OTTplay Now You Know - The Sandman

Neil Gaiman’s award-winning New York Times bestselling graphic novel, The Sandman, has finally been adapted into live-action. The dark fantasy epic is now a TV series on Netflix. So before you stream this iconic story, here are some lesser-known facts about The Sandman.

1. There are several of The Sandman characters that have appeared in DC comics history. The earliest one from the 1930s was a crime fighter named Wesley Dodds, and in the 70s acclaimed comic book writer Jack Kirby also introduced a version of the Sandman who protects people from nightmares with the help of his sidekicks Brute and Glob. The current version of the character is a complete reimagination of the character by Gaiman.
2. Gaiman has openly admitted that he modeled the King of Hell, Lucifer Morningstar in his comics after legendary British rockstar David Bowie. Bowie’s ’Thin White Duke’ persona was a major influence and Gaiman insisted that artist Kelley Jones would have to redo the sketches if Lucifer did not share a likeness with Bowie.
3. Several attempts at adapting the award-winning graphic novel were rejected by Gaiman since 1991. In fact, Gaiman once claimed that one particular script was not only the worst Sandman script he had ever read but also the worst script he had come across.
4. Casting the titular character was no walk in the park according to Gaiman. He admitted that he went through at least 1,500 auditions for the role and also confirmed that casting director Lucinda Syson may have overseen even more auditions for the role. The role finally went to English actor Tom Sturridge.
5. The Sandman, who also goes by the name of Morpheus or Dream, is inspired by European folklore. But he has a more direct inspiration from Greek mythology. Morpheus is also the name of the Greek God of Dreams, the son of Hypnos, the God of Sleep.
6. Hollywood star Joseph Gordon-Lewitt was originally attached to adapt the graphic novel into film. He was set to star and direct the project until his choice of screenwriter was replaced by Warner Bros in 2016. Gaiman was also on board for the project at the time as executive producer.

Well that's the OTTplay Now You Know for today, until the next episode it's your host Nikhil signing out.

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• Written by Ryan Gomez