A week into August, Netflix is getting busy with some of the most anticipated premieres on the platform. One of them is The Sandman, a series that adapts the eponymous version of Neil Gaiman’s comic book and masterpiece of the same name.
Sandman is a cosmic being who controls dreams and in the story he is captured and kept prisoner for more than a century, which has had consequences on the entire population in the absence of dreams. This chaos caused by his absence can only be solved by him, so now he faces the adventure of traveling through different worlds and timelines.
One of the most relevant details to know before watching the series is that Sandman is not exactly a man. He is an anthropomorphic personification, that is, he is a non-human entity that acquires human qualities. Each culture sees him differently, so his appearance will also change accordingly. The influence of Greek mythology is clear and in the comics it has already been shown explicitly.
The clear example is Morpheus, one of the main characters who is the Greek god of dreams, but as we have said, the same entity is seen differently in each culture and Morpheus is also called Dream, Oneiros, Kai-ckul and others. It is also important to note that Sandman (or Dream) belongs to a race of beings known as Endless, creatures that represent the forces of nature and whose group consists of seven siblings: Dream, Destiny, Death, Destruction, Delirium and the twins Dsire and Despair.
Sandman’s world is called Reverie, which is essentially the world people travel to when they dream. It is a place for all kinds of dreams, from bright and happy ones to terrifying nightmares. Being Sandman’s realm it is constantly changing, everything except the Dream’s Castle which is always at the center. It houses the library of all the books once dreamed of, even those that have never been printed.
It should be noted that although The Sandman is set in the DC Universe, Neil Gaiman decided it wasn’t worth dealing with the other characters in the franchise, so in the comics he never had a direct relationship with them beyond cameos such as Batman and Martian Manhunter among others. In the Netflix series, in principle, no appearances of these characters are expected, but they have not ruled out their mention.
It will be next August 5 when we can enjoy this series and the rest of Netflix’s new releases. It seems that there is still a lot of summer ahead.
