The Sandman: Writer Neil Gaiman explains the reason book adaptation has taken so long

Comic book series was first considered for adaptation in the 1990s

Neil Gaiman has spoken about the reasons behind the decades-long journey to get his The Sandman comic book series to the screen.

The first edition of the series was published in 1989 and focuses on the character Morpheus, who personifies stories and dreams. Also in The Sandman’s universe are characters such as Death and Desire, as Morpheus tries to harness his powers to control the world of dreaming.

Now, the stories are set to feature in a 10-part Netflix series, with Tom Sturridge starring as Morpheus and Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer.

Speaking at San Diego Comic-Con, Gaiman explained that the adaptation has been in the making since the 1990s. Originally, The Sandman was imagined as a film, but all who tried found that the form was too restrictive to tell the full tale.

“They were trying to make a 3,000-page story happen in two hours of film time,” Gaiman told the BBC. “And nobody ever cracked that because it was uncrackable.”

However, the rise of television as a prestige storytelling format meant that the series could be reimagined in a different way.

“We're now in this golden era of television,” Gaiman said. “And we have the technology to make something like this.”

Gwendoline Christie in The Sandman (NETFLIX)

Elsewhere in the conversation, Gaiman spoke about the pressure to please fans after a considerably long wait, expressing that it hasn’t been a major concern for him.

“What matters is that we love it,” the writer said. “What matters is that we make something that we're proud of. And you can't make people like something or not like it.

“I've no idea how this is going to be received by the public. And I don't mind. What I'm excited about is that I've made something that I think is really good.”

Equally, if people aren’t fans of the adaptation, Gaiman will accept their opinions, as he will still be pleased with his work. He continued: “And if people don't like it, that's okay too, because you can't make people like things. But I like it.”

The Sandman is scheduled to launch on Netflix on 5 August.