Featured Image Description: The Sandman: Brief Lives cover by Dave McKean. Originally published March 17th 2023. Updated April 4th 2023.
Spoiler Grade: 2
The Sandman on Netflix will deviate from the original comic running order by adapting the seventh volume ‘Brief Lives’ alongside volume four: ‘Season of Mists’, according to new character descriptions. These were later updated to include more information which can be viewed here.
Brief Lives is illustrated by Jill Thompson and Vince Locke, and follows Dream (Tom Sturridge) and Delirium as they search the Waking World for their missing brother Destruction. Their pursuit becomes tangled with Dream’s complicated relationship with his estranged son Orpheus.
It now appears that this story arc will be moved forward and follow ‘Season of Mists’ instead of ‘A Game of You’ (volume 5). At this stage there is no official confirmation that the story will follow these two arcs wholly, but new character descriptions for Wanda, Destruction, Delirium and Destiny suggest that the Netflix adaptation is covering at least some of this volume at this stage.
The character description for Wanda, originally a friend of Barbie’s (Lily Travers) who is introduced in the fifth volume of The Sandman, has now changed to closer fit the description of Ruby DeLonge. In the comics, Ruby is an employee of Farrell Travel and assists (and befriends) Dream and Delirium on their journey through the Waking World. Wanda’s description closely fits that of Ruby’s character and the description does not mention her original role from ‘A Game of You’. She is described as being a transgender woman in her late 20s to early 40s.
Missing middle child Destruction abandoned his realm and his family 400 years before the events of the seventh volume. In the comics, Destruction first appears in Sandman Special #1 ‘The Song of Orpheus’, but his main role takes place during Brief Lives. He has already been referenced in season one of the Netflix series by Lucienne as well as Death, who informs Dream after his imprisonment that their brother is still missing. Destruction plays a key role in the seventh volume as much of the plot is driven by Dream and Delirium’s search for him. He is described as being in his late 30s with a personality and appearance similar to that of the original comic character. His relationship with his family is an interesting one – he cares about his siblings deeply (remarking that Delirium was always his favourite in issue #48) but has no interest in returning to the family or his role. He is very different from Dream and encourages him to contemplate their existence and life beyond their function. Destruction prefers to create things rather than destroy, and takes up a range of hobbies throughout his absence including painting and poetry.
Younger sister Delirium was confirmed to be appearing in the next batch of ‘The Sandman’ episodes by Neil Gaiman at the end of last year, and her character description also appears alongside eldest brother Destiny. The pair first appear in #21 ‘Season of Mists: Episode 0’ at the family dinner, with Delirium going on to have a large role in ‘Brief Lives’. Cast of the series have already shared that this episode is something they are particularly looking forward to, and the introduction of Delirium will be a key moment in The Sandman. The casting team is looking for a male actor aged 40-59 to play Destiny and a female actor aged 18-27 to play Delirium. Both of their descriptions also fit closely with their original comic character’s personality and appearances.
The Sandman is set to film in two parts, likely covering each arc individually. The dates are listed as June 2023 – October 2023 and January 2024 – April 2024. This seems to suggest that The Sandman will be released in two parts, reflecting Netflix’s cryptic renewal announcement. This also could mean that all of Brief Lives is being adapted, although there is currently no official word that the entire story will be covered at this stage. It is also possible that the story from ‘A Game of You’ could feature in the “second season” of The Sandman as well as volumes 4 and 7, but that Wanda’s character has simply be altered slightly and moved to another arc. Alternately, ‘A Game of You’ may feature as part of a third season if Netflix renews The Sandman for even more episodes. It may fit together better with another arc later in the story, such as ‘The Kindly Ones’ or ‘World’s End’.
Interestingly, no character description for key character Orpheus has been found. It is likely that ‘The Song of Orpheus’ will need to be adapted in some form before Brief Lives in order to provide context on Dream’s relationship (or lack of relationship) with his son. He will also feature heavily if all of the seventh volume is being adapted at this stage. Showrunner and Executive Producer Allan Heinberg has previously said that there have been discussions about an actor the team “feel very strongly about, and that they “are conceiving of the whole season with this person in mind”. The lack of a character description could suggest that no auditions for Orpheus are taking place, or only a select few people have been invited directly to discuss the role. This comment also suggests that Brief Lives could be a central arc of the adaptation and the themes or plotlines may be spread out into other aspects of the story.
There has also been no news so far on other key characters who are likely to be cast at this stage, such as the faerie Nuala, Egyptian Goddess Bast, Pharamond/Farrell or the gods and entities who bargain for the key to Hell in Season of Mists.
I previously wrote about how Brief Lives could be adapted by Netflix into a third season, and you can read my thoughts on the story more generally here. What are you looking forward to seeing when The Sandman returns?
All 11 episodes of The Sandman season one are now streaming on Netflix.
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