X

DC Comics and Netflix reveal The Sandman cast, pronouns and all

Neil Gaiman's classic comic series about the Lord of Dreams will awaken on Netflix.

Corinne Reichert Senior Editor
Corinne Reichert (she/her) grew up in Sydney, Australia and moved to California in 2019. She holds degrees in law and communications, and currently writes news, analysis and features for CNET across the topics of electric vehicles, broadband networks, mobile devices, big tech, artificial intelligence, home technology and entertainment. In her spare time, she watches soccer games and F1 races, and goes to Disneyland as often as possible.
Expertise News, mobile, broadband, 5G, home tech, streaming services, entertainment, AI, policy, business, politics Credentials
  • I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
See full bio
Corinne Reichert
2 min read
twitter-in-stream-wide-sandmanpurple

The Sandman comic was written by Neil Gaiman and told the tale of a lonely character who ruled the dream realm.

 DC Comics

DC Comics announced the cast of the Netflix adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman on Wednesday, complete with personal pronouns for all the actors. Based on the classic adult comic written by Neil Gaiman, the series is headlined by Tom Sturridge, Doctor Who's Jenna Coleman and Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer (yes, that Lucifer).

Running from 1989 to 1996, with a few spin-offs since then, the genre-bending comic tells the story of the Lord of Dreams, Morpheus (aka Sandman and Dream). He's joined in the magical take by his family members Death, Destruction, Destiny, Despair, Desire and Delirium. The show's release date is yet to be announced. 

Here's the new cast announcement:

  • Kirby Howell-Baptiste (she/her) as Death.
  • Mason Alexander Park (they/them) as Desire.
  • Donna Preston (she/her) as Despair.
  • Razane Jammal (she/her) as Lyta Hall.
  • Joely Richardson (she/her) as Ethel Cripps.
  • Niamh Walsh (she/her) as Young Ethel Cripps.
  • David Thewlis (he/him) as John Dee.
  • Kyo Ra (she/her) as Rose Walker.
  • Patton Oswalt (he/him) as the voice of Matthew the Raven.
  • Stephen Fry (he/him) as Gilbert.
  • Jenna Coleman (she/her) as Johanna Constantine.
  • Sandra James Young (she/her) as Unity Kincaid.

They join the previously announced Sandman cast members of Vivienne Acheampong as Lucienne, Boyd Holbrook as the Corinthian, Charles Dance as Roderick Burgess, Asim Chaudhry as Abel and Sanjeev Bhaskar as Cain.

The Sandman on Netflix will also be given a new, modern-day setting, according to an interview Gaiman gave in 2019.

"The idea is to stay faithful to Sandman, but to do it for now rather than making it a 1980s period piece," Gaiman said in November 2019. "In Sandman No. 1, there is a sleeping sickness that occurs because Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, is captured in 1916, and in 1988 he escapes ... instead of him being a captive for about 80 years, he's going to be a captive for about 110 years and that will change things."

Gaiman is executive producer of the Netflix series of The Sandman.

There's no release date yet, with filming delayed last year due to the pandemic.

New Movies Coming in 2023 From Marvel, Netflix, DC and More

+44 More
See all photos

Correction, June 9: Fixes the start date of the comic book series.