Netflix’s The Sandman is already out, and critics and fans are already liking the first season for its epic imagery, awesome performance by the cast, and the script’s closeness to the source material. It took nearly three decades for Neil Gaiman’s creation to find its place in the world of live-screen adaptations, and when it did, it became one of the best fantasy originals of 2022. Even Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin highly recommends watching it, writing and talking about the show on his blog Not A Blog.
The Sandman’s imagery is largely philosophical, and even though its lore pulls out inspiration from several mythos, Gaiman has created his own world successfully incorporating several thought-provoking human elements, especially with the personification of concepts like Death, Delirium, Desire, Despair, Destiny, Destruction, and Dream. The show has a plethora of dreamy sequences, and one of them features an epic battle between Lucifer, the Ruler of Hell, and Morpheus, The Sandman, King of The Dreaming.
The battle depicted in the show is more philosophical and psychological than physical, and the mind-blowing performance of both Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) as Lucifer and Tom Sturridge (Irma Vep) completely knocks it out of the ballpark. The sheer imagery of the two larger-than-life characters sets up the tone at the beginning of the scene, where the audience is expecting a brutal drawn-out gladiator-style battle. What happens next simply knocks your socks off, and causes you to stare at your screen in awe and disbelief.
The battle begins with Lucifer’s transformation into a Direwolf (a reference to Game of Thrones, maybe?), to which the Sandman replies with his depiction of a seasoned hunter. This mind-bending brawl goes out of a universal scale, with victory seemingly in the grasp of The Ruler of Hell. However, with a little inspiration from his trustworthy raven, Morpheus makes a comeback, becoming the personification of Hope, which even breaks the harder-than-steel composure of the Lightbringer.
Have you watched The Sandman yet? What do you think of the Netflix adaptation? Tell us in the comments below!
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