TV. So I talked myself out of a job!” 

Once the deal with Netflix is closed, Sandman will have a new set of creative minds working on it. The series will be executive-produced by the renowned author Neil Gaiman and David S. Goyer. The series will add to Gaiman’s works that currently have TV adaptations like American Gods on Starz and Good Omens on Amazon. In addition to the team is Allan Heinberg, well-known for writing the screenplay for Wonder Woman, who will work his magic as the showrunner. 

Sandman Narrative

Sandman is a 75-issue story that follows Dream (AKA Morpheus), the lord of dreams and a member of The Endless that personify certain universal concepts like death, desire, delirium, despair, and destruction. The Sandman was written by Gaiman together with artists Sam Keith, Jil Thompson, Shawn Mcmanus, Marc Hempel, Mike Drigenberg, and Michael Zull. The comic book series won 26 Eisner awards during its run, together with Hellblazer and Swamp Thing. Once the deal is closed for the TV adaptation of Sandman, it will join Lucifer on Netflix, another character based on Gaiman’s Lucifer comic series. 

Netflix still hasn’t given any statement regarding the deal as of yet.