Neil Gaiman teases a Sandman prequel on Netflix. Here's what that means.
In Overture, Morpheus finds himself in an alien world investigating the aftermath of a mishandled Dream Vortex.
Dreamy news for Sandman fans: The hit Netflix comics-to-screen adaptation may not only get several more seasons, but it may also have a prequel in the works.
Neil Gaiman, writer of the DC Comics series and co-executive producer and co-writer of the streaming show, told Variety that they want to not only tell the whole story of Morpheus through to the original tenth and final volume of the comics, but also adapt the eleventh volume, Sandman: Overture.
Season one of Sandman covers the first two volumes of the comic: Preludes & Nocturnes and The Doll’s House. If Gaiman and his fellow creatives get their wish, it seems likely that the 10 original Sandman volumes will be adapted across five seasons, with each season tackling two volumes. Overture, then, could get its own adaptation, either as a prequel miniseries or perhaps an original movie.
While The Sandman’s original storyline spans 10 volumes, Gaiman has written numerous spin-offs, including a prequel volume, Overture, in 2013.
In the first six episodes of the Netflix adaptation, Morpheus (Tom Sturridge) finds The Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook) and prepares to send him back to his realm, only to be yanked away from his mission by dark magic. He’s captured by Roderick Burgess (Charles Dance), and The Corinthian is able to terrorize Earth uninhibited for over a century. Overture reveals this wasn’t the first time Dream (unsuccessfully) dealt with The Corinthian.
What is the plot of Sandman: Overture?
In 1915 London, as Morpheus makes an initial attempt to handle his nightmare-gone-rogue, he’s summoned to an alien world to investigate a strange sensation. As an aspect, the physical embodiment of various abstract concepts, Morpheus must team up with aspects from other species and worlds to solve a mystery.
Overture, a feast for the eyes and a delightful prequel, won the 2016 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story.
Morpheus learns from a character known as Glory of the First Circle that the strange sensation is caused by the insanity of a star that went mad thanks to a mishandled Dream Vortex. Eventually, that star’s craziness will infect other stars and consume the universe.
Morpheus and a cat companion embark on a journey that sees them bump into the Three Fates and an orphaned alien girl named Hope. Without giving too much away, Morpheus eventually meets his father, Time, and his mother, Night. Morpheus begs his parents for aid, but is rejected. Thrown out of Night’s dimension, Morpheus winds up in Destiny’s domain, and later his sister Delirium’s neck of the woods.
The Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook) was a nightmare in Dream’s Realm before he became a serial killer.
There, Dream learns that his cat companion is Desire (Mason Alexander Park). Desire has been meeting with members of various species involved in a galactic war and providing them shelter on a ship. Desire tells Morpheus that the universe can be saved by altering its reality, Morpheus instructs Hope to make the inhabitants of the ship dream of a changed reality, and Morpheus is able to guide them to safety. Morpheus saves the universe, but his weakened state allows Burgess to capture him in the Waking World, hence leading to the events of Preludes & Nocturnes.
The occasionally toxic dynamics between The Endless siblings have been established for eons.
The Inverse Analysis— Adapting Overture for a prequel miniseries on Netflix may be difficult, as it is one of the more visually overwhelming installments of the franchise. Still, the positive reception to The Corinthian and Morpheus’ Endless siblings may make an attempt inevitable, especially with fantasy prequel series being all the rage these days. If Sandman is a hit, don’t be surprised to see Netflix mine all the spin-off possibilities it can.
The Sandman is streaming on Netflix.
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