Although the story does eventually take on a life of its own, Neil Gaiman's The Sandman is very much set in the main DC Comics Universe. Netflix's adaptation includes a few nods and Easter Eggs here and there, but mostly eschews any direct connections.
For example, In the show, Morpheus never encounters the likes of Mr. Miracle and Martian Manhunter, John Dee is being held in a nameless psychiatric facility instead of Arkham Asylum, and John Constantine has been replaced by Jenna Coleman's Johanna Constantine.
Gaiman has previously addressed some of these changes, but during a new interview with Variety, the author reveals that they wanted the series to better reflect the later comic book arcs.
"The Sandman itself started out in the DC Universe, the comic, and then it just sort of wound up wandering off into its own place," he explains. "Its world joined up more and more with our world and became less and less a world in which costumed crime fighters fly around and so on, which meant that by the time The Sandman finished, it had its own aesthetic which really wasn’t the DC Universe anymore."
"We didn’t want a TV show where you felt that you had to have read a whole bunch of comics published in 1988 and 1989 to understand what was going on," he adds.
It's hard to argue with the reasoning, but we can't help but wonder if Gaiman and co. have used a few familiar DC Comics characters if the rights were available to them? We'll probably never find out! Fortunately, the first season manages just fine without them.
Have you guys watched The Sandman yet? You can check out our review here.
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