Neil Gaiman admits that the portrayal of the character Despair in Netflix’s “The Sandman” TV series adaptation was one element of the show that didn’t work as intended.
The acclaimed adaptation scored rave reviews and strong numbers, though took some time to get a renewal order with the show expected to get a second ‘Volume’ as opposed to a second ‘season’ per se – what form that will take is not clear.
In a post to his Tumblr, Gaiman addressed the portrayal of Despair in the Netflix show – the character shown as a plus-sized woman who is seen as “frumpy, depressed and not really loved by anyone” according to one commenter asking Gaiman about the portrayal.
The acclaimed author responded: “Mostly, what I hope is that the next time you see Despair on the screen, you won’t think of her as frumpy, depressed and unloved. She isn’t in the comics, and I think we missed what we were aiming for in Sandman Season 1.”
As a result, future appearances of Despair in The Sandman will be handled differently, though how exactly isn’t clear. Filming will begin on the new episodes this Summer, with some of the run
expected to follow the comic collection Season of Mists, which introduces the characters of Destiny and Delirium.
Gaiman previously confirmed the scripts had been written and casting is underway. He also teased that Donna Preston, who played Despair in “The Sandman,” will play Mrs. Sandwich in the upcoming second season of “Good Omens”.
