The Major DC Comics Character Missing From The Sandman Season 1
Contains spoilers for "The Sandman" Season 1
Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman" has finally arrived on Netflix, and it whisks subscribers into a sprawling cosmic adventure as Morpheus (Tom Sturridge) tries to rebuild his realm, the Dreaming, after he's locked up for 100 years. The ambitious show is based on Gaiman's critically acclaimed DC Comics series of the same name. Both "The Sandman" series and its source material follow Morpheus as he deals with the turbulent nature of the Dreaming, as certain threats evolve and escape into the world because of the Dream Lord's imprisonment.
One of those problems is the terrifying nightmare, the Corinthian (Boyd Holdbrook), who has become a serial killer with a taste for leaving his victims without their eyes. This terrifying force winds up roaming the Earth without any repercussions for decades, until Morpheus comes looking for his stolen possessions that is. After locking Morpheus in a glass cage, Roderick Burgess (Charles Dance) steals his helm, the Sand Pouch, and his ruby, hoping to gain more power out of the supernatural items. But they eventually find their way into the hands of several surprising parties — one of those being the disturbed John Dee (David Thewlis).
Dee uses the ruby to experiment on people in Episode 5 ("24 Hour Diner"), forcing an innocent group of diner customers to engage in a series of disturbing acts. Gaiman previously praised Thewlis' performance on Tumblr, writing, "He's heartbreaking. Awful, mild, sweet, concerned, monstrous."
But the story omits a major DC Comics character when Dee gets his hands on the ruby.
Morpheus works with Martian Manhunter
When John Dee escapes the psychiatric unit in Episode 3 ("Dream a Little Dream of Me"), he starts heading to an old shipping container where the ruby is being kept. Morpheus also finds the ruby too, but Dee's modifications to the jewel actually knock the Dream Lord unconscious. However, this all plays out very differently in the comics, mainly because Morpheus actually gets some help from a certain member of the Justice League: Martian Manhunter. "The Sandman" is technically part of the DC universe, and Morpheus approaches Martian Manhunter and Mister Miracle for help locating the ruby in "Sandman" #5.
After briefly saving Mister Miracle from a terrifying nightmare about the planet Apokolips, Morpheus speaks to Martian Manhunter about the ruby's location — because he has more knowledge about older artifacts that the Justice League has encountered. But the green alien instantly recognizes Morpheus as "Lord L'zoril" and bows in terror because he sees the Dream Lord as a flaming black skull, which is even more intimidating than Morpheus' usual pale visage.
Manhunter quickly explains that the ruby is in a containment facility outside of Gotham City, and Morpheus immediately travels there while Manhunter and Miracle go get Oreos out of a secret stash in the team's kitchen. Gaiman recently discussed leaving out some of the scenes from the comics, explaining on Tumblr, "Making Sandman for Netflix is a chance to do it again, and to do it with the economy of not needing to exist in a shared universe in the same way. So when we do the Joe Simon and Jack Kirby Dream Dome Sandman stuff, we do it slightly differently, and we don't need the scene with the Justice League to get Dream to the Ruby."