“Mister Sandman, bring me a dream…” If the evocation of the sandman (sandman, in English) makes you think of this bluette of the 50s, you may need to update your references. Netflix went live last Friday The Sandman, the adaptation of a comic book written between 1989 and 1996 by bestselling author Neil Gaiman, with the help of Sam Kieth and Mike Dringerberg, and published by DC Comics. And we are far from the tangy universe of the song.
The Sandman tells the story of Rêve the “Sandman”, who rules over the Kingdom of Dreams. After being the captive of a human sorcerer for almost a century, the Infinite – a kind of god – sets out to find tools that have been stolen from him. He needs it to restore his power and revive his Kingdom, which has fallen into disrepair during his absence. On his way, the one who also calls himself Morpheus will cross the Fates, Abel and Cain (with the second who can’t help but murder the first again and again), go to hell, spawn with his brothers and sisters Death or Desire or face a few unscrupulous humans…
A series that looks like a philosophical tale
When dreams are threatened, nightmares escalate. The Netflix series explores the darkness of the human soul when left to its own devices, dreamless to allow it to decompensate. Some episodes, like the fifth, are almost philosophical tales.
To serve the story, we note the excellent work of the very large cast, led by Tom Sturridge, impeccable in the role of Dream or the excellent David Thewlis who plays John Dee by turns pathetic, disturbing and touching. The authors have also taken care to compose a modern cast by feminizing certain roles: the librarian of the Kingdom of Dreams Lucien becomes Lucienne (Vivienne Acheampong), and Lucifer appears here in the guise of Gwendoline Christie (Brienne de Tarth in Game Of Thrones). Finally, LGBT fans of fantasy or fantastic series will be happy to find some gay, lesbian or non-binary characters here and there.
$15 million per episode
Visually we navigate between Tim Burton and Harry Potter… Warners Bros and DC Entertainment, which produce, have put 15 million dollars on the table for each episode and it shows. London definitely lends itself well to fantastic and dark worlds. If the idea was to compete with competitors’ other big fantasy releases, like House of the Dragon for HBO or power rings for Amazon Prime, it is rather successful. But it is the public who will decide. A season 2 is already being written.
Britain’s Neil Gaiman is one of the world’s most popular fantasy and fantasy authors. Two of his works, American Gods and Good Omens have already been adapted to the screen. Series Luciferwith Tom Ellis in the title role, was also drawn from the universe The Sandman.