Sandman Netflix hype confirms Neil's the guy, man

After three decades of false starts, you can forgive fans for biting their tongues when Netflix announced last year they would be finally bringing beloved comic series The Sandman to the screen. But with the series beginning shooting just in time for Halloween, and creator Neil Gaiman getting on Twitter to drop tidbits about production, you can feel that the hype bomb is now getting ready to drop.

Gaiman’s work has been a proven source of hits when adapted for prestige TV, with Lucifer, Good Omens and American Gods all making waves over the last few years. The Sandman shares many of the same tropes and themes as those tales, particularly Gaiman’s penchant for blending mythical and allegorical characters into mundane, cynical modern settings.

It stars Morpheus, an immortal being who represents the idea of Dream, who interacts with mortals, demons, and occasionally other DC Comics characters such as John Constantine.

The version of Lucifer who stars in the Netflix series of that name is actually based on the version from The Sandman - and executives at the streaming service are no doubt hoping that a full Sandman adaptation will prove even more successful than that spin-off, which is due to air its sixth and final season in 2021.

The Sandman has the kind of pedigree few adaptations can match. It was a bonafide cultural force in the early '90s and both its writing and art remain hugely influential. The Sandman was lauded alongside the works of Watchmen writer Alan Moore as bringing comic books into more mature and artistic territory, while also outselling Batman and Superman during its original run.

That’s a lot for any adaptation to live up to, but with Gaiman himself insisting he’s worked on every script and that the show “is actually really and truly Sandman, not something loosely inspired”, there’s room to hope. And for fans on the fence about investing emotionally in a series Netflix might cancel halfway through, the usually-humble Gaiman gently alluded to the kind of license a project of this stature is afforded: “The short answer (which I will not be expanding) is: there are safeguards in place.”

Sweet news indeed for the legions of Sandman fans, who can now feel safe to dream of what might be coming next year.

Commander Christmas comes early as new Magic cards leak again

Magic: The Gathering publisher Wizards of the Coast has really stepped up their game this year, pushing out a record-breaking 2020 product catalog. Expansion has come in the form of supplementary products targeting casual players, culminating in the upcoming Commander Legends.

As the name implies, this set is the first ever to focus exclusively on Magic’s incredibly popular Commander game mode, which has become key to the game reaching new audiences over the last decade. But the hype around this landmark release was deflated by not one, but several high-profile online leaks which have derailed WotC’s PR plans and spread anger across the game’s dedicated community.

An anonymous photo album was discovered on Imgur, showing very convincing photos of Commander Legends card packs as well as actual cards (in German) which are marked as belonging to the new set. Obviously, since Magic is a physical product sold around the world and distribution isn’t instantaneous, the secrecy of new cards relies on a delicate trust between Wizards and its retail partners. Lately, it seems that trust has been violated more and more frequently when details of new sets are spoiled early on sites like Reddit - and this leak was one of the worst yet.

So why are fans upset about this? Well, aside from the usual disappointment of having something cool spoiled before you can enjoy it in context, these leaks play havoc with Magic’s lucrative secondary market. Commander allows players to use cards printed at any point since Magic’s debut in 1993, and with prices on vintage cards regularly running into the hundreds or thousands of dollars, Commander Legends is a chance to reduce that financial barrier by printing fresh editions of some of them. Naturally the increased supply will tank the value of those specific cards, and so having the reprintings spoiled far in advance has ruined a lot of valuable trade deals!

For Wizards, this latest leak is just more egg on their already-eggy face - and more encouragement to focus on shifting Magic towards a direct distribution model.

Fast fandom

As always, there is a ton going on in the interconnected world of pop culture and fan media. Here are a few of the stories that caught our eye:

Netflix Anime Festival wows fans with big names and big news

Investing in original anime content remains one of the boldest moves in Netflix’s aggressive media expansion, but the announcements from this week’s Netflix Anime Festival 2020 show the streaming service is still hungry for more animated hits. The lineup announced for next year seems to feature something to excite any kind of otaku: from a spin-off of cult giant robot movie Pacific Rim, to the latest adaptation from Hirohiko Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure universe, and an official adaptation of Resident Evil done with 3D animation reminiscent of the original games.

But perhaps the most hotly anticipated series draws on an acclaimed manga finally making its way to the west. The Way of the Househusband has already been celebrated for the empathy and wit with which it shows the comedic exploits of a deadly yakuza mob boss, who suddenly retires from crime to become full-time homemaker for his career-minded wife.

Jared Leto puts his clown face back on for the #SnyderCut

The headline really says it all here - after initially drawing derision and controversy for his unorthodox, soundcloud-rapper inspired portrayal of The Joker in Suicide Squad, Jared Leto seems to be finally getting his second chance to embody the iconic comic villain as part of Zack Snyder’s extensive Justice League re-shoots.

It’s shocking to think that Leto will become the first actor ever to reprise the role of Joker in film, considering his first outing bombed so badly and caused enough bad blood with castmates to see his potential solo movie shelved. But the rabid optimism shown by fans towards this miraculous second coming of the #SnyderCut may be Leto’s redemption. Rumor has it his new scenes are opposite Ben Affleck’s Batman, and if they can capture the kind of chemistry which made The Dark Knight special then Leto may have played his way back into future DCU projects.

Further delays raise awkward questions for Cyberpunk devs

A few weeks ago we reported on controversy brewing around Cyberpunk 2077, by far the biggest video game release of this year. Acclaimed Polish developer CD Projekt Red made their name with similarly gigantic projects like The Witcher, but this time the pressure of expectation and their own ambitions seem to be causing serious problems. The already-delayed game was pushed back again this week, to the disappointment of fans who have already put in pre-orders or taken time off to savor what looks to be a groundbreaking sci-fi experience.

But there was also anger directed at CD Projekt by games industry advocates, since these delays will put further strain on employees already working 100-hour weeks to meet their release date. To add insult to injury, these workers - previously assured that they would not be asked to work under “crunch” conditions for Cyberpunk - found out about the complications at the same time everyone else did, with executives insisting that stock restrictions prevented them from breaking the news internally. Ouch.