Empire revealed today the first image of Vivienne Acheampong as the Librarian of Netflix’s The Sandman, the highly-anticipated series adaptation of the beloved comic book series written by Neil Gaiman. Together with the image, Gaiman also gave new detail about The Sandman, teasing a unique tone for the series adaptation.
Commenting about The Sandman adaptation, Gaiman said that Netflix’s show would follow the same ethereal narrative structure of the comic book series, changing its tone from chapter to chapter. With eleven episodes confirmed for The Sandman’s first season, the series had plenty of space to play with different ideas, giving each episode its own rhythm. As Gaiman puts it:
“You watch Episode 1 and think, ‘Oh, I get this thing: it’s like Downton Abbey, but with magic. Then you’ll be wondering, ‘What the hell is this?’ by Episode 2, when you’re meeting Gregory The Gargoyle in The Dreaming. Episode 5 is about as dark and traumatic as anything is ever gonna get, then you’ve got Episode 6, which is probably the most feel-good of all the episodes.”
The Sandman exploration of multiple genres, from horror to romance, helped keep the comic books fresh and could allow the series the same benefit. However, that also means fans will have to stick around longer than usual before they learn if they like the series or not. As Gaiman explains it:
“If you didn’t like an episode of Game Of Thrones, you probably won’t like any other episode of Game Of Thrones. With Sandman, it’s all about surprising you. It’s all about reinventing itself. It’s all about taking you on a journey you’ve not been on before.”
The Sandman follows the struggles of Dream (Tom Sturridge), one of seven immortal beings known as the Endless, who guide humanity's lives from their mystical realms. The series is also expected to show all six of Dream’s siblings: Destiny, Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), Desire (Mason Alexander Park), Despair, Delirium (formerly Delight), and Destruction.
The first season of The Sandman is reported to cover the story of The Sandman, volume 1: Preludes & Nocturnes, a collection of comic book issues that follows Dream’s capture by a cult in the early 1900s and his subsequent escape a century later. As for Acheampong's character, the Librarian is one of Dream’s servants, responsible for overseeing a collection of every book that has ever been imagined. When Dream is captured, the Librarian is the only of his servant to hold his position and try to keep the Dreaming in a working state.
The Sandman cast also includes Gwendoline Christie, Boyd Holbrook, Charles Dance, Asim Chaudhry, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Donna Preston, Jenna Coleman, Niamh Walsh, Joely Richardson, David Thewlis, Kyo Ra, Stephen Fry, Razane Jammal, Sandra James Young, and Patton Oswalt.
The Sandman is expected to premiere on Netflix in 2022.