Posted in: Netflix, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: lucifer, neil gaiman, netflix, sandman

The Sandman: Gaiman STILL Has to Explain Why Tom Ellis Isn't Lucifer

With Netflix's upcoming The Sandman adaptation from creator, EP & co-writer Neil Gaiman (Good Omens); EP, co-writer & showrunner Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman); and EP & co-writer David S. Goyer (Foundation) ready to hit our screens in less than a month, there are a number of things we still can't believe. The obvious one is that the graphic novel is finally coming to live-action life after years of hard work to get it onto either the big or small screens. Unfortunately, one thing that hasn't been surprising to us is just how many supposed "fans" out there can't accept the fact that Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) is the perfect Lucifer for this series and that Tom Ellis (while great as his Lucifer) is completely wrong for this take.

The last time we reported on Gaiman pushing back/explaining this very point was back in May, but he's been making that case since the casting news first broke. Unfortunately, that wave of "debate" only seems to be growing on social media so it's time for another round of reminders & pushback. Here's a look at a tweet offering just a few of the reasons why Ellis' casting wouldn't work:

And for all of the Lucifans out there who might've missed the first time, Ellis' series even acknowledged in a "wink-wink, nudge-nudge" way that the actor was different from how Lucifer was described in Gaiman's work:

Considering we're living in an age where all of the "cool kids" have a multiverse, Gaiman continues to recommend looking at the two works (as well as the audio drama adaptation, etc.) as existing in separate universes… each living their own happy, creative lives… one not having an impact on the other:

"I was so thrilled Allen Heinberg asked me to play Lucifer because it is a grandiose part. There are few castings that can supersede that – maybe God, whatever that is! Also, it's fun to be awful," Christie explained regarding the importance of the role in an interview with Empire. And as for the androgynous nature of the fallen angel, Christie was confident that wouldn't be a problem based on her experience working on another well-known franchise. "Neil clarified that Lucifer is a fallen angel and that an angel doesn't have gender at all," Christie revealed. "And I can play androgynous. We know that from 'Game Of Thrones,' due to the way I look. So I hope that has helped in the portrayal of the character." For Goyer, Christie just seemed like the logical fit. "Lucifer is this Bowie-esque creature in the comic book and I thought, 'Well who is a bigger fucking rock star than Gwendoline Christie?'" he explained.

A rich blend of modern myth and dark fantasy in which contemporary fiction, historical drama, and legend are seamlessly interwoven, The Sandman follows the people and places affected by Morpheus, the Dream King, as he mends the cosmic — and human — mistakes he's made during his vast existence.

"For the last thirty-three years, the Sandman characters have breathed and walked around and talked in my head. I'm unbelievably happy that now, finally, they get to step out of my head and into reality. I can't wait until the people out there get to see what we've been seeing as Dream and the rest of them take flesh, and the flesh belongs to some of the finest actors out there," said Gaiman in a statement coinciding with the initial casting news on the series. "This is astonishing, and I'm so grateful to the actors and to all of The Sandman collaborators — Netflix, Warner Bros., DC, to Allan Heinberg and David Goyer, and the legions of crafters and geniuses on the show — for making the wildest of all my dreams into reality."

Stemming from Warner Bros. TV, Netflix's The Sandman stars Tom Sturridge, Gwendoline Christie, Vivienne Acheampong, Boyd Holbrook, Charles Dance, Asim Chaudhry, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Mason Alexander Park, Donna Preston, Jenna Coleman, Niamh Walsh, Joely Richardson, David Thewlis, Kyo Ra, Stephen Fry, Razane Jammal, Sandra James Young, Patton Oswalt, and Mark Hamill.

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