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As we await an official trailer & release date for Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of The Sandman from creator, EP & co-writer Neil Gaiman (Good Omens); EP, co-writer & showrunner Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman); and EP & co-writer David S. Goyer (Foundation), The Goddess of Television Karma (a story for another time) has given us the unique opportunity to revisit another popular topic. But first, a modern history lesson. Back in June 2021, HBO Max animated series Harley Quinn co-creators and EPs Justin Halpern & Patrick Schumacker offered a very sobering revelation about Batman’s sex life. Speaking with Variety for a piece on how superhero shows are subverting the genre, Halpern & Schumacker explained how having a series populated by DC’s villains gave them more leeway to take deeper dives when it comes to violence, cursing, sexual scenarios, etc. But if they were heroes? Halpern explained what happened when they were going to have Batman get “up close & personal” with Catwoman from an oral perspective. “A perfect example of that is in this third season of ‘Harley’ [when] we had a moment where Batman was going down on Catwoman. And DC was like, ‘You can’t do that. You absolutely cannot do that.’ They’re like, ‘Heroes don’t do that.’ So, we said, ‘Are you saying heroes are just selfish lovers?’ They were like, ‘No, it’s that we sell consumer toys for heroes. It’s hard to sell a toy if Batman is also going down on someone.'” Now thanks to Gaiman, we’re getting a reminder that this wasn’t the first time that DC put its foot (or another body part) down when it came to sex and the DCU.
When a fan retweeted a screencap of an article reporting that Gaiman was told by DC Comics execs that he couldn’t use the word “masturbation” and the reason they gave for the word not being able to be used, Gaiman didn’t mince words with his confirmation: “Yes.” So it’s time for another brief modern history lesson. Running from September 1989 to June 1990, DC Comics/Vertigo’s The Sandman story arc “The Doll’s House” was filled with a number of memorable lines & moments- with the serial killer convention probably being at the top of many lists. Now as much as the comic book series was already defining itself as something far different than anything else going on in the DCU, it was still part of the DCU. So you can imagine that the DC Comics brass would’ve red-flagged anything having to do with serial killers and conventions, right? Well, not quite. Speaking with the San Francisco Chronicle in 1991, Gaiman revealed that “the only word that got censored [in that issue] was ‘masturbate.'” If you’re getting a sense that the Batman/Catwoman controversy from last year was another example of history repeating itself, then Gaiman’s follow-up definitely won’t surprise you. “It was explained to me that people do not masturbate in the DC Universe. Actually, that explains a lot. That’s probably why the characters all dress in tight costumes and go around thumping the shit out of each other.” On the plus side? Now that Morpheus is taking a deep dive into live-action streaming, he’s free to have all of the dreams he wants- wet or otherwise.
Now here’s a look back at the “Geeked Week 2022” trailer that included some new looks at the upcoming adaptation:
Gaiman and Sturridge covered a number of topics in their interview last week, including how they approached translating Morpheus’s literary-like speech to the small screen, what it was like for Sturridge to film naked early in production & much more:
For Gaiman & The Creative Team, There Was No Doubt That Tom Sturridge Was their Morpheus: “Having watched all those other auditions, we were able to go to Netflix and say, ‘It’s Tom. We know it’s…
Read More: Neil Gaiman Remembers When DCU Didn’t “Self-Love”