Netflix is in the midst of making something that DC Comics fans have been dreaming of for years, a TV series based on Neil Gaiman’s acclaimed The Sandman. The funny thing is, though, that the streamer already sports one show based on the Sandman universe. That’d be Lucifer, which is loosely inspired by Gaiman’s interpretation of the Devil. The author himself even showed up for a cameo – fittingly – as the voice of God in season 3.
Gaiman – who’s heavily involved with the Sandman adaptation – has now addressed whether Lucifer will impact or crossover in anyway with the new series. In short, it won’t. One fan asked him on Twitter whether the fact that the former Fox show has already tackled the concept of Lucifer leaving Hell behind and moving to Earth will mean that the Netflix version of Season of Mists – the fourth volume – will be changed.
Gaiman succinctly put any fears of that happening to bed, though. “It won’t,” he said. “Sandman is Sandman.”
It won't. Sandman is Sandman. https://t.co/62HUZYSJJe
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) November 14, 2020
This seems to confirm that The Sandman will be set in its own universe and will not crossover with Lucifer at all. So, don’t expect Tom Ellis to appear in the show. That makes sense, too, as Sandman will obviously be a lot more faithful to the source material than Lucifer and Ellis has said that he wants to put the role behind him once his show concludes with season 6.
Though Gaiman is promising that the major story points will remain the same in the TV series as they are in the comic, he’s also previously teased that Netflix’s Sandman will be a modernized retelling, taking place in our time and not in the 90s. This will mean, as he says, that some characters’ identities, ethnicity and gender will change accordingly.
We don’t know too much more about the project than that, but you can rest assured that The Sandman is finally on its way to our screens. Just don’t expect a Lucifer crossover.
