The Sandman vs. Paper Girls: Why Changing A Comic’s Story Too Much Can Hurt An Adaptation

gamerant.com:

There are several factors that must be considered when adapting a pre-existing story– especially one with a considerable fan base– to a film format. It is a particularly complex process considering that it revolves around someone else’s work, every fan has a different vision of what the adaptation should look like, and the screenwriter, director, and actors, etc. all have their own visions as well.

Of course, no one ever has the exact same idea of what the final piece should look like, which means there must be a lot of condensing in order to find the most essential components of the story. Where a lot of adaptations go wrong is that they lean too much into their own visions and lose sight of the heart of the story, or they follow the original story too closely and only appeal to the pre-existing fan base.

The Sandman: Every Episode Of The Netflix Show, Ranked

For a film or series that is an adaptation to be considered successful, it must be satisfactory to the original fan base, but must also appeal to new fans to contribute to a high enough viewer count to justify making it. Any fan of a story that’s been adapted can tell you how disappointing it is to anticipate the story they love being brought to life, only to find it’s not the same story. Capturing the essence of a story is not simply copying its plot line, it requires pinpointing the most essential events in the plot, the most essential characters, the most essential details, and the moral message.

In the case of The Sandman, it took a lot of consideration and failed attempts to achieve the successful version that Netflix has released. Much of the praise that this adaptation has received has been for its ability to breathe life into this story. The characters feel