Comics fans generally hail Netflix‘s The Sandman as a long-awaited and faithful adaptation. For streaming rather than a network time slot, it need not hold to a specific runtime, and thus can include all that it needs to. Even still, however, some of what’s filmed can get cut for pacing or possible redundancy. This morning, Netflix dropped a Sandman deleted scene that gives Charles Dance’s Magus an extra moment to flex, but doesn’t necessarily reveal more than a viewer might already presume.
In the scene, Alex Burgess remains concerned at the outbreak of encephalitis lethargica, a sleeping sickness that in this story comes about due to Dream’s imprisonment. In real life, this was an actual thing, as recounted in the book and movie Awakenings. Some suspect that, like long COVID today, it was an extended neurological after-effect of Spanish flu.
Roderick Burgess, however, doesn’t care about the disease when Morpheus’ captivity still makes him a profit. Though it’s not bringing back his son, the way he had hoped when the plan was to capture Death, he still has determination to win this battle of wills with one of the Endless. Take a look below:
RELATED: Netflix Drops a Bonus Episode of The Sandman
Most of us got the general idea in that episode without the scene, but we can never get enough Sandman. What do you think? Should Netflix have kept this moment in the show? Let us know in comments.
Recommended Reading: The Sandman Book One by Neil Gaiman
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