Netflix's long-awaited adaptation of The Sandman from Neil Gaiman has finally been released on the streaming platform. The television series, based on the popular comic book of the same name, came out on Friday, August 5.
Efforts to adapt The Sandman began in 1991 and floundered in development hell for many years. A film, set to star Joseph Gordon-Levitt originally entered development in 2013; however, when the actor exited the project in 2016, it was put on the backburner.
Due to the prolonged development of the film, production company Warner Bros. shifted its focus to television. Netflix signed a deal to produce the series in June 2019, and filming lasted from October 2020 to August 2021. But who is in this new series, what is it about and how many episodes are there?
Read more: True story behind Netflix ‘revenge porn’ doc The Most Hated Man on the Internet
The Sandman cast
Tom Sturridge
English actor, Tom Sturridge, leads the cast as Morpheus, otherwise known as Dream.
Dream is a member of a family known as the Endless, made up of individuals who are personifications of different elements of the universe, others including Death, Despair and Desire.
Tom has previously appeared in Being Julia, Like Minds and The Boat That Rocked.
Gwendoline Christie
Taking on the villainous role of Lucifer Morningstar (a character believed to be based on David Bowie) is Game of Thrones and Star Wars actor, Gwendoline Christie.
Lucifer Morningstar is, quite simply, the ruler of Hell.
Jenna Coleman
Readers will almost certainly recognise Jenna for her role as Clara Oswald in Doctor Who opposite Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi. In The Sandman, Jenna plays occult detective Johanna Constantine.
She plays two versions of the character: the eighteenth century ancestor Lady Johanna Constantine and her present day descendant based on DC Comics' John Constantine.
Kirby Howell-Baptiste
Kirby Howell-Baptiste plays Death in the series, a sister of Dream’s. Writer Neil Gaiman recently revealed a scene in which Death greets an elderly man in his final moments made him cry.
Kirby has previously appeared as a series regular on Downward Dog, Killing Eve and Why Women Kill.
Boyd Holbrook
Known for his villain roles, Boyd Holbrook's character in The Sandman is no different. He plays a nightmare named Corinthian, who has escaped the Dreaming and has no desire to return. He wears glasses over his missing eyes.
Boyd has previously appeared in Marvel film Logan, Gone Girl and Narcos.
David Thewlis
Harry Potter star, David Thewlis, appears in The Sandman as Dr John Dee. Neil Gaiman previously described the character as someone "who could break your heart and keep your sympathy while taking you into the darkest places."
Charles Dance
Another Game of Thrones actor - Charles Dance plays Sir Roderick Burgess, a charlatan occultist.
On television, Charles played Guy Perron in The Jewel in the Crown, Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones, and Lord Mountbatten in the third and fourth seasons of The Crown.
Stephen Fry
An icon of British television, Stephen Fry, is a man named Gilbert in The Sandman. Gilbert becomes a bodyguard to Kyo Ra’s character, Rose Walker, concealing a sword within his cane.
Stephen's roles have stretched across TV and film. He is famous for hosting QI and being one half of the double act, Fry and Laurie, with Hugh Laurie.
Sanjeev Bhaskar
Sanjeev Bhaskar's career is one of those rare occasions when a comedy actor has turned his hand to drama.
Known for his work on Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No. 42, Sanjeev plays Cain in The Sandman, who is based on the biblical figure of the same name.
Asim Chaudhry
Another comic to join the series is Asim Chaudhry, who plays another biblical-inspired figure, Abel.
He is best known for playing Chabuddy G in the BBC mockumentary series People Just Do Nothing, which he co-created.
What is the plot of The Sandman?
According to Netflix's official synopsis: "The Sandman is a rich blend of modern myth and dark fantasy in which contemporary fiction, historical drama, and legend are seamlessly interwoven, the series 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."
With 10 volumes of comics covering 75 issues over its seven-year run from 1989-1996, there's a mountain of material to play with. Season 1 of The Sandman will be adapted from the first three collected volumes: Preludes and Nocturnes, The Doll's House, and Dream Country.
How many episodes are there of The Sandman?
The Sandman's first season consists of ten, hour-long episodes. They are available to watch right now on Netflix. For more showbiz and television stories get our newsletter here.
READ NEXT:
