Tom Sturridge and Gwendoline Christie will star in Netflix’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s cult graphic novel series The Sandman.
Hollow Crown’s Sturridge will play the lead role of Dream, Lord of the Dreaming, while Game Of Thrones star Christie will feature as Lucifer, Ruler of Hell.
The original DC Comics stories told the story of an occultist who attempts to capture the physical embodiment of Death in a bargain for eternal life.
But instead he mistakenly traps Death’s younger brother Dream, or Morpheus, who is of the seven god-like siblings known as The Endless who oversee aspects of human existence.
Netflix said its series would follow “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”.
The star-studded cast also includes Charles Dance as Roderick Burgess, a blackmailer and magician, and Vivienne Acheampong as Lucienne, chief librarian and trusted guardian of Dream’s realm.
Boyd Holbrook will play The Corinthian, an escaped nightmare who wishes to taste all that the world has in store.
There. A whole set of tweets written just before bed and set to go out when I'm fast asleep. I'm vaguely worried that I've mistimed them, but too late now. Here are the first seven members of the #Sandman cast to be announced officially. Seven down, hundreds to go. pic.twitter.com/DksGLyMkBf
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) January 28, 2021
Asim Chaudhry and Sanjeev Bhaskar will play the double-hander of Abel and Cain.
Gaiman, whose Good Omens novel with Sir Terry Pratchett was adapted for Amazon Prime Video in 2019, will serve as executive producer and co-writer.
He said: “For the last 33 years, the Sandman characters have breathed and walked around and talked in my head. I’m unbelievably happy that now, finally, they get to step out of my head and into reality.
“I can’t wait until the people out there get to see what we’ve been seeing as Dream and the rest of them take flesh, and the flesh belongs to some of the finest actors out there.
“This is astonishing, and I’m so grateful to the actors and to all of The Sandman collaborators — Netflix, Warner Bros., DC, to Allan Heinberg and David Goyer, and the legions of crafters and geniuses on the show — for making the wildest of all my dreams into reality.”
Allan Heinberg, of Wonder Woman and Grey’s Anatomy, will also serve as executive producer and showrunner.
David S Goyer, whose credits include Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, will also executive produce.
The series is produced by Warner Bros Television.