“The Lord of Dreams learns that one must change or die, and makes his decision.” Can you believe this 25-worded logline brought us the brilliant and expansive world of The Sandman? 75 issues of almost poetic fantasy comprise the Graphic Novels from the genius storyteller, Neil Gaiman. And now, with Netflix just on the brink of releasing the live-action adaptation of the masterpiece, we, for one, just cannot contain our excitement. Even the slightest nugget of insight about the upcoming series has our full attention.

Neil Gaiman unwinds the mythos of The Sandman

In a recent video uploaded by Netflix, Neil Gaiman, the author of the source material as well as the executive producer for the adaptation, delves into the world-building of The Sandman. He also elaborates on the fable behind the fantastical, larger-than-life characters that make up most of his story. He calls them “immortal beings in some ways more powerful than gods.”

https://youtu.be/0Fyja48qK2g?t=20

He is obviously talking about The Endless. Gaiman further goes on to give us a little origin back-story. “In 1916, Sandman is captured by a magician of sorts who is meddling with powers he genuinely does not understand and held prisoner for 100 years.” The video inter-cuts with clips from the actual show and Neil’s explanations to paint us an overall picture and build intrigue at the same time.

Who are The Endless? 

The Endless are a family comprising immortal anthropomorphic personifications of forces of nature. In the world imagined by Neil Gaiman, they are the seven offspring of the all-embracing, cosmic and omnipresent, Mother Night and Father Time. They are neither God, nor Demon, but so much more than that, according to Gaiman. Comic Drake gives you a beautiful breakdown of DC’s most powerful family.

Destiny, the firstborn of The Endless, is the embodiment of fate. Clinically blind, he can see the predestination of every mortal being with his superpower of infinite knowledge. Death, though jovial by nature, she encapsulates fatality. At the end of every life, Death leads every mortal to whatever awaits them beyond this world.

Dream AKA Sandman AKA Morpheus, the titular character in the books and the show, is obviously the personification of dreams and nightmares. The shape-shifting magical being has teleportation abilities and can even alter reality. Perhaps the most fascinating of The Endless, Destruction is the prodigal son who cuts all ties with the realm, troubled by humanity’s weapon-wielding scientific discoveries.

Desire, the genderless and androgynous immortal, is probably the most manipulative that makes them the most dangerous. Despair is poles apart from her malicious twin, Desire. She controls all emotions of anxiety, loss of hope, and misery. Delirium, previously moniker’d as Delight, is the youngest among The Endless. The empress of her absurd and abstract kingdom, her world, governs both sanity and insanity alike.

If this description and hype don’t convince you to watch The Sandman on Netflix, we don’t know what will. Let us know your predictions for the show streaming on the platform on the 5th of August.