Just as quickly and suddenly as a dream appears, Netflix has pulled back the covers on a new batch of actors who’ve been cast in their upcoming original series The Sandman. Jenna Coleman (Serpant), David Thewlis (Harry Potter, Wonder Woman), Stephen Fry (A Fish Called Wanda), Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille), Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck), Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Barry), Mason Alexander Park (Acting for a Cause), Donna Preston (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindewald), Niamh Walsh (Smother), Kyo Ra, Razane Jammal (Cruel Summer), and Sandra James Young (His Dark Materials) will all co-star alongside the previously announced casting of Tom Sturridge (Sweetbitter) and Gwendolyn Christie (Game of Thrones), as reported by Entertainment Weekly.
Announcing the newest additions to the cast, Netflix tweeted out headshots of each actor and the characters they’ll be playing. Spreading like wildfire, the announcement is currently trending on Twitter. See Netflix’s full tweet below:
The Sandman is based upon the comic book series written by Neil Gaiman (Coraline, American Gods), Sam Kieth (Zero Girl), and Mike Dringenberg (Doom Patrol). The mega popular series was first published in 1989 and ran through 1996. It tells the story of the Lord of dreams, also known as Morpheus/Dream, as he goes on an odyssey of revenge, seeking out those who kept him in captivity for decades. Sturridge was previously announced to be starring as Dream, with Christie co-starring as Lucifer, ruler of hell.
One of the most anticipated casting announcements was that of Death, a beloved fan favorite character. Howell-Baptiste will be taking on the larger than life, 90s goth-fashion inspired role. Gaiman released a statement regarding her casting picked up by Entertainment Weekly: “Hundreds of talented women from all around the planet auditioned, and they were brilliant, and none of them were right. Someone who could speak the truth to Dream, on the one hand, but also be the person you’d want to meet when your life was done on the other. And then we saw Kirby Howell-Baptiste’s audition and we knew we had our Death.”
Stand-up comedian and actor Oswalt then came onto twitter to express his excitement about being cast as the voice of Matthew the Raven. Oswalt tweeted, “29 years ago I stood in line for hours at @comixexperience in SF to meet @neilhimself and get my hardback of SEASON OF MISTS signed.Now I’m the voice of Matthew the Raven in the new @netflix SANDMAN series…” See Oswalt’s full tweet below:
Also exciting is the casting of Thewlis, who will be portraying the notorious madman John Dee. Fans of the series will remember him in the famous installment “24 hours,” which takes place within a diner over the course of a day where pandemonium breaks out due to Dee’s need for mayhem. Thewlis is no stranger to playing deeply troubled and wicked villains. Though he is beloved for playing the werewolf Lupin in the Harry Potter film series, he is also known for his darker turns as the antagonist in the 2017 film Wonder Woman and as an evil business man in the third season of the FX series Fargo. It’s safe to say that the avid comic book lovers are now bursting with excitement as finally the light has broken through on the mysterious, years-long in the making adaptation.