The Sandman creator Neil Gaiman ruthlessly hits back at troll’s ‘woke’ moaning
Neil Gaiman wrote The Sandman back in the 90s. (Getty/Netflix)
The Sandman creator Neil Gaiman has clapped back at a anti-LGBTQ+ critic on social media who labelled the show “woke”.
The hit Netflix series is based on comic books first released by Gaiman in 1989 and is a faithful adaptation – including its LGBTQ+ representation.
Since dropping the first season, the LGBTQ+ inclusive nature of the show has been a major topic of discussion and has inevitably drawn homophobes out of their cave.
After tweeting about the unfortunate possibility that The Sandman isn’t guaranteed a second season, someone replied: “Man this show is the most ‘woked’ show ever watched in my life.
“I mean come on you’re blatantly just ramming that bulls**t down our throats where it’s a bit disgusting!”
To which Gaiman ruthlessly replied, pointing out that what’s on Netflix now was in his graphic novel three decades ago.
I am beginning to wonder at the continual use of the "ramming things down our throats" metaphor by people who seem upset by the gay characters on the TV (or in the comics 30 years ago). https://t.co/SgiTzHjlxr— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) August 22, 2022
The show has a variety a queer characters including the gender-fluid Desire, the Corinthian, Johanna Constantine and various other LGBTQ+ plots seamlessly folded in.
This is not the first time Gaiman has hit back at fans who are unhappy with its inclusive nature.
When casting was announced for non-binary actor Mason Alexander Park to play Desire and black actor Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death, Gaiman tried to put a stop to the “woke” moaning.
“I give all the f**ks about the work. I spent 30 years successfully battling bad movies of Sandman. I give zero f**ks about people who don’t understand/ haven’t read Sandman whining about a non-binary Desire or that Death isn’t white enough. Watch the show, make up your minds,” he previously tweeted.
In an interview with The Queer Review about the choice to include LGBTQ+ characters, he said: “When I was writing it, and today, I had gay friends, I had trans friends. I wanted to see them represented in the comics that I was writing.”
If season two does get the green light, Neil Gaiman has also confirmed to The Metro there will be even more queer characters with the introduction of trans character Wanda, so there’s much to look forward to for the show’s queer and more inclusive viewers.
