Netflix Officially Orders A ‘Sandman’ TV Series With Author Neil Gaiman’s Blessing (And Involvement)

Over the weekend, rumors were swirling that The Sandman, author Neil Gaiman‘s acclaimed comic book series that revived Joe Simon, Michael Fleisher, Jack Kirby and Ernie Chua’s original ’70s comics for an ’80s audience, was coming to Netflix. Well, as the streaming giant confirmed late Monday in an official press release, the rumors are true.

One of Netflix’s official Twitter accounts broke the news on social media with a beautiful graphic from Gaiman’s comics: “The rumors are true. The tangled story of Morpheus, King of Dreams is becoming a Netflix series!”

Per the show’s official logline:

A rich blend of modern myth and dark fantasy in which contemporary fiction, historical drama and legend are seamlessly interwoven, The Sandman follows the people and places affected by Morpheus, the Dream King, as he mends the cosmic — and human — mistakes he’s made during his vast existence.

Entertainment Weekly reports that, per the release, Gaiman will serve as a writer and an executive producer on the show. David S. Goyer, whom fans will know for his work on Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, many of Zack Snyder’s DC Comics film adaptations, and other superhero cinematic attempts, is also attached to the project. Wonder Woman screenwriter Allan Heinberg will serve as Sandman‘s showrunner.

Ever the tweeter, Gaiman immediately took to social media to confirm the news and answer any pertinent fan questions. Regarding the concern that the Netflix show would force readers to lose their personal interpretations of the comics, the author assured his followers that they would “make something on television that feels as personal and true as the best of the Sandman comics did.” “Just,” he added, “set thirty years later than Sandman the comic.”

As for the prospect of trying to tell the whole of Gaiman’s Sandman run in a single season of television, he quickly shut down such a possibility. “We won’t even try,” he said.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)