‘The Sandman‘ trailer was released on Saturday. Fans of Neil Gaiman and his popular graphic novel series will rejoice. But the much-anticipated adaptation also brings something horrific with it: nightmares come to life.

They are the centrepiece of the latest trailer for the programme, which debuted at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con. Because, after a century alone from his land, the Lord of the Dreaming has much more to defend than just his own.

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This teaser introduces some of Neil Gaiman’s most deadly villains from ‘The Sandman.’ The Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook), Doctor Destiny (David Thewlis), and Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie) are among them. However, this trailer just teases the true terror that awaits humanity after the lengthy absence of Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams.

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The official Netflix synopsis explains why he was gone for so long and why his comeback is so crucial: “There is another world that waits for all of us when we close our eyes and sleep — a place called the Dreaming, where The Sandman, Master of Dreams (Tom Sturridge), gives shape to all of our deepest fears and fantasies. But when Dream is unexpectedly captured and held prisoner for a century, his absence sets off a series of events that will change both the dreaming and waking worlds forever. To restore order, Dream must journey across different worlds and timelines to mend the mistakes he’s made during his vast existence, revisiting old friends and foes, and meeting new entities — both cosmic and human — along the way.”

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Gaiman, David S. Goyer, and Allan Heinberg appear to have captured Sandman’s vast, surreal scale and tone, with scenes of Hell, Dream’s sibling Desire’s world, and one very unfortunate diner all radiating the appropriate air of mystery and horror.

But this trailer isn’t entirely scary. It’s just mostly scary. It also includes Morpheus’ talking raven, Matthew (voiced by Patton Oswalt), and his devoted librarian (Vivienne Acheampong). We also catch a peek of his servant, Mervyn Pumpkinhead (Mark Hamill is voicing the constantly annoyed employee).

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Sandman has persisted in popular culture for more than 30 years because it is more than just a mystical adventure: Obsessed with stories, like its author, it’s often discursive, verbose, and, yes, a little egotistical, while also being really human and humorous – there’s a reason they cast Patton Oswalt as a talking raven.

That’s a monumental standard for any TV show to live up to, but there aren’t any significant red flags as to why the tale can’t finally dream itself into life when Netflix releases all the 10 episodes of the show in a couple of weeks.

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This ‘The Sandman’ teaser also provides us a better look at two members of Morpheus’ family, the Endless. Dream addresses Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) and Desire, his sister-brother (Mason Alexander Park).

Death and Desire, however, do not frighten like the others. On August 5, the series’ horrors will be available on Netflix.