The Sandman creator Neil Gaiman has unveiled official breakdowns for several characters on the Netflix series.
Gaiman released the details as part of a larger casting announcement for The Sandman, including Kirby Howell-Baptiste (The Good Place) as Death, one of the Endless and sister to Morpheus/Dream (Tom Sturridge); Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who) as Johanna Constantine, John Constantine's great-great-great grandmother; and Patton Oswalt (Marvel's M.O.D.O.K.) as Matthew the Raven, Morpheus' ever-faithful companion.
Created by Gaiman and artists Mike Dringenberg and Sam Kieth, the original run of Sandman comic books were published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint from 1989-1996. The series tells the story of Morpheus, AKA Dream or the Lord of Dreams, as he's magically imprisoned for 70 years after being mistaken for his sibling Death. Upon his escape, Morpheus sets out to restore his kingdom, avenge himself upon those responsible for his capture and atone for the many mistakes he's made. He is one of the seven Endless -- the immortal beings who personify such human concepts as Desire, Despair and Destiny.
Following several failed attempts to adapt The Sandman comics into either a TV show or film, Netflix announced it was developing The Sandman into a streaming series in July 2019. Gaiman is executive producing the adaptation with David S. Goyer and Allan Heinberg, the latter of whom is also serving as the series' showrunner/head writer. Shooting began in Oct. 2020, prior to the first Sandman casting announcement at the start of 2021.
Gaiman's character breakdowns for the second Sandman casting announcement are as follows:
DEATH -- Dream's wiser, nicer, and much more sensible sister. Significantly harder to cast than you might imagine (well, than I imagined, anyway). 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 (she/her) audition and we knew we had our Death.
DESIRE -- Dream's sibling and everything you want, whatever you want and whoever you are. Desire is also trouble for Dream. Families are complicated. We had barely started looking when Mason Alexander Park (they/them) reached out on Twitter, and threw their hat into the ring. We were thrilled when they got the part.
DESPAIR -- Desire's twin, Dream's sister. She is the moment when all hope is gone, the bleakest of the Endless. Donna Preston (she/her) will be playing her, and her performance is chilling and sad. You feel her pain.
JOHANNA CONSTANTINE -- Eighteenth Century occult adventuress, John Constantine’s great-great-great grandmother. This Sandman character became so popular that she even had her own spin-off series. I created her to fill the role that John Constantine does in the past. When we broke down the first season, given that we knew that we would be encountering Johanna in the past, we wondered what would happen if we met a version of her in the present as well. We tried it and the script was sparkier, feistier, and in some ways even more fun. So having written her, we just had to cast her. Jenna Coleman (she/her) gave us the Johanna of our dreams – tough, brilliant, tricky, haunted and probably doomed.
ETHEL CRIPPS -- Roderick Burgess's love, John Dee's mother, is a small but vital role in the comics, but she became more important as we told our story. In the 1920s and 30s, she is played by Niamh Walsh (she/her): a betrayed and determined young woman seeking to survive. In the present day, now a woman of a hundred identities and a thousand lies, she's played by the brilliant Joely Richardson (she/her).
JOHN DEE -- Ethel's son is dangerous. He was driven mad, long ago. Now he's out and on a quest for Truth that may destroy the world. We needed an actor who could break your heart and keep your sympathy while taking you into the darkest places. We were lucky that David Thewlis (he/him) took the part. Now we're shooting The Doll's House, the second big Sandman storyline. It's the story of:
ROSE WALKER -- a young woman on a desperate search for her missing brother, who finds a family she didn't know that she had, and a connection to Dream that neither of them can escape. We needed someone young who could make you care as she ventures into some very dangerous places. Boyd Holbrook's Corinthian is waiting for her, after all. Kyo Ra (she/her) achieves that as Rose.
LYTA HALL -- Rose’s friend, a young widow mourning her husband Hector. Rose doesn't know that Hector has started showing up in Lyta's dreams, though. Or that strange things are happening. Razane Jammal (she/her) is Lyta, and she's terrific.
UNITY KINKAID -- Heiress, Rose's mysterious benefactor. She has spent a century asleep. Now she's awake, having missed out on her life. She's played by Sandra James Young (she/her).
GILBERT -- Rose Walker's debonair protector. A dab hand with a paradox and a sword cane. Stephen Fry (he/him) is a National Treasure, and we forget sometimes that he's also a remarkable actor. Seeing him in costume and make up on the dailies made me blink: it was as if the comic had come to life.
MATTHEW -- Dream’s trusted emissary. A raven. I expected our animals to be CGI, and was both taken aback and thrilled when the dailies started coming in, and there was Dream talking to... well, a raven. But ravens don't really talk. The question was, could we find an actor who could make you care about a dead person who was now a bird in the Dreaming – one who isn't certain what's going on, or whether any of this is a good idea? And could we find a voice performer who was also the kind of Sandman fan who used to stand in line to get his Sandman comics signed? The answer was, we could if we asked Patton Oswalt (he/him). And Patton was the first person we asked, and the first person we cast, the day before we pitched The Sandman to Netflix.
Executive produced and co-written by Neil Gaiman and David S. Goyer, Netflix's The Sandman stars Tom Sturridge as Dream, Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer, Vivienne Acheampong as Lucienne, Boyd Holbrook as The Corinthian, Charles Dance as Roderick Burgess, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Asim Chaudhry as Cain and Abel, Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death, Mason Alexander Park as Desire, Donna Preston as Despair, Jenna Coleman as Johanna Constantine, Niamh Walsh as Young Ethel Cripps, Joely Richardson as Ethel Cripps, David Thewlis as John Dee, Kyo Ra as Rose Walker, Stephen Fry as Gilbert, Razane Jammal as Lyta Hall, Sandra James Young as Unity Kincaid and Patton Oswalt as Matthew the Raven. The series has yet to receive a premiere date.