This is the second live-action incarnation of Lucifer we’ve gotten in recent years. (In 2005, the character was played by Peter Stormare in feature film Constantine.) Netflix just wrapped up their other TV series featuring the DC Comics character: Lucifer. The popular WB series was canceled after three seasons on Fox, but was later resurrected by Netflix for another three seasons. The final episodes dropped in September, ending an era of Tom Ellis as the titular demon. When it was announced that Netflix would be making another series with the DC Universe character, of course speculation broke out that Ellis could reprise the role. Back in January, one fan even asked Gaiman, who is an executive producer on the Sandman TV show but was not on Lucifer, about it on Tumblr: “I was wondering since Netflix owns both sandman and Lucifer, why isn’t Tom Ellis playing Lucifer isn’t the sandman series? And does this mean the two series won’t connect?” Gaiman responded: “The theology and cosmogony of Lucifer is a long way from Sandman’s. It’s ‘inspired by’ Sandman, but you can’t easily retrofit the Lucifer version to get back to Sandman, if you see what I mean. It seemed easier and more fun to have the Sandman version of Lucifer be, well, much closer to the Sandman version of Lucifer.” This isn’t to say that Netflix’s Sandman is good and Netflix’s Lucifer is bad, simply that they are very different shows with very different ambitions. One is a pretty faithful adaptation of the Gaiman source material, and the other is loosely inspired by the graphic novel. Lucifer attempted to capitalize on the name recognition and critical appreciation for the Sandman comics when launching into a busy mediascape where an established familiarity and fondness for a character can mean the difference between success and failure, but it quickly became apparent that Lucifer‘s strengths and weaknesses were very different from its in-name-only source material. By the time Lucifer made the move to Netflix, it was very much its own show with its own passionate following. So what can we expect from the Lucifer character in Sandman? Expect for Lucifer to be a much more straightforward adaptation from the comics. The series’ first arc follows Morpheus, aka the king of dreams, after he escapes from his mortal imprisonment to search for his helmet, ruby, and sand pouch. In the process, Morpheus encounters characters from across the DC world and beyond, such as our dude Lucifer Morningstar, John Constantine, and Doctor Destiny. Gaiman originally based the character of Lucifer off of 17th century English writer John Milton, with a look inspired by David Bowie. In Sandman, Lucifer has ruled over Hell for 10 billion years following his rebellion after Creation, and is kind of over it. Look for Christie to use her trademark intensity and presence to the role. “I read the Sandman graphic novels, so I knew that I simply had to be involved in this project because something truly unique was going to happen,” Christie said of her participation in the project in this featurette. “The sets are vast. Great amount of detail and care has been put into how it’s being brought to life.” The Sandman production was delayed due to COVID, so we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see what Christie’s interpretation of Lucifer looks like, but production wrapped in August, which means we are one step closer to finally seeing a more faithful adaptation of the character in live-action form.
