Netflix’s ‘The Sandman’ Adaptation Casts Gwendoline Christie, Tom Sturridge

Gwendoline Christie and Tom Sturridge have been tapped to lead The Sandman, Netflix’s adaptation of the DC comic book series from Neil Gaiman. Gaiman will also serve as an executive producer and co-writer on the fantasy series, which will be produced by Warner Bros. Television.

Christie and Sturridge will play Lucifer, Ruler of Hell, and Dream, Lord of the Dreaming, respectively. In addition to Christie and Sturridge, the forthcoming The Sandman adaptation will feature Vivienne Acheampong, Boyd Holbrook, Charles Dance, Asim Chaudhry, and Sanjeev Bhaskar. Their character descriptions are as follows, per Netflix:

• Vivienne Acheampong is Lucienne, chief librarian and trusted guardian of Dream’s realm
• Boyd Holbrook is The Corinthian, an escaped nightmare who wishes to taste all that the world has in store
• Charles Dance is Roderick Burgess, Charlatan, blackmailer, and magician
• Asim Chaudhry is Abel and Sanjeev Bhaskar is Cain, the first victim and the first predator, residents, and loyal subjects of the Dream Realm

An adaptation of Gaiman’s beloved graphic novel series, The Sandman “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.” Netflix promises that the new series will blend modern myth, dark fantasy, historical drama, and contemporary fiction into one wide-spanning epic.

Behind-the-scenes, Allan Heinberg will serve as executive producer and showrunner. David S. Goyer also serves as executive producer, with Goyer and Heinberg working as co-writers alongside Gaiman.

“For the last thirty-three 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,” said Gaiman in a statement. “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.”