DC TV Series Sandman: The Series

This show is such a brilliant and faithful adaptation that leans into the weirdness of the source material. It proves to me that Netflix should absolutely go after the rights to The Dark Tower.

 

I love the video of him boxing Uwe Boll. Sneider seems like a really annoying guy, but I gotta give him credit for that. He’s not a coward.

Im so happy this show has been so well received. It’s ****ing amazing. It’s some of the non DCEU stuff that’s really been working recently… The Batman, Joker, Doom Patrol, Watchmen (2019), and now Sandman. I am so satisfied as a fan of the comics. I didn’t expect this to be so good!

 

YES! Now that we have such a great Sandman adaptation, The Dark Tower is the next big fantasy series that deserves a faithful adaptation. The first three books hold a special place in my heart. King is King!

 

Same here. Now, I haven’t heard anything about Netflix being interested in it BUT… Mike Flanagan has said it’s his dream project and he’s done a lot of good stuff for Netflix so… fingers crossed.

 

That would be so fantastic, I absolutely loved Doctor Sleep and Midnight Mass. He would be perfect for that story. I used to want Iain Glen as Roland, Ruth Negga as Susannah, and Aaron Paul as Eddie Dean. Not sure who I’d like to see now, but if Flanagan gets the gig, he’ll probably cast some of his regular collaborators (Henry Thomas, Annabeth Gish, Carla Gugino, Kate Siegel, etc; )

 

Love Ruth Negga as Susannah. Hadn’t thought of Ian Glen but that’s an interesting suggestion. I think Aaron Paul would have made a great Eddie but he feels a bit too old for it now.

But yeah, Flanagan would probably cast some of his regulars. I’m fine with that as long as he casts Carla Gugino and his amazing wife Kate Siegel in the show (not sure who either of them would play though lol).

 

Mike Flanagan’s The Dark Tower

Roland Deschain - Bruce Greenwood



Eddie Dean - Oliver Jackson Cohen



Susannah Dean - T’nia Miller



Jake Chambers - Jacob Tremblay



The Man in Black - Henry Thomas

 

Just started this and loving it so far.

 

I love this cast!

 

Welp I finished it. It was a good series for sure. Not perfect, but it's crazy how much I recognized from the comics throughout it.

I also liked the little easter eggs of it being a dc property. Like Jed owning a Flash/Wonder Woman toy and him watching static shock/justice league.

The guy who played The Corinthian was fantastic. Dream/Corinthian=Best casting choices. Desire seems pretty great casting as well with the little we saw.

 

Loving this a lot! Who do we want for Delirium if we get a season 2?

 

Exactly my thoughts.

Having completed a readthrough Preludes & Nocturnes and The Doll's House before this premiered, the show is pretty much page for page faithful to the graphic novel with the only changes made being mostly to remove it from the other DC property continuity (Arkham Asylum, Justice League references, etc.).

However I also felt that the season feels like it has two distinct parts and endings which would lend itself to a Volume or Chapter release, with the last half feeling more like movie that also features the Sandman (it's primarily Rose's story, as is the book) while the first half felt more like an episodic series with Sandman main character questing to fetch his tools.

The Sound of Her Wings was the best episode and I loved how they incorporated the 100 year old tavern encounters. Seamless and just as interesting as the comic.

The cast was all wonderful and I specially loved the surprise of finding out Stephen Fry was cast as Gilbert. Somehow it went past me on the press they did. Didnt mention him. Love me some Fry <3

 

Halfway through - this is so awesome. Everything I dreamed for.

 

The only thing I hate so far is this:

‘The Sandman’ Aspect Ratio: Netflix Explains the Deliberate Creative Choice Behind the Divisive Skewed Imagery

It's distracting and irritating as hell. If I wanted a screwed up aspect ratio or stretched and squeezed frames I'd go watch a ****ty bootleg copy.

 

My verdict on The Sandman:

Speaking as someone who was been a fan of the comics almost from the beginning, I think this first season was good. Not great. GOOD. Some changes from the source material made sense, but others felt...random. Changes for change's sake.

The visual effects, production design and cinematography were outstanding. But the plot, pacing and character development at some points felt rushed, especially in the Doll's House portion of the season. Maybe they needed more episodes and longer runtimes.

Most of the cast was good, especially Tom Sturridge, Boyd Holbrook and Gwendoline Christie, but there was some miscastings. I love Jenna Coleman, but she was not playing Constantine. She was basically reprising her Clara Oswald role. Kirby Howell-Baptiste's acting as Death was...fine. But it's obvious she was cast only for "diversity". She doesn't have the liveliness and sweetness that I associate with the character. I have no doubt that Kat Dennings would have done in live action the same great job she did with the role in the audio dramas.

In short, this is a good show with some space for improvement. I hope the producers work these kinks out in the next season.

 

Is this show safe from WBDiscovery's meddling and canceling? Id hate to fall in love with this show just for it to be another victim of Zaslav's chopping block.

 

The show is on Netflix not HBO Max. Max shows were cancelled because they were losing WBD money. A Netflix show is licensed so WBD makes money on it. (IIRC)

 

Is it likely that the other (existing) shows will move to Netflix too then rather than being cancelled?

 

No they are likely moving to HBO Proper if they survive which seems to be what Zazlov prefers. I havent researched it much but it appears he is not a fan of making scripted material specifically for Max, he would seem to be more in the realm of "Make it for HBO and then put it on Max". Considering how much money they have been losing that makes way more sense since HBO is a sign of quality and still makes a ton of money.

Easier to justify the budget for say House of Dragon because millions will watch it on HBO around the world. Penguin it is harder to justify because it will be seen by less people and only on Max. (or licensed networks in other countries) Until Max has the type of reach that HBO does there is just no reason to throw money behind shows on it. WBD has networks, they can use them and let Max grow organically.

Kilar and Co. were trying to be Netflix, but even Netflix has issues being Netflix. They could not see the forest from the trees.

 

Ok, thanks for the info.

 

A huge chunk of HBO's viewership comes from online and app streaming. I really doubt they are going to restrict their shows to only their television cable channels. HBO Max is their only streaming app currently. And Amazon Prime video has an HBO channel that works as an HBO portal. Coming out with another HBO app besides Max wouldn't make much sense. That would just cost WBD more money.

 

You are misunderstanding Marvolo and its my fault...they aren't restricting anything. All HBO shows end up on Max. They aren't going to produce "Max Exclusives" (ie streaming only) cause they don't make money that way. The shows will be made for HBO but viewable on Max as well.

If you have HBO you have Max so it isn't an issue anyways. If you only have Max you will still see the shows.

Here is an example cause my explanation sucks. I personally have Max but not HBO through my carrier. I watch Succession, which is an HBO Proper show on Max after it airs.

 

Watched the first 4 episodes. Not quite in love with it but I am thoroughly enjoying it. Episode 1 was a good pilot, 2 felt a little slow and not very well paced but I really, really liked 3 and 4. Sturridge looks really good as Dream and his portrayal is good too mostly but sometimes he does some things that make him a little less like how I had always imagined Dream. It’s still early though and I think there’s a chance he could make the character his own. Boyd Holbrook is doing a great job as the Corinthian though and Gwendoline Christie was an absolute delight as Lucifer. David Thewlis is also doing a really good job. And while I absolutely love Jenna Coleman and thought she was thoroughly fun to watch, I think they changed Constantine’s character a little too much again. Wish Joanna was a little closer to John in her characterisation. Oh and I’m really not a fan of the coat they decided to go with.

Overall despite having reservations about some of the changes, I think they’ve done a pretty good job of capturing the overall vibe and atmosphere of the books. Looking forward to finishing the show in the next few days. I’m hoping that by the time it finishes, the show will have won me over completely. Which in fairness, it pretty much nearly has.

 

Oh come on, that was a great coat. While it might not have felt like something John Constantine would wear, it was stylish as hell. I can forgive them for making this incarnation of the character a little less grungy than usual (though she looked more disheveled in her dream/memory).

On that note… a poster on the wall in her memory appeared to say “Muchas Membrane.” Did I see that right? John’s band in the comics was Mucas Membrane but it looked like they might have changed it here? Was that a rights issue too?