Fighting wizards, elaborate prison escapes, and a coming of age story, give fans a brand new breath taking fantasy drama series called The Sandman. The show was inspired from a comic book published by DC that ran from 1989 to 1996, and was written by Neil Gaiman. And just about two decades later, Gaiman, David S. Goyer, and Allan Heinberg produced the globally acclaimed series, The Sandman.

The Sandman consists of 11 episodes all in just one season. And many viewers have stated that they are intrigued with the fact that the show is a unique mixture of fantasy, drama, and supernatural horror. Many televised shows today have been reported to only have one to two genres maximum incorporated into their shows, but the fact that The Sandman has three makes the show more distinctive from others. 

The televised show and the comic book were purposely written to fit within the DC universe storyline, however just like any other fantasy show, The Sandman starts off in a realm beyond human comprehension. In the first episode the story begins with a wizard attempting to catch a character named Death in return for eternal life. 

But somehow, the wizards saw her brother Dream (known as Morpheous). In fear of Dream’s safety, the wizard imprisons him in a bottle for decades within the plot. Then Dream finally escapes, and the journey and the narrative begins as he tries to find his objects of power.  

The general thesis that viewers are intentionally supposed to take away after watching The Sandman is that those who dream hold the power of storytelling, however that attribute can lead to the struggle of both internal and external forces.

In regards to the cast that acted as these elaborate fantasy characters, the show stars Tom Surridge as Dream, Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer, and Jenna Coleman as Johanna Constantine. You can find the full cast and their roles on IMDb.com. Many of the actors and actresses have stated in multiple interviews that the show was an adventure to film and they enjoyed being on set just as any other televised show.

The overall ranks and status of The Sandman are an average viewer rating of  81%, a 87% by the Rotten Tomatoes, a seven of 10 stars by the IMDb, and a four of five star rating by Common Sense Media. The consensus of this televised show has been relatively very positive, as the viewers have made it known to the media that they are intrigued with the storyline, the way the cast portrays complex characters across the screen, and comments from the producers of The Sandman. 

The main critiques of the show have been a wide range of subjects concerning things such as race and sexual orientation of the characters.

Although The Sandman has an overall rating of 81% given by viewers, keep in mind there are most definitely individuals that continue to drag down that statistic with their critiques, of which are publicly displayed on Rotten Tomatoes.

 After reading through countless reviews with three stars and below, I noticed that there was continuous repetition of the words “too much diversity,” “hidden agendas,” and “not enough white actors.” Some people have managed to convince themselves that the producers and writers of the show are attempting to press their own beliefs that regard the LGBTQIA+ community and the ideas of a racially diverse cast onto the audience.

 After watching The Sandman’s entire first season for an accurate review, I agree that there is a more diverse cast that appraises race, gender expression, and sexual orientation. This is not a show with a cast similar to popular American television such as Friends, Full House, or Keeping up with the Kardashians. 

However, I think of this as a positive thing because the show’s producers are trying to normalize minority groups, and not many movies and TV series do that. 

 And if anything, I would have expected the show to promote straight relationships and a majority white cast because this show was based on a comic book from 1989 when those groups were valued as the standard. But yet again, are producers able to change the social norm in a show based on a book but maintain the storyline and still have high ranks from groups as renowned as Rotten Tomatoes. 

In short, I find that this show stands out from typical movie genre combinations today. The Sandman is a mix of fantasy drama and supernatural horror, which can be captivating to many of the viewers. The Sandman has somewhat of an interesting story line, but many viewers say the quality of the show and plot drops after the seventh episode.

The cast is very diverse and inclusive to societal standards today, and many viewers of the show are satisfied with the director’s choice of actresses and actors. More shows, movies, and media content should aspire to accomplish high viewer ranking while having minority groups within their cast. Not only does it make people in those groups feel represented, but it also makes a more significant impact on an audience because people are more willing to binge-watch a show or movie  on Netflix than read a page-long article.