Neil Gaiman on adapting The Sandman for Audible, and why he wasn't keen on a TV version for decades

Though The Sandman has joined other works of his that have been adapted, Neil Gaiman does not necessarily feel a sense of closure or coming full circle. Gaiman said he envisioned The Sandman as “a machine for telling stories — something that I could go anywhere with.” By centering the series on a supernatural protagonist named Morpheus, an ashen immortal being also known as Dream, Gaiman gave himself an off-ramp to pursue narratives well outside the realm of superhero adventuring. “She said, ‘Nobody has ever walked into my office and asked me not to make a movie before,’” Gaiman recalled. His descriptions of scenes are quite poetic — there’s a Dylan Thomas kind of vibe.” Although his job came with a fair amount of creative freedom, Maggs said his task was to present The Sandman as it was written and not to “over-embroider.” “If I can add a sense of drama, propulsion, dynamism to it as a story, that’s great,” Maggs said. But he said he was grateful to finally be making a Sandman show “with the budget and the technical capabilities to make it properly — they’re spending the hundreds of millions, and we’re not changing it into anything.” Even though The Sandman has joined other works of his that have been adapted, Gaiman said he did not necessarily feel a sense of closure or coming full circle.