Netflix's Sandman Show Adds Lots Of New Cast Members

A host of new names have been added to the cast of the upcoming Netflix series The Sandman. The show is the long-awaited adaptation of Neil Gaiman's beloved comic book.

The series has added some high profile names to its already impressive cast. These include Kirby Howell-Baptiste (The Good Place, Killing Eve) in the role of Death, Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who, Victoria) as Desire, Joely Richardson (Color Out of Space) as Ethel Cripps, Stephen Fry (Bones, Veep) as Gilbert, David Thewlis (Wonder Woman) as John Dee, and Patton Oswalt (MODOK, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) as the voice of Matthew the Raven. Check out the full list of new cast members below:

Sandman Cast

• 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
• Patton Oswalt as Matthew The Raven

The first casting announcements for The Sandman were made back in January. The show will also star Tom Sturridge as Dream, Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer, Vivienne Acheampong as Lucienne, Boyd Holbrook as The Corinthian, Charles Dance as Roderick Burgess, Asim Chaundhry as Abel, and Sanjeev Bhaskar as Cain.

The Sandman is currently in production, but doesn't have a confirmed release date yet. In a statement, Gaiman revealed that he's regularly sent footage by Netflix. He said, "Every afternoon I get an email telling me that there are 'dailies' from The Sandman ready to be watched. It's the best bit of the day. Once every couple of weeks I get an email letting me know that there's a finished episode waiting for me to watch it. It's the best bit of the month."

The Sandman comic first debuted in 1988, written by Neil Gaiman and art by Sam Keith (issues 1-5) and Mike Dringenberg. The series follows Dream--who is also called The Sandman, Morpheus, Lord of Dreaming, The Shaper, etc--who has been a prisoner for 70 years and must rebuild his kingdom, which has collapsed in his absence.

The series ran until 1996, spanning 76 issues. There have also been numerous spin-offs, including the 2013 limited series The Sandman: Overture. The Sandman series helped pave the way for Vertigo Comics, a DC imprint for darker, more adult comics series.

The Sandman adaptation has been a long time coming. There was a previous attempt made in 2016, when Dark Knight Rises star Joseph Gordon-Levitt was on board to star and produce a movie version, but that collapsed when Gordon-Levitt walked away, stating that he and studio executives couldn't "see eye to eye on what makes Sandman special."