The Sandman, the being who appears in the dead of the night, sprinkles sand in our eyes and puts us to sleep, transporting us to dreamland. The folklore of Sandman has been around for centuries. It has infinite interpretations in fantasy writings and many more in the cinematic space. Even The Powerpuff Girls has its own interpretation of The Sandman, who ironically ends up having a nightmare himself. So mixing two different renditions of sandmen might be an honest enough mistake, right? Well, it is definitely not forgivable if you are the trusted raven and eyes of one of them. 

Patton Oswalt stars in Netflix’s The Sandman as the voice of Morpheus’s raven with a mouth, Matthew. The American actor and comedian is also a major connoisseur of all things pop culture. So when he tried to fake innocence while swapping Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, Morpheus, with his MCU namesake, we just know that he is up to his usual shenanigans.

Patton Oswalt confronts Neil Gaiman regarding The Sandman from Spider-Man

Recently, MTV’s Josh Horowitz conducted an in-depth interview with Neil Gaiman regarding The Sandman‘s success titled Happy Sad Confused. In one of the segments, Gaiman was surprised with a video question from none other than Patton Oswalt. Posing as an avid fan of the titular character, Oswalt addressed the creator as “Mr. Gammon” and expressed his concern about sandman.

In his patented poker-face delivery style, he asked, “How come in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Thomas Haden Church just had the one scene when you see him not in Sandman form? Was there like, script problems?” Gaiman and the studio audience could hardly hide their amusement at the hilarious question. For those who don’t know, Thomas Haden Church plays a very different sandman in the MCU that isn’t remotely related to Gaiman’s DC version.

Gaiman, being Gaiman, had the perfect response all locked and loaded. He addressed the comedian as “Oswald,” purposely erring to get back to him the “Mr. Gammon” slip-up. Neil went on to inform Horowitz and the studio audience that “Patton Oswalt, 30 years ago, was standing in line to get his copy of [The Sandman Book 4] Season of Mists, the hardcover.” In fact, it was at one of the comic book signings that Oswalt and Gaiman got to know one another long before The Sandman adaptation. 

What did you think of Patton Oswalt’s hysterical question and Gaiman’s response? Let us know in the comments. If you watched it yet, the first season of The Sandman is streaming on Netflix.