Netflix has responded to The Sandman viewers following complaints about the show's aspect ratio.
After the series' debut on the streamer last week (August 5), viewers noticed the aspect ratio (the proportional relationship between an image's width and height) looked off and took to social media to voice their concerns.
Some asked whether the vertically stretched visuals were due to a technical issue or were a deliberate artistic choice.
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"What is with the aspect ratio on The Sandman? I had to pause to search if it was just me because it's... distracting," a fan tweeted – one among several tweets from viewers across the world.
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Netflix listened, with a spokesperson for the company confirming that The Sandman's distorted aspect ratio is a deliberate creative choice (via Variety).
The series based on Neil Gaiman's comic book stars Tom Sturridge (The Boat That Rocked) as Morpheus, as well as Doctor Who's Jenna Coleman and The Good Place's Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Johanna Constantine and Death, respectively.
The show kicks off with Sturridge's Dream/The Sandman escaping captivity after more than a century, well determined to restore his realm, The Dreaming.
Related: The Sandman is missing a key character — Who is the Prodigal?
Howell-Baptiste has recently weighed in on her role as the Grim Reaper in an exclusive chat with Digital Spy.
Slightly different from the depictions we're used to seeing in popular culture, her incarnation is "a utopian version of Death".
"Neil created a character of Death which I believe is a sort of best-case scenario," she said.
"And I think what you come up with is the best-case scenario for the end of someone's life. It's that they're comforted, and they are guided, and they feel no fear going into whatever is next."
The Sandman season 1 is streaming on Netflix.
The Sandman Volume 1: 30th Anniversary Edition: Preludes and Nocturnes
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Reporter, Digital Spy
Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).
