Neil Gaiman Explains Why Netflix’s ‘The Sandman’ Doesn’t Exist in the DC Universe, Even Though His Original Graphic Novels Do

variety.com:

SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses a few plot developments in “The Sandman,” currently streaming on Netflix.When viewers watch the ending credits for Netflix’s new series “The Sandman” — the long-anticipated adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s acclaimed graphic novel series chronicling the phantasmagoric exploits of Morpheus, aka Dream, aka the Sandman (Tom Sturridge) — they’ll behold the curious sight of the logo for DC Entertainment.

Indeed, “The Sandman” was published by Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics, from 1989 to 1996, and in the first two volumes, which make up Season 1 of the Netflix series, there are several direct references to and characters from the wider world of DC Comics.

Much of those connections and references, however, have either been significantly altered or stripped away entirely from the live-action adaptation of “The Sandman.” For example, in the graphic novel, the villain John Dee (David Thewlis) is living within Arkham Asylum, Gotham City’s infamous prison for the criminally insane, and his desiccated, skeletal appearance bears a strong resemblance to the DC villain Doctor Destiny — a major foe of the Justice League.

On the show, however, John is living in a nondescript mental institution, and has the appearance of a normal man.Meanwhile, the DC warlock and occult detective John Constantine, who has an extended interaction with Morpheus in the comics, has been gender-flipped to Johanna Constantine (Jenna Coleman), and has a similar (though tweaked) backstory from the legacy character.According to Gaiman, who executive produced the show with David Goyer and Allan Heinberg, these decisions had nothing to do with the volatile state of the wider universe of DC adaptations (R.I.P.