There's a Problem With How The Endless Are Portrayed in 'The Sandman'
It's hard to get everything right when you try to adapt a comic book, but still.
Despite Neil Gaiman fans being on cloud nine about the long-awaited release of 'The Sandman ' – the Netflix adaptation of the eponymous comic book series – there is still an issue with certain things about the show.
One of the essential parts of 'The Sandman' lore is the race of the Endless – immortal creatures who represent powerful beings and entities that affect the human world. The family of the Endless consists of Death, Delirium, Desire, Despair, Destruction, Destiny, and Dream. The latter is the main character of 'The Sandman'.
However, the Netflix show appears to personify and humanize the beings way too much. In Gaiman's comics, the Endless are not people granted with powers of their functions; they are the functions. Therefore, they look quite different from regular people, sometimes taking bizarre forms and looking way too abnormal. For instance, Dream usually appears in the comics as a tall, thin, unnaturally pale man with two stars in place of the eyes.
Tom Sturridge 's portrayal in 'The Sandman' is nothing like it; he looks quite like a regular person you might spot in a grocery store, albeit with an obvious touch of a gothic vibe. For many fans, this appears to be a problem.
"I'm trying to keep an open mind about this, but I can't get over the fact that their Dream is just some guy. He looks exceptionally normal– no alabaster skin, no dark eyes with stars twinkling in them, average height... He looks way too human. All the Endless do." – /antipyretical
However, people acknowledge that this is an issue that live-action adaptations of books and comics are no strangers to. Concepts that fit just fine in one's imagination tend to look disappointing and unnatural when they are brought to screens via CGI and special effects.
Still, there might be a logical reason for Dream to look so "normal" in the Netflix show.
"Perception filter is the right way of thinking about it. It's why Dream appears like a cat when a cat enters the Dreaming. He takes on an aspect familiar to whoever is perceiving him. Same would apply to alien civilizations and any other beings who perceive him," a fan suggested on Reddit.
'The Sandman' is currently streaming on Netflix.