Almost ten years ago, during one of my hunts at the library, I noticed a new section – a small bookshelf stuffed with manga. Among the titles was the manga spinoff by ‘Sandman’ illustrator Jill Thompson, titled ‘Death at Death’s Door.’ When I took a look inside, I realized that it was related to ‘Sandman’, the DC Comics graphic novel written by Neil Gaiman which I had yet to read.
I loved the manga. Here was a funny, empathetic heroine who was the least-Grim Reaper ever, dealing with the repercussions of her emo brother’s bad decision to send an ex-girlfriend to hell, with her sisters Despair and Delirium acting as her helpers. It was an endearing and crazy story – I had never encountered anything like it, even in the weird world of anime. It certainly wasn’t the formulaic dreck that filled half the YA fantasy section.
Later, I was able to borrow the entire series of ‘Sandman’. The actual series was nothing like the manga – it was more serious in tone, and way, way darker. The characters were not idealized archetypes and ‘heroes’. These characters, whether they were humans, nightmares, faeries, dreams, monsters, gods, or anthropomorphic personifications, were really just... people. Sad, lonely, greedy, fearful, lost. The theme that connected all of them was the idea of endings.
In ‘Sandman’, everything dies when it changes too much. Mortals die when their bodies change beyond use. Gods die when no one remembers or believes in them anymore. The only thing that will exist as long as the universe are 7 concepts: Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Despair, Desire and Delirium. These 7 concepts are personified to living beings as the Endless, 7 siblings who are guardians of their domain and guarantee that the universe is in a constant state of change. The Endless are differentiated from humans in that their physical bodies are immortal, and from gods in that they do not rely on belief for power and life. But while their ‘concept’ will exist until the end of time itself, their ‘point of view’ (their personalities) can die and cease to exist.
To explain, let’s assume that there are infinite parallel universes. In this universe, you are the result of billions of factors all interconnected. Now, if you could peer into a parallel universe which deviates only slightly from your reality, you made different choices that changed the plot of your life or affected your lifestyle, or different scenarios occurred - but ultimately, your doppelganger is still recognizable as being you, albeit dealing with different circumstances. But if you peer further out, into increasingly different universes where ever more factors are changed, your identity becomes less clear. Now you have a different name, a different childhood which shaped you. You inherited different genes from your parents, so you look and act different. Maybe you have different parents altogether. Are you still the same person? At what point do ‘you’, as a concept, cease to exist?
This is the very heart of the dilemma for the lead character of ‘Sandman’, who goes by many names including the one in the title of the series, but is primarily known as Dream. When we first meet Dream, he is equipped with all his articles of power, and is returning from a ‘battle’ of sorts – a disaster in a far-off universe which has exhausted him. Because he is in a weakened state, an evil human cult intent on enslaving Death mistakenly ensnares Dream in their spell.
What follows during Dream’s imprisonment is the decay of the Dreaming (the realm of dreams). This affects certain human characters in various ways – some people find themselves barred from the Dreaming, unable to sleep, while others are unable to wake up. Dream escapes, punishes his captors, tracks down his stolen articles of power, and then proceeds to go on a series of missions to fix past mistakes.
These mistakes were instances where Dream feels he let Desire (who happens to be his sabotaging bully of a brother/sister) get the best of him, causing him to misuse his power for selfish reasons. Dream, when he is not overcome by emotions, tries to be a fair and balanced ruler, and takes his role as the King of Dreams very seriously. However, his personification is defined by more than his devotion to his work – he is also defined by his brooding loneliness (Despair) and his cruel, impulsive rage (Desire).
He spends most of his imprisonment consumed with plans for revenge and taking back his power, which he executes in short order. But then what?
His work once kept him so busy that he did not have time to doubt himself. But now he reflects on his past actions. He feels emotions he never did before – such as guilt. This is a change to his personification, and therefore threatens his very existence.
This incarnation of Dream has repeatedly let his desire for love and companionship tempt him away from his duties, and he knows that this is wrong. But it is part of his nature, and he cannot help it – he can’t just reboot himself with different parameters, and yet that is exactly what the job calls for. Yet, he also cannot be an effective ruler if he always doubts his decisions. Whether he consciously admits it or not, Dream knows his death will come soon, and that he will be replaced. In the meantime, he tries to do everything he can to prepare his realm for the transition of power.
In order to own up to his responsibilities, Dream releases Nada, a previous lover, from hell. He prevents the Vortex from destroying our universe (it can be surmised that he was dealing with a Vortex situation when he was captured, thus explaining why he was weakened – but we will only know once the new ‘Sandman’ prequel-series has been completed by Neil Gaiman). He helps his sister Delirium locate their lost brother Destruction, and in doing so gets to spend quality time with lonely Delirium. Having once denied his immortal son Orpheus’ plea for death after the Furies left him nothing but a disembodied head, Dream finally helps him die – but because he has spilled family blood, the Furies are now obligated to kill Dream. And a baby named Daniel, who found his way into the very nexus of the Dreaming during his gestation, is kidnapped by Dream and chosen as his heir.
When I finished reading this series, I immediately thought about how it could be adapted to film – and it was a fascinating puzzle. The cast was enormous, incorporating cameos from other DC comics, figures from multiple world mythologies, the 7 Endless, Dream’s servants in the Dreaming, not to mention all the POV humans who encountered Dream within their own bottle-arcs. The storyline wasn’t linear and covered all sorts of settings and timeframes. Even the genre and tone were all over the map – it was part horror, part mythology, part original mythology, part psychological drama, and part fantasy.
It is tempting to adopt an episodic format for ‘Sandman’, in order to incorporate all of these elements. But while I certainly would not be averse to a ‘Sandman’ television show, I do not feel that TV is the only suitable medium, nor am I convinced that it is the best. I can imagine a ‘Sandman’ TV show working in a ‘Twilight Zone’ format, where each episode was like a mini-movie – a bottle-arc about a character-of-the-week encountering a problem related to the Dreaming, in which Dream himself would have to intervene. But honestly, I think focusing that much attention on throwaway characters and scenarios would obscure the real core of the story: the arc of Dream himself.
The story was the journey Dream takes, from the imprisonment to his death – as Neil Gaiman summed up: “The Lord of Dreams learns that one must change or die, and makes his decision.” That is the most succinct, concise logline/theme I have ever heard stated by an author. It is also a story that can be dramatized in a closed, 2-hr long arc. But in order to do this, the story would have to be stripped down to its essence.
In trying my hand at an adaptation, the first thing I decided was that the story would only be about the original characters Neil Gaiman had devised himself: the 7 Endless, Dream’s servants, Unity Kinkaid, Rose Walker, the Cultists, the Corinthian, and Daniel. I was also going to limit the setting primarily to here-and-now Earth and the Dreaming, with only the occasional glimpse of the other Endless realms.
The reason I decided this was simple: in a 2-hr film, there’s not a lot of time for setup. What is important is that the audience understands Dream. What are his powers predicated upon, and how far do they extend? What are his weaknesses? What were his flaws? What was important to him? What did it mean to be an Endless? Competing mythologies, pantheons and heroes from other DC properties required way too much explanation, and would only serve to confuse and overwhelm the audience.
I had to determine the threat for Dream. In the comic, he is presented as an immortal entity whose power knows no bounds when it comes to dreams, beliefs, and the nature of reality itself. The efforts of the Cultists to keep an Endless as a slave, and Doctor Dee’s attempt to use the Ruby against Dream, come across as pathetic – they cannot force him to bend reality to their will (some lucky characters in the comics got to ask a boon from him, as a sort of Customer Service offer – but only if he was feeling benevolent, not because anyone forced his hand). You can’t kill an idea, which is what he is, and you can’t control the power solely for your own benefit. As such, mortals who attempt to control Dream find that they have only the power to annoy him.
Gods are a little more equal to Dream, but even they have no ability to destroy him or conquer him. In other words, Dream has nothing to fear from any other entity – he’s rather impervious. Even the Furies would not have been able to kill him, if he had decided to run or put up a fight. While it’s an interesting idea that Dream is his own worst enemy, 2 hours of watching an immortal clean up a few of his own messes without obstacle and then set himself up to die would be intolerable. He needs a real problem, one that he didn’t create. He needs Kryptonite and a Nemesis, stat.
The Kryptonite that I chose is Rose Walker.
The graphic novel is vague about the nature of the Vortex, or what Rose/Unity has to do with it. Unity Kinkaid is put to sleep for decades as a casualty of Dream’s imprisonment, and we are told early on that during her sleep she was raped and impregnated. The child which resulted was Rose’s mother in the graphic novel, and it was revealed that the rapist was actually Desire. It is implied that Desire, by having sex with Unity, somehow caused her to become the Vortex, and that this trait was also passed down to Rose. Dream is determined to stop the Vortex from ripping the fabric of reality apart by sacrificing Rose in the Dreaming, but Unity takes her place.
While I found the Vortex arc of ‘The Doll’s House’ very confusing, it was crucial to the story. Dream is essentially the IT guy for the Dreaming, and the Vortex represents the virus/hack which could destroy the whole network. That’s a good problem for Dream to have.
Then there was the Main Relationship. Every story has one – the arc of the Main Relationship is like the spine of the story. The main thing that I found endearing about Dream was his doomed love affairs with mortals – it only made sense to let Rose take that role. Rose still needed to be the reason for the rift, but I simplified the Vortex concept, tying it to the power of the Ruby Dreamstone.
In the graphic novel, Doctor Dee takes the Ruby and uses it to blur the line between dream and reality (with horrific consequences), and intends to become a self-styled Dream Lord on earth. Dee knows that the Ruby is tied to Dream, so when Dream confronts him, Dee breaks the Ruby. Unfortunately for Dee, breaking the Ruby does not kill or de-power Dream – instead, it releases the power from the corrupted Ruby back to Dream himself.
I had the Ruby come into the possession of Rose Walker instead – and the jewel, I decided, was the key to the kingdom. With Dream unable to perform his duties, the Dreaming still needs a personification. Roses’ mother Unity is trapped in the Dreaming, and Rose was born in the Dreaming herself, so the jewel resonates with her – she will be the new successor, once the last bit of power drains away from the imprisoned Dream. But two things happen: one, Rose accidentally uses the Ruby to bring her Nightmare to life... the Corinthian.
Second, Dream escapes, and wants his Ruby back. Dream realizes that she has been chosen as his successor, and he has two options: either he can kill her, and stay as the ‘Point of View’ for the Dreaming a little longer, or he will lose his powers completely to Rose, and thus become a mortal. So in my adaptation script, the ‘Vortex’ is the power struggle between Rose and Dream. Dream falls in love with Rose, but will not accept switching places with her or giving her his kingdom (the ‘change’ that he refuses).
The Corinthian, meanwhile, is his Nemesis. In the graphic novel, The Corinthian is a pet project of Dream, designed to be "A nightmare created to be the darkness, and the fear of darkness in every human heart. A black mirror, made to reflect everything about itself that humanity will not confront." The Corinthian escapes the Dreaming and becomes a serial killer, a career choice which disappoints Dream – Dream destroys and remakes him anew, and this Corinthian ends up defending Daniel from assassination at the hand of Loki.
In my version, the Corinthian needed to be tied in with the rest of the characters. Nightmares are designed by Dream to have certain effects on dreamer. So I portrayed the Corinthian as Rose’s nightmare, created in order to give her the courage to end a bad relationship. However, the Corinthian knew that once he had served his purpose he would be unmade by Dream and cease to exist – lucky for him, Dream was imprisoned. He takes residence in Unity Kinkaid’s dream world, since she never wakes up to banish him, and visits the object of his obsession – Rose – whenever she allows herself to sleep.
When Rose goes to sleep while in possession of the Ruby, the Corinthian is provided with an opportunity to escape the Dreaming altogether. By stealing the Ruby from Rose, he throws in his bid for the throne of the Dreaming – his dream is to free the Nightmares from Dream’s perceived tyranny, and become the Lord of the Dreaming. However, being a Nightmare, he cannot understand that Nightmares only exist for dreamers to confront their fears – detached from dreamers, they serve no good purpose.
Alone, against a fully-powered Dream, the Corinthian would be as much of threat to Dream as the misguided Dee was in the graphic novel. But Dream is weakened from his imprisonment and from Rose siphoning off his powers – also, the Nightmares have accepted the Corinthian as their champion (I replaced the mythological Furies with the Nightmares, to keep it all about the Dreaming). Without his powers, Dream’s rule is in significant peril.
In the graphic novel, Daniel is the child of DC superheroine Lyta Hall, also known as The Fury. When Dream kidnaps her child, she vows revenge and launches a siege to destroy the Dreaming. I had the Corinthian now taking over the role of Lyta in this regard.
But I felt it was appropriate for Rose to take over Lyta’s role as Daniel’s mother. This would actually solve the dilemma of the power struggle between Dream and Rose – their love ends up producing a child who is the heir by blood, and therefore has more right to the throne than either Rose or the Corinthian. I chose to have the Corinthian (not Dream) steal Daniel, hoping to co-opt their parental influence. Dream ends his life by sacrificing himself to the angry Nightmares, and Rose sacrifices her powers by breaking the Ruby and releasing the powers to Daniel, who becomes the new Dream. The Corinthian’s plan to control an Endless backfires, when Daniel’s first use of the dream-powers is to unmake the Corinthian.
That’s how I decided to do it. You might disagree with the changes I made, but this is my vision of what a ‘Sandman’ film would be like. While we wait to see what Warner Bros does with the property, you’re more than welcome to read mine.
Thanks!
Carly Bryann Young
I loved the manga. Here was a funny, empathetic heroine who was the least-Grim Reaper ever, dealing with the repercussions of her emo brother’s bad decision to send an ex-girlfriend to hell, with her sisters Despair and Delirium acting as her helpers. It was an endearing and crazy story – I had never encountered anything like it, even in the weird world of anime. It certainly wasn’t the formulaic dreck that filled half the YA fantasy section.
Later, I was able to borrow the entire series of ‘Sandman’. The actual series was nothing like the manga – it was more serious in tone, and way, way darker. The characters were not idealized archetypes and ‘heroes’. These characters, whether they were humans, nightmares, faeries, dreams, monsters, gods, or anthropomorphic personifications, were really just... people. Sad, lonely, greedy, fearful, lost. The theme that connected all of them was the idea of endings.
In ‘Sandman’, everything dies when it changes too much. Mortals die when their bodies change beyond use. Gods die when no one remembers or believes in them anymore. The only thing that will exist as long as the universe are 7 concepts: Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Despair, Desire and Delirium. These 7 concepts are personified to living beings as the Endless, 7 siblings who are guardians of their domain and guarantee that the universe is in a constant state of change. The Endless are differentiated from humans in that their physical bodies are immortal, and from gods in that they do not rely on belief for power and life. But while their ‘concept’ will exist until the end of time itself, their ‘point of view’ (their personalities) can die and cease to exist.
To explain, let’s assume that there are infinite parallel universes. In this universe, you are the result of billions of factors all interconnected. Now, if you could peer into a parallel universe which deviates only slightly from your reality, you made different choices that changed the plot of your life or affected your lifestyle, or different scenarios occurred - but ultimately, your doppelganger is still recognizable as being you, albeit dealing with different circumstances. But if you peer further out, into increasingly different universes where ever more factors are changed, your identity becomes less clear. Now you have a different name, a different childhood which shaped you. You inherited different genes from your parents, so you look and act different. Maybe you have different parents altogether. Are you still the same person? At what point do ‘you’, as a concept, cease to exist?
This is the very heart of the dilemma for the lead character of ‘Sandman’, who goes by many names including the one in the title of the series, but is primarily known as Dream. When we first meet Dream, he is equipped with all his articles of power, and is returning from a ‘battle’ of sorts – a disaster in a far-off universe which has exhausted him. Because he is in a weakened state, an evil human cult intent on enslaving Death mistakenly ensnares Dream in their spell.
What follows during Dream’s imprisonment is the decay of the Dreaming (the realm of dreams). This affects certain human characters in various ways – some people find themselves barred from the Dreaming, unable to sleep, while others are unable to wake up. Dream escapes, punishes his captors, tracks down his stolen articles of power, and then proceeds to go on a series of missions to fix past mistakes.
These mistakes were instances where Dream feels he let Desire (who happens to be his sabotaging bully of a brother/sister) get the best of him, causing him to misuse his power for selfish reasons. Dream, when he is not overcome by emotions, tries to be a fair and balanced ruler, and takes his role as the King of Dreams very seriously. However, his personification is defined by more than his devotion to his work – he is also defined by his brooding loneliness (Despair) and his cruel, impulsive rage (Desire).
He spends most of his imprisonment consumed with plans for revenge and taking back his power, which he executes in short order. But then what?
His work once kept him so busy that he did not have time to doubt himself. But now he reflects on his past actions. He feels emotions he never did before – such as guilt. This is a change to his personification, and therefore threatens his very existence.
This incarnation of Dream has repeatedly let his desire for love and companionship tempt him away from his duties, and he knows that this is wrong. But it is part of his nature, and he cannot help it – he can’t just reboot himself with different parameters, and yet that is exactly what the job calls for. Yet, he also cannot be an effective ruler if he always doubts his decisions. Whether he consciously admits it or not, Dream knows his death will come soon, and that he will be replaced. In the meantime, he tries to do everything he can to prepare his realm for the transition of power.
In order to own up to his responsibilities, Dream releases Nada, a previous lover, from hell. He prevents the Vortex from destroying our universe (it can be surmised that he was dealing with a Vortex situation when he was captured, thus explaining why he was weakened – but we will only know once the new ‘Sandman’ prequel-series has been completed by Neil Gaiman). He helps his sister Delirium locate their lost brother Destruction, and in doing so gets to spend quality time with lonely Delirium. Having once denied his immortal son Orpheus’ plea for death after the Furies left him nothing but a disembodied head, Dream finally helps him die – but because he has spilled family blood, the Furies are now obligated to kill Dream. And a baby named Daniel, who found his way into the very nexus of the Dreaming during his gestation, is kidnapped by Dream and chosen as his heir.
When I finished reading this series, I immediately thought about how it could be adapted to film – and it was a fascinating puzzle. The cast was enormous, incorporating cameos from other DC comics, figures from multiple world mythologies, the 7 Endless, Dream’s servants in the Dreaming, not to mention all the POV humans who encountered Dream within their own bottle-arcs. The storyline wasn’t linear and covered all sorts of settings and timeframes. Even the genre and tone were all over the map – it was part horror, part mythology, part original mythology, part psychological drama, and part fantasy.
It is tempting to adopt an episodic format for ‘Sandman’, in order to incorporate all of these elements. But while I certainly would not be averse to a ‘Sandman’ television show, I do not feel that TV is the only suitable medium, nor am I convinced that it is the best. I can imagine a ‘Sandman’ TV show working in a ‘Twilight Zone’ format, where each episode was like a mini-movie – a bottle-arc about a character-of-the-week encountering a problem related to the Dreaming, in which Dream himself would have to intervene. But honestly, I think focusing that much attention on throwaway characters and scenarios would obscure the real core of the story: the arc of Dream himself.
The story was the journey Dream takes, from the imprisonment to his death – as Neil Gaiman summed up: “The Lord of Dreams learns that one must change or die, and makes his decision.” That is the most succinct, concise logline/theme I have ever heard stated by an author. It is also a story that can be dramatized in a closed, 2-hr long arc. But in order to do this, the story would have to be stripped down to its essence.
In trying my hand at an adaptation, the first thing I decided was that the story would only be about the original characters Neil Gaiman had devised himself: the 7 Endless, Dream’s servants, Unity Kinkaid, Rose Walker, the Cultists, the Corinthian, and Daniel. I was also going to limit the setting primarily to here-and-now Earth and the Dreaming, with only the occasional glimpse of the other Endless realms.
The reason I decided this was simple: in a 2-hr film, there’s not a lot of time for setup. What is important is that the audience understands Dream. What are his powers predicated upon, and how far do they extend? What are his weaknesses? What were his flaws? What was important to him? What did it mean to be an Endless? Competing mythologies, pantheons and heroes from other DC properties required way too much explanation, and would only serve to confuse and overwhelm the audience.
I had to determine the threat for Dream. In the comic, he is presented as an immortal entity whose power knows no bounds when it comes to dreams, beliefs, and the nature of reality itself. The efforts of the Cultists to keep an Endless as a slave, and Doctor Dee’s attempt to use the Ruby against Dream, come across as pathetic – they cannot force him to bend reality to their will (some lucky characters in the comics got to ask a boon from him, as a sort of Customer Service offer – but only if he was feeling benevolent, not because anyone forced his hand). You can’t kill an idea, which is what he is, and you can’t control the power solely for your own benefit. As such, mortals who attempt to control Dream find that they have only the power to annoy him.
Gods are a little more equal to Dream, but even they have no ability to destroy him or conquer him. In other words, Dream has nothing to fear from any other entity – he’s rather impervious. Even the Furies would not have been able to kill him, if he had decided to run or put up a fight. While it’s an interesting idea that Dream is his own worst enemy, 2 hours of watching an immortal clean up a few of his own messes without obstacle and then set himself up to die would be intolerable. He needs a real problem, one that he didn’t create. He needs Kryptonite and a Nemesis, stat.
The Kryptonite that I chose is Rose Walker.
The graphic novel is vague about the nature of the Vortex, or what Rose/Unity has to do with it. Unity Kinkaid is put to sleep for decades as a casualty of Dream’s imprisonment, and we are told early on that during her sleep she was raped and impregnated. The child which resulted was Rose’s mother in the graphic novel, and it was revealed that the rapist was actually Desire. It is implied that Desire, by having sex with Unity, somehow caused her to become the Vortex, and that this trait was also passed down to Rose. Dream is determined to stop the Vortex from ripping the fabric of reality apart by sacrificing Rose in the Dreaming, but Unity takes her place.
While I found the Vortex arc of ‘The Doll’s House’ very confusing, it was crucial to the story. Dream is essentially the IT guy for the Dreaming, and the Vortex represents the virus/hack which could destroy the whole network. That’s a good problem for Dream to have.
Then there was the Main Relationship. Every story has one – the arc of the Main Relationship is like the spine of the story. The main thing that I found endearing about Dream was his doomed love affairs with mortals – it only made sense to let Rose take that role. Rose still needed to be the reason for the rift, but I simplified the Vortex concept, tying it to the power of the Ruby Dreamstone.
In the graphic novel, Doctor Dee takes the Ruby and uses it to blur the line between dream and reality (with horrific consequences), and intends to become a self-styled Dream Lord on earth. Dee knows that the Ruby is tied to Dream, so when Dream confronts him, Dee breaks the Ruby. Unfortunately for Dee, breaking the Ruby does not kill or de-power Dream – instead, it releases the power from the corrupted Ruby back to Dream himself.
I had the Ruby come into the possession of Rose Walker instead – and the jewel, I decided, was the key to the kingdom. With Dream unable to perform his duties, the Dreaming still needs a personification. Roses’ mother Unity is trapped in the Dreaming, and Rose was born in the Dreaming herself, so the jewel resonates with her – she will be the new successor, once the last bit of power drains away from the imprisoned Dream. But two things happen: one, Rose accidentally uses the Ruby to bring her Nightmare to life... the Corinthian.
Second, Dream escapes, and wants his Ruby back. Dream realizes that she has been chosen as his successor, and he has two options: either he can kill her, and stay as the ‘Point of View’ for the Dreaming a little longer, or he will lose his powers completely to Rose, and thus become a mortal. So in my adaptation script, the ‘Vortex’ is the power struggle between Rose and Dream. Dream falls in love with Rose, but will not accept switching places with her or giving her his kingdom (the ‘change’ that he refuses).
The Corinthian, meanwhile, is his Nemesis. In the graphic novel, The Corinthian is a pet project of Dream, designed to be "A nightmare created to be the darkness, and the fear of darkness in every human heart. A black mirror, made to reflect everything about itself that humanity will not confront." The Corinthian escapes the Dreaming and becomes a serial killer, a career choice which disappoints Dream – Dream destroys and remakes him anew, and this Corinthian ends up defending Daniel from assassination at the hand of Loki.
In my version, the Corinthian needed to be tied in with the rest of the characters. Nightmares are designed by Dream to have certain effects on dreamer. So I portrayed the Corinthian as Rose’s nightmare, created in order to give her the courage to end a bad relationship. However, the Corinthian knew that once he had served his purpose he would be unmade by Dream and cease to exist – lucky for him, Dream was imprisoned. He takes residence in Unity Kinkaid’s dream world, since she never wakes up to banish him, and visits the object of his obsession – Rose – whenever she allows herself to sleep.
When Rose goes to sleep while in possession of the Ruby, the Corinthian is provided with an opportunity to escape the Dreaming altogether. By stealing the Ruby from Rose, he throws in his bid for the throne of the Dreaming – his dream is to free the Nightmares from Dream’s perceived tyranny, and become the Lord of the Dreaming. However, being a Nightmare, he cannot understand that Nightmares only exist for dreamers to confront their fears – detached from dreamers, they serve no good purpose.
Alone, against a fully-powered Dream, the Corinthian would be as much of threat to Dream as the misguided Dee was in the graphic novel. But Dream is weakened from his imprisonment and from Rose siphoning off his powers – also, the Nightmares have accepted the Corinthian as their champion (I replaced the mythological Furies with the Nightmares, to keep it all about the Dreaming). Without his powers, Dream’s rule is in significant peril.
In the graphic novel, Daniel is the child of DC superheroine Lyta Hall, also known as The Fury. When Dream kidnaps her child, she vows revenge and launches a siege to destroy the Dreaming. I had the Corinthian now taking over the role of Lyta in this regard.
But I felt it was appropriate for Rose to take over Lyta’s role as Daniel’s mother. This would actually solve the dilemma of the power struggle between Dream and Rose – their love ends up producing a child who is the heir by blood, and therefore has more right to the throne than either Rose or the Corinthian. I chose to have the Corinthian (not Dream) steal Daniel, hoping to co-opt their parental influence. Dream ends his life by sacrificing himself to the angry Nightmares, and Rose sacrifices her powers by breaking the Ruby and releasing the powers to Daniel, who becomes the new Dream. The Corinthian’s plan to control an Endless backfires, when Daniel’s first use of the dream-powers is to unmake the Corinthian.
That’s how I decided to do it. You might disagree with the changes I made, but this is my vision of what a ‘Sandman’ film would be like. While we wait to see what Warner Bros does with the property, you’re more than welcome to read mine.
Thanks!
Carly Bryann Young
| Sandman - feature adaptation by Carly Bryann Young |
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