Neil Gaiman and Netflix have revealed the next round of casting for the anticipated series adaptation of Gaiman’s The Sandman and it is quite a large group as a dozen actors have been announced. Starring in The Sandman is Kirby Howell-Baptise (The Good Place), Patton Oswalt (Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K.), Mason Alexander Park (Transplants), Donna Preston (Loves Spell), Razane Jammal (Paranormal), Joely Richardson (Snowden), Niamh Walsh (Good Omens), David Thewlis (Wonder Woman), Stephen Fry (The Man Who Knew Infinity), Jenna Coleman (Victoria), Sandra James Young (EastEnders) and newcomer Kyo Ra.
The Sandman follows “the adventures of Morpheus, lord of dreams and member of a pantheon of immortal beings called The Endless who personify certain universal concepts that, along with dream, includes death, desire, destiny, delirium, despair, and destruction.”
Howell-Baptise will play Death, “Dream’s wiser, nicer, and much more sensible sister.”
Alexander-Park will play Desire, “Dream’s sibling and everything you want, whatever you want and whoever you are. Desire is also trouble for Dream. Families are complicated.”
Preston will play Despair, “Desire’s twin, Dream’s sister. She is the moment when all hope is gone, the bleakest of the Endless.”
Jenna Coleman will play Johanna Constantine, an “Eighteenth Century occult adventuress, John Constantine’s great-great-great grandmother.”
Richardson and Walsh will play Ethel Cripps, “Roderick Burgess’s love, John Dee’s mother. a betrayed and determined young woman seeking to survive. In the present day, now a woman of a hundred identities and a thousand lies.” Walsh will play Cripps in the 1920s and 30s while Richardson will be an elderly Cripps.
Thewlis is John Dee, Ethel’s son. He “is dangerous. He was driven mad, long ago. Now he’s out and on a quest for Truth that may destroy the world.”
Ra is Rose Walker, “a young woman on a desperate search for her missing brother, who finds a family she didn’t know that she had, and a connection to Dream that neither of them can escape.”
Jammal is Lyta Hall, “Rose’s friend, a young widow mourning her husband Hector. Rose doesn’t know that Hector has started showing up in Lyta’s dreams, though. Or that strange things are happening.”
Young is Unity Kinkaid. “Heiress, Rose’s mysterious benefactor. She has spent a century asleep. Now she’s awake, having missed out on her life.”
Fry will play Gilbert, “Rose Walker’s debonair protector. A dab hand with a paradox and a sword cane.”
And finally, Oswalt will play Matthew, “Dream’s trusted emissary. A raven.”
The dozen actors join Tom Sturridge (Sweetbitter) as Dream, Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) as Lucifer, Vivienne Acheampong (The Witches) as Lucienne, Charles Dance (Game of Thrones) as Rodrick Burgess, Sanjeev Bhaskar (Unforgotten) as Cain, Asim Chaudhry (People Just Do Nothing) as Abel and Boyd Holbrook (Logan) as The Corinthian in The Sandman.
While that is a lot of roles filled in the series, Gaiman teased there is more to come. “Of course, there are more delights and nightmares cast than I’ve listed here, and we have a few more secrets up our sleeves. I can’t wait until you can start watching.”
Netflix has described the series as “A rich blend of modern myth and dark fantasy in which contemporary fiction, historical drama and legend are seamlessly interwoven, The Sandman follows the people and places affected by Morpheus, the dream king, as he mends the cosmic — and human — mistakes he’s made during his vast existence.”
What do you think of this castings? Are you excited by the people playing Gaiman’s classic characters? Let us know on our social media channels at @flickeringmyth…
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
