The TV adaptation of author Neil Gaiman's The Sandman has been hit with repeated attacks by mostly White, male, cisgender heteronormative trolls for the supposed "wokeness" of the casting.
Gaiman has definitely had enough.
The legendary bestselling author fired back at those angry at the casting of the series and fans are loving it.
Gaiman addressed the uproar at San Diego ComicCon this past weekend, explaining why he's choosing to engage with the trolls instead of ignoring them.
See his comments below.
Many fans have been outraged over Gaiman's choice to cast Black actress Kirby Howell-Baptiste to play the role of Death, non-binary actor Mason Alexander-Park to play Desire and a woman, Gwendoline Christie, to play Lucifer.
Speaking about the furor at ComicCon, Gaiman said it's mostly people who aren't even fans of the series who are kicking up a fuss.
“I know the rule is you’re meant to ignore the trolls and not feed the trolls, but I would look at people sounding off on Sandman who were obviously not Sandman fans."
"What I would watch would be 60,000 Sandman fans going, ‘Of course you’re doing it this way. Of course you have a non-binary Desire, Desire was always non-binary, that’s brilliant casting.’ Or ‘Gwendoline as Lucifer, what amazing casting.’"
"And then you’d get five or six people trying to make a lot of fuss who never read Sandman in the first place. And I mostly decided I was done with it."
"Done with it" seems to mostly be an understatement.
On Twitter, Gaiman has become well known for taking on his trolls with pointed clapbacks.
One of his viral responses from last year reads:
"I give all the fu*ks about the work. I spent 30 years successfully battling bad movies of Sandman."
"I give zero fu*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."
Gaiman's fans are applauding his hits back at the trolls and joined him in criticizing them.
\u201cI envy racist trolls. All they have to do is shriek the word "woke" and as far as they're concerned the argument is over and they can go back to watching Triumph of the Will https://t.co/AVGdVX7y8V\u201d— Michael Clear (@Michael Clear) 1659000890
The way I see it, is this is Neil's baby, and he can cast it any damn way he wants.
Don't like it, then create your own graphic novel, and make a film/show, and do whatever you want with it.
But DON'T tell Neil, how to make his.
Only he has that right!
— 💙 🐧🌹🥁🍗🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🇮🇪🇱🇧🇺🇦 (@Rakpenguin63) July 27, 2022
\u201cClearly anyone claiming this, never actually read The Sandman.\n\n@neilhimself never disappoints me. Always showing me what a genuinely wonderful human he is.\n https://t.co/72imCZoXcG\u201d— Patrick : DistantBabble (@Patrick : DistantBabble) 1659011117
i love that he is very clear, that he knows its 5 or 6 people who are just trying to cause trouble and not most of the fans. Disney should take a lesson from him
— kevin bedford (@TheTrueCanadian) July 27, 2022
Nor should he. Who knows Sandman & what he's looking for in each character better? Not like he's a stranger to TV adaptation & its demands. I look forward to it and seeing his vision come alive.
— JayVee (@Ulfhirtha) July 27, 2022
I love "I'm proud of what we made." I think it just kills the trolls that some people actually get to experience pride.
— Kurt Michael (@KurtPlaysGuitar) July 28, 2022
\u201cNeil Gaiman hitting back at trolls is my favorite genre \ud83d\udc85\u201d— Carmela | SANDMAN Netflix Aug 5! \ud83d\udc97 (@Carmela | SANDMAN Netflix Aug 5! \ud83d\udc97) 1658971769
We love you dearly.
— Mason Alexander Park (@MasonAPark) July 27, 2022
I'm so excited to see this! Sandman was the first comic I ever bought myself in the early 90s as newly minted teen. In true fashion, I know that Mr. Gaiman will do it full justice. The cast picked are going to embody exactly what he envisioned all along. So excited to see it!
— Bruadar Gàidhealach (@joulesinthewild) July 28, 2022
Love that you stood up for the cast and helped put the trolls in their place that needed a shove and a boot. I’m looking forward to seeing the hard work you all put into #SandmanonNetflix
— Joe (possibly a bot) (@Josephh360) July 28, 2022
The Sandman premiers on Netflix next week on August 5.