Sandman is clearly no priority on DC's slate until 2020. In fact, the venture advances so slowly and news comes so infrequently that one might ask whether Neil Gaiman's work will ever be adapted for the big screen at all.

What's been established is Gaiman himself is on board with the production and that Joseph Gordon-Levitt will direct the movie. Rumor has it he will also star in Sandman.

After a period of complete blackness, JGL finally brings some news about his "ghostly" project. Hit the jump to learn why Sandman moves ahead so slowly and why it's not going to be a typical comic book movie.

So, there is no news about Sandman because there's little to no advancement to talk about. No, and it's not because they're just sitting around. JGL explains with amazing confidence:

JGL says "it's complicated"

"It's really good, man", says JGL assuring the public Sandman is going in the right direction. And adds: "It's slow but steady", which is kind of obvious (well, the "slow" part, that is). And here's why.

"It's a really complicated adaptation because those comics, they're brilliant. But they're not written as a whole. It's not like "˜Watchmen,' which is a graphic novel that has a beginning, middle, and end".

On the contrary: ""˜Sandman' was written over the course of whatever "” I forget exactly, six or seven years. One at a time. One little 20-page issue at a time. And to try to take that and make it into something that's a feature film "” a movie that has a beginning, middle, and end "” is complicated".

But that's not all.

The movie will have a different tone than the typical comic book movie. See what difference JGL points out in an interview courtesy of MTV.

Sandman: action-packed with no punching

Indeed, in so many words this is what JGL has to say about the difference between Sandman and other comic book movies comes down to that.

"Big spectacular action movies are generally about crime fighters fighting crime and blowing sh-t up. This has nothing to do with that".

And he continues: "And it was actually one of the things that Neil Gaiman said to me, he said "˜Don't have any punching.' Because he never does. If you read the comics, Morpheus doesn't punch anybody. That's not what he does".

In brief, "It's going to be like a grand spectacular action film, but that relies on none of those same old ordinary clichés. So, that's why it's taking a lot time to write, but it's going to be really good".

Now, hear the man speak in the video clip below.

Is this good news for you? Are you happy to learn Sandman makes progress, though not as fast as one might like? Have your say below via comments! And don't forget: stay tuned, we'll bring you the hottest scoop on all things Sandman!