
Though we’ve seen a few glimpses of Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman and heard all about the show’s interesting casting, the streaming service has been careful not to reveal its takes on the Endless, the family of anthropomorphic beings at the center of the story. That is, until today’s special Tudum event.
This live-action telling (the tale has been done in audio previously) is based on Gaiman’s comic that ran under DC’s now-defunct Vertigo imprint in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s with resurgences here and there. Artists involved included Dave McKean, Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Jill Thompson, Shawn McManus, Marc Hempel, Bryan Talbot, and Michael Zulli. After months of simply letting fans wonder at how the new show might compare to the source comic, Netflix finally shared a proper look at the series during a presentation hosted by executive producer Neil Gaiman, and actors Tom Sturridge and Kirby Howell-Baptiste, who portray siblings Dream and Death, respectively. Take a look.
The cast for this one is quite impressive and includes Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer, non-binary actor Mason Alexander Park as Desire, another of Dream’s siblings, Donna Preston as Desire’s twin, Despair, Vivienne Acheampong as Lucien, Charles Dance as Roderick Burgess. We also have Boyd Holbrook as the Corinthean, Sanjeev Bhaskar as Cain, Asim Chaudhry as Abel, and Jenna Coleman as Johanna Constantine. Plus Joely Richardson and Niamh Walsh as the older and younger versions of Ethel Cripps, and David Thewlis as Ethel’s son, John Dee. Kyo Ra will play Rose Walker, Stephen Fry will play Gilbert, Rose’s protector, and Razane Jammal will play Lyta Hall, Rose’s closest friend. There’s also Sandra James Young as Unity Kincaid, a rich heiress and Rose’s benefactor, and none other than MODOK himself, Patton Oswalt as the voice of Dream’s emissary, Matthew the Raven.
Here are some brand new character posters too posted via the official social media channels, @Netflix_Sandman on Twitter and @thesandmanofficial on Instagram.
The Sandman is slated to start streaming Netflix in 2022.
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DISCUSSION
I still feel like Patton Oswalt is a horrible piece of casting for Matthew. Nothing against Patton himself, but his voice is just so recognisable and intrinsically “comedy” in my head and I just don’t see it fitting tonally.
The rest of the cast I think looks great. Christie and Thewlis in particular will knock it out of the park, imo.
But... for my money, the last good Gaiman adaptation was Coraline, and before that you need to go all the way back to Neverwhere. I know most on here love Good Omens but other than Tennant/Sheen it felt lifeless as cardboard, and American Gods... well, you know how that went in the end.
Sandman just feels like the epitome of “unfilmable” because of how completely out there it is, so they’ll probably have to tone down and streamline a helluva lot of what makes it so compelling in the first place. But I’ll go in with as much of an open mind as I can, as I WANT this to be amazing so badly.
p.s. I wonder if Dream having normal eyes will get anywhere near the ire that Faye having a different outfit in Bebop will get. For me, that’s a much bigger departure than a simple clothing choice and I’m not sure I like it!