Netflix is adapting Neil Gaiman’s iconic comic series The Sandman for TV. However, before that, we’ll get treated to an audiobook adaptation. The cast has been announced, and it is seriously impressive.
The audio dramatization is directed by Dirk Maggs, who has frequently collaborated with Gaiman through the years, having previously worked on audiobook variations of Good Omens and Anansi Boys. On his Twitter, Maggs called the job”the biggest, longest, most exciting and demanding manufacturing” of his career.
The first area of the audiobook will accommodate the first few volumes of The Sandman series: Preludes & Nocturnes, The Doll’s House, and Dream Country. It will be split into 20 separate parts. But the real thing is that the cast.
There are a Huge 68 actors involved with this, but here are some of the highlights:
James McAvoy, best called Professor X at the new X-Men films, takes the aid of Dream, among a group of beings called the Endless, who manages the individual experience. McAvoy also played Richard in the BBC’s version of Neverwhere. Therefore he is used to working on Gaiman jobs.
Andy Serkis, aka Gollum at The Lord of the Rings films, will perform Matthew, Dream’s right-hand person…well, raven.
Good Omens star Michael Sheen will perform Lucifer.
Riz Ahmed is the nightmarish serial killer the Corinthian.
Rocketman star Taron Egerton is DC hero John Constantine, who comes into play early in the story.
Joanna Lumley, who you may recall as Patsy Stone from the British sitcom Fabulous, will play Lady Joanna Constantine.
Singer-songwriter Justin Vivian Bond is Wish, among Fantasy’s siblings.
Miriam Margolyes plays Despair, Desire’s twin.
Two Broke Girls celebrity Kat Dennings is Death, yet another of Fantasy’s sisters, and astonishingly chill considering her occupation.
The Walking Dead star Samantha Morton (Alpha) will play Urania Blackwell, who has a significant scene with Death early on.
Cheers and Frasier star Bebe Neuwirth is on board because of the Siamese kitty from”A Dream of a Thousand Cats.” This book belongs to places.
Arthur Darvill, aka Rory from Doctor Who, will perform William Shakespeare.
Anton Lesser (Qyburn from Game of Thrones) is Doctor John Hathaway.
And the whole thing will be narrated by Gaiman himself.
Within an official statement about the project, Gaiman revealed an audiobook edition of The Sandman was something that Dirk Maggs pitched to DC nearly 30 decades before. Still, it didn’t get off the floor.
This is a sumptuous audio adaptation of The Sandman graphic novels, brilliantly crafted by Dirk Maggs, having an abysmal cast. I have enjoyed watching magic gets made, being there to talk casting, there to read the scripts and offer advice, and there at the studios and documenting the narration. Until the entire world hears what we’ve done, I can not wait.
Man, he is not kidding about the cast. The Netflix series should be so lucky. Fans were excited about Twitter, too:
We’ll probably be waiting a while for that Netflix series. “It’s going well, except its hibernating right now till folks begin making TV again,” Gaiman said on his Tumblr. “The scripts for its first season are written, casting had started, directors hired, sets were being built. Everything was ready to enter production, and then we proceeded into a pause.”