Last year, Neil Gaiman confirmed that the upcoming Netflix adaptation of The Sandman would depict the horrific events of issue #6 of the comic series, and the writer has now teased the show's "traumatic" fifth episode, which will focus on John Dee's little trip to an all-night diner.
Gaiman explained that, just like its source material, the show will hop between various different genres and tones during an interview with Empire.
“You watch Episode 1 and think, ‘Oh, I get this thing: it’s like Downton Abbey, but with magic,’” he tells the mag. “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.”
In "24 Hours," John Dee, aka Doctor Destiny (who'll be played by David Thewlis), walks into a diner to await his showdown with Morpheus, and decides to pass the time by forcing the people inside to play his twisted games by using the Dream Stone to control their minds.
We're not going to describe what happens in any detail, but suffice to say things quickly take a turn for the depraved.
We really don't see Netflix showing all the horrendous stuff that went on in that diner on screen, but the mere suggestion should be more than enough. Either way, it sounds like The Sandman is setting out to bring something truly unique to the streamer.
“If you didn’t like an episode of Game Of Thrones, you probably won’t like any other episode of Game Of Thrones,” adds Gaiman. “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.”
No premiere date has been announced, but you can check out a new still featuring Dream and Lucienne here.