logo
Netflix's The Sandman still comes off like unimaginative cosplay

Netflix's The Sandman still comes off like unimaginative cosplay

Yahoo21-07-2025
DC Comics' The Sandman, written by Neil Gaiman, was a groundbreaking and surreal series. However, the Netflix adaptation remains content to paint by the numbers. Superhero movies often take inspiration from their source material, but the better ones usually avoid directly translating stories to the screen word-for-word or panel-for-panel. As a TV show, The Sandman struggles to exceed or even match the original's stunning visual landscape, and its characters often feel like unimaginative cosplayers reciting Gaiman's dialogue.
The Sandman's first season offered some compelling reasons for viewers to sympathize with its lead, Morpheus of the Dreaming (Tom Sturridge). He was kidnapped and held prisoner for a century; and once he escaped, he set out to reclaim what he had lost, both physically and spiritually. Sadly, the first half of The Sandman's second and final season doesn't deliver many satisfying reasons for us to care about what we're watching.
These six new episodes are based on Season Of Mists and Brief Lives—and unfortunately, those very different tales are loosely connected through a specific plot point that just wanders off midway through its run, as if left unattended. Ultimately, this batch of installments serves as a character study for Morpheus, also known as Dream, who mostly sleepwalks through the proceedings.
As drawn by artists Kelley Jones and Jill Thompson, the original Dream boasts a thrilling, unconventional weirdness that is absent on the screen. Instead, Sturridge performs the part as if he's a supernatural Mr. Darcy—or worse, Prince Charles from The Crown. There's far too much of the preening aristocrat and not nearly enough of the unknowable eternal being, with Sturridge delivering somber lines that feel stiff and joyless. A relentlessly dour Dream roams around rooms that resemble vampire-themed nightclubs and speaks in ponderous, whispered tones. It all comes off at times like a Key & Peele parody. Yes, he's the lord of dreams, but his very presence shouldn't put viewers to sleep.
Critics have argued that the Netflix series is too faithful to Gaiman's work, but that's only true on the most superficial level. Overall, the TV series misses the mark on what made The Sandman so engaging and unique. Season Of Mists and Brief Lives were published in the early 1990s, and the Netflix adaptation exists in a seeming vacuum as if the past 30 years of TV fantasy and horror never happened. It's a curious choice. The Sandman is a clear spiritual ancestor to later genre entries such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Supernatural, and Gaiman's work shares (and perhaps even inspired) their quirky, tongue-in-cheek approach.
Dream holding a 'dinner party' where he meets and greets the treacherous contenders for ultimate power could have played out like a timely spin on reality shows like The Traitors. Later, Dream and his (very odd) sister Delirium (Esmé Creed-Miles) embark on what is effectively a wacky road trip to find their estranged brother Destruction (Barry Sloane). The sight of the two on a commercial airline fight in the comic is a laugh-out-loud moment. But the Netflix series drains these situations of any trace of humor or sly wit. Simply put, the show is serious at a time when works of fantasy are confident enough to not take themselves so seriously.
The first-season finale set up a potential epic war between Hell and the Dreaming that is never fully realized, so Gwendoline Christie's return as Lucifer is disappointingly anticlimactic. The series obviously struggles with Lucifer, the fallen angel who was the basis for the titular series on Fox (and later Netflix). Tom Ellis' crime-solving devil was a significant departure from the text, and apparently Netflix's The Sandman chose to distinguish between the two versions by eliminating most of Lucifer's puckish charm and Machiavellian edge. Christie's Lucifer is as mopey and sullen as Dream, so their scenes together lack the source material's tension. Gaiman's Lucifer, on the other hand, was openly based on David Bowie. It's a shame, as it feels like a waste of Christie's talent and a commanding presence.
Kirby Howell-Baptiste's Death is a necessary departure from the comic's now-dated 'pale goth girl,' yet the incongruity of a hip, perky, teenage embodiment of Death helped make her a fan-favorite character. Howell-Baptiste plays her as almost timeless, not really of this particular moment. She's more mature and somber than her on-the-page counterpart, so just what you might imagine from the personification of Death. And that brings up a big conundrum with the series: There are rarely any surprises. The comic was famously adventurous, frequently pushing the boundaries of its format, while the Netflix series is predictably straightforward, without the madcap nature of an actual dream.
But on the plus side, the show does make a change to a character from Brief Lives that is particularly relevant for today, with the story directly challenging the cruel prejudice some people can't escape even in death. This tweak also affords a rare moment of genuine compassion from Dream (something the show could have used more of). And in other good news, Mason Alexander Park remains something of a revelation as Desire, imbuing Dream's younger sibling with layers of complexity. They are simultaneously seductive and sinister—and luckily (given that this is such a predictable adaptation), Desire should play a larger role in the final half of season two, which adapts The Kindly Ones and Overture.
In the end, the experience of watching Netflix's The Sandman is like listening to a cover band perform one of your favorite songs: It's a passable version of something you've long enjoyed, with familiar beats that are comforting—even if nothing new or original has been added. And for newbies, there is still enough left of the original's imaginative world to entertain.
The Sandman season two, volume one premieres July 3 on Netflix
More from A.V. Club
Duster's LaToya Morgan and Rachel Hilson on rooting a very '70s story in the here and now
Spoiler Space: Jurassic World Rebirth once again makes dinosaurs everyone's problem
Sinners got a bunch of its costumes from Marvel's abandoned Blade period movie
Solve the daily Crossword
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Fate App Launch: AI Ends Endless Swiping in Manchester
Fate App Launch: AI Ends Endless Swiping in Manchester

Time Business News

time24 minutes ago

  • Time Business News

Fate App Launch: AI Ends Endless Swiping in Manchester

Rakesh Naidu, CEO & Founder at Fate 'After two years in the making, we launched our beta in London last month. Since then, not apenny has gone into paid advertising. Every single user has come to Fate through pure word of mouth or Fate itself. The past month has been relentless. Our team grew from 13 to over Every day, we sharpened the app, clarified our messaging, and tuned every detail live inthe market, from matching to user flow. We built on real conversations and real feedback. Now, we move from beta to full production. The technology behind Fate is designed with the same intelligence that powers the world'sbest consumer products. Netflix doesn't ask what you want to watch. It studies what youactually choose, what you binge, what you pause or abandon. Spotify listens to your habitsand evolves with every play. Amazon anticipates your next need before you even type it brings this level of intuition to human connection. Our agentic AI understands thesubtleties of your voice, your pace, your style. Every interaction makes the next match more precise, more relevant, more interesting. You only ever see six curated matches at a time. Each is handpicked, reflecting hundreds oflive signals from the way you engage. There's no endless scroll, no time wasted flicking through faces. This system rewards your attention and your intent. Other apps haven't built this kind of system, not because the technology doesn't exist, butbecause it threatens their business model. If you help users find what they actually wantfaster, your LTV drops. Most dating apps need users to stay single and addicted to theprocess. We are not interested in that. We will take the risk. If Fate is good enough, we aremore than happy to sacrifice LTV in exchange for the kind of word of mouth that only comesfrom delivering real connections. Which is why we are a connections app, not a dating app,dating without connecting is meaningless. My confidence comes from selling more than £10million in AI solutions to multiple multi-billion-pound revenue firms. We want Fate to be the product that finally replaces chance with real connection that feels like Fate. Fate Calls is at the centre of the experience. Every day, you enter a ten-minute, faceless,profile-free voice conversation with a stranger who sits outside your current six. If thechemistry is there, you can reveal each others' profiles but only by swapping one of yourexisting 6 matches out first. If you picked someone and sacrificed and existing match in the process but were not selected in return – you lose both matches. Our Insights engine shows you exactly how others experience you. No empty praise, noguesswork. You see where you spark interest, where you lose people, and what keeps conversations alive. If you want to grow, you have all the information to get better The Joker Card is your single daily opportunity to place yourself directly into any curated pool. No resets or repeats. You get one move, and it counts. We go live at BLVD on 15 August. Tickets are on sale now at Fate is ready, active, and learning every day. If you want to see what dating looks like when it is rebuilt with true intelligence, this is your first chance. Follow us on Instagram for more TIME BUSINESS NEWS

Jacob Elordi Looks Unreal in First Look as Frankenstein's Monster
Jacob Elordi Looks Unreal in First Look as Frankenstein's Monster

Yahoo

time43 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Jacob Elordi Looks Unreal in First Look as Frankenstein's Monster

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." It's alive! Frankenstein is officially getting the Guillermo del Toro treatment. The Oscar-winning writer-director behind The Shape of Water and Pinocchio is bringing the classic tale to Netflix. Here's everything we know about the forthcoming film. What is Frankenstein about? Frankenstein is based on the 1818 Mary Shelley novel, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Here's the film's official logline, per Variery: 'A brilliant but egotistical scientist brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.' According to Vanity Fair, del Toro's version of Frankenstein will dive deeper into the characters' family dynamics. 'These are the parallels between Pinocchio and Frankenstein,' he said. 'It's the idea of a person going from a baby to a human being in a short span of time and being exposed to everything—cold, warmth, violence, love, loss. And then going to his creator to say, 'Why? Why did you put me here? Why didn't you give me the answers? What do I have to learn in my suffering?'' Who is in the Frankenstein cast? Oscar Isaac will play the scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein, and Jacob Elordi will play Frankenstein's creature. Andrew Garfield was originally cast as Frankenstein's creature, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. 'Andrew Garfield stepping out and Jacob coming in... I mean, it was like Jacob is the most perfect actor for the creature,' del Toro told Vanity Fair. 'And we have a supernaturally good connection. It's like, very few words. Very few things I have to say, and he does it.' 'Because I came in so late, everything happened on top of each other at the same time,' Elordi added. 'I was shooting as I was seeing, as I was understanding.' The cast is rounded out by Mia Goth as Elizabeth, the fiancée of Dr. Frankenstein's younger brother; Christoph Waltz as Harlander, an arms dealer; and David Bradley, a blind old man. Felix Kammerer, Lars Mikkelsen, and Christian Convery will also star. What has Jacob Elordi said about preparing for Frankenstein? Elordi shared that he went back and watched all of the previous Frankenstein movies, which date back to 1931. 'I devoured all of his monsters,' Elordi said of the late actor Boris Karloff's portrayal of the creature. 'At first I thought, 'I'll stay away from this. I want to do my own thing.' And then I asked Guillermo, 'Should I watch the other Frankensteins?' And he goes, 'What the fuck do you mean?' I was like, 'Well, I don't want it to be influenced.' He says, 'My friend, it's a movie, it can't fucking hurt you.' I went home, and I just binged them.' When will Frankenstein come out? Frankenstein will be released in November on Netflix. An exact date has yet to be announced. Can I see a sneak peek? On May 31, Netflix released the official teaser. And on July 28, Vanity Fair unveiled images from the film, which include a first look at Elordi as Frankenstein's monster. This story will be updated. You Might Also Like The 15 Best Organic And Clean Shampoos For Any And All Hair Types 100 Gifts That Are $50 Or Under (And Look Way More Expensive Than They Actually Are) Solve the daily Crossword

‘The Hunting Wives' Showrunner Teases a Potential Season 2 (With More Murder)
‘The Hunting Wives' Showrunner Teases a Potential Season 2 (With More Murder)

Elle

timean hour ago

  • Elle

‘The Hunting Wives' Showrunner Teases a Potential Season 2 (With More Murder)

Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. Some spoilers below. Maple Brook, Texas, has a murder problem. In Netflix's latest soapy mystery thriller The Hunting Wives, the Southern enclave becomes the scene of not one but multiple (four, by my count) homicides, each somehow connected to the titular gun-toting wives at its center. Most dominant amongst them is Margo (Malin Åkerman), wife of the oil tycoon and gubernatorial candidate Jed (Dermot Mulroney), with whom she shares an open marriage. That open door beckons in Sophie (Brittany Snow), who's relocated from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Maple Brook with her husband, only to fall in with Margo and her MAGA-coded pack—and fall into a love affair with Margot herself. Eventually, the multiple affairs connecting these characters result in multiple deaths (who could have guessed!), setting the stage for a delicious finale the chance for a second season. Here's what we know so far. Mercifully, none of the people depicted in The Hunting Wives are real. But their story is adapted from a 2021 thriller novel by May Cobb, which is itself inspired by some of Cobb's real-life experiences in Texas. As Åkerman recently told Town & Country, '[Cobb] was on set a lot, she's an executive producer of the show, and the book is based on people that she has met—not necessarily the murders, though. But we had a lot of discussions, and talking to May about who she met and hearing her stories of these different women was informative for our characters.' She also added that '[showrunner] Rebecca Cutter and May decided to swap a few things from the book so that fans are surprised as well.' All of which is to say: Whether or not you've read The Hunting Wives before tuning into the Netflix series, you're in for a twisty ride. The cast and crew certainly want one. After scooping up the series from Starz in a one-year deal earlier this summer, Netflix has yet to announce what the future of the series might look like. But its talent have demonstrated a clear interest in moving forward. In a pre-release interview with Decider, Ackerman shared that she was nervous for the series to drop on Netflix largely because she wants it to continue. 'I think the nerves come from, for me, really wanting this to go for a second season,' she said, adding, 'because I love everybody that I got to work with and it would be a dream come true to go again. So my nerves are around the fact that I just want and wish for everyone to love it so much that we get another season.' In a separate interview with Collider, Snow also expressed her enthusiasm for a sophomore chapter. 'I think the end [of season 1] is really interesting, and I know that we would deal with it in season 2,' she said. 'There are a lot of questions that didn't get answered because Rebecca wants to answer them in the next season if we get one.' Should Cutter get the green light she's hoping for, she plans to 'do a little bit of a time jump—not a year, but a time' between seasons, she told Variety. She's not yet sure what the ensuing story might look like, but one thing is for certain: Season 2 would center 'the two engines of the show': a 'whodunit' and 'the Margo/Sophie relationship.' Cutter continued, 'The first thing I'm thinking about is, where are these two women at the start? Where are they at the end? What are the peaks and valleys of their individual power, of their relationship? So it's tracking a course for that, and then figuring out what the crime engine is.' As for the 'crime engine' itself, expect another murder mystery. But don't ask for any details yet! Cutter joked, 'I don't know whodunit yet or who got done!' This story will be updated.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store