Nightmares Come to Life in Neil Gaiman's 'The Sandman': Release Date, Cast, Trailer and More

The Sandman has been coveted for a screen adaptation for decades, and it's finally coming. Neil Gaiman's classic DC Comics tale is coming to Netflix, and the author had a significant amount of influence on bringing it from page to screen.

Gaiman serves as an executive producer on the project, with showrunner Allan Heinberg and writer David S. Goyer (the latter most famous for The Dark Knight).

"This adaptation is the first time that I’ve been willing to come on board. We've reached a point that really did not exist when The Sandman comics began. Longer format, novelistic television series now have the special effects and budgets to bring this world to life," Gaiman said in a statement. Technologically, I really think we're in a place right now where we're getting to make Sandman in a way that we could not have dreamed of making even 15 years ago, even 10 years ago."

Gaiman promises the show will be loyal to the comics he created, so fans new and old are sure to be excited. Find out The Sandman release date, episode count, cast and more, and check out The Sandman trailer below.

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Is Sandman coming to Netflix?

Indeed it is! The Sandman will drop Season 1 on Netflix on Friday, Aug. 5, 2022.

How many episodes will Sandman have?

So far, there will be 10 episodes of The Sandman. If the series gets renewed for another season, we can assume there will be at least 10 more, but that remains to be seen upon the series' release.

How many episodes are in The Sandman Season 1?

The Sandman Season 1 consists of 10 episodes.

Where can I watch The Sandman series?

The Sandman series will stream exclusively on Netflix.

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Who is in The Sandman cast?

The Sandman cast is a pretty star-studded one. It includes:

Tom Sturridge as The Sandman, Master of Dreams

Also called Morpheus and Dream, the titular Sandman is the Dream King, ruler of all the visions we have when we're asleep. Tom Sturridge reportedly beat out 1,000 other auditions, with Gaiman gushing in a statement, "It was always Tom."

Sturridge told the crowd at San Diego Comic-Con (via MovieWeb), “The only way you can begin to understand [Morpheus] is to subsume yourself in the words and images that Neil [Gaiman] created. So I just spent months, because the casting process was a long one, reading over and over again until it was in my bones and in my blood. I think there is no more honest way to find a character than to try and get into the mind of the man who created it.”

Boyd Holbrook as The Corinthian

Boyd Holbrook stars as The Corinthian, a nightmare that Dream created that became real. The Corinthian doesn't have eyes and, in the comics, consumes human eyes.

Patton Oswalt as Matthew the Raven

Patton Oswalt voices Dream's emissary, Matthew the Raven. This bird is quite loquacious and provides a bit of comic relief. Dream trusts Matthew more than just about anyone else.

Oswalt was the first actor cast in The Sandman, Gaiman revealed, in part because Oswalt was a lifelong fan of the comic book series.

Vivienne Acheampong as Lucienne

Lucienne, played by Vivienne Acheampong, is the Dream Realm's chief librarian and a close associate of Dream himself.

Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer Morningstar

Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie makes the devil look downright delicious as Lucifer Morningstar. She gushed to Empire of playing the embodiment of evil, "I was so thrilled Allen Heinberg, asked me to play Lucifer, because it is a grandiose part. There are few castings that can supersede that—maybe God, whatever that is! Also, it’s fun to be awful."

Charles Dance as Roderick Burgess

Roderick Burgess, played by Charles Dance, is a sketchy magician who tries trapping Death but captures Dream instead by mistake.

Joely Richardson as Ethel Cripps

Ethel Cripps, played by Joely Richardson, is Roderick Burgess' lover. Niamh Walsh appears as younger version of the character.

David Thewlis as John Dee

John Dee (David Thewlis) is Ethel Cripps' son, on a maddening quest to find truth that he may not be ready to comprehend.

Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death

Death is Dream's kinder, smarter sister, played by Kirby Howell-Baptiste.

Mason Alexander Park as Desire

Mason Alexander Park stars as the androgynous Desire, one of Dream's Endless siblings and an embodiment of whatever you specifically want.

Donna Preston as Despair

Despair is the Endless embodiment of hopelessness, played by Donna Preston.

Jenna Coleman as Johanna Constantine

Johanna Constantine (Jenna Coleman) is a necromancer and ancestor to comic book character John Constantine. Gaiman created the character as a tribute to Constantine creator Alan Moore.

Sanjeev Bhaskar as Cain and Asim Chaudhry as Abel

Cain (Sanjeev Bhaskar) is the first murderer in the Bible, with his brother Abel (Asim Chaudhry) the first slain. They reside in the Dream Realm.

Vanesu Samunyai as Rose Walker

Rose Walker (Vanesu Samunyai) is a woman on a desperate search for her lost brother. She shares a surprising connection to Dream.

Sandra James-Young as Unity Kincaid

Unity Kincaid, played by Sandra James-Young, is an heiress and benefactor to Rose. Kincaid slept for a century and missed out on almost her entire life.

Stephen Fry as Gilbert

Stephen Fry stars as Rose's protector, Gilbert.

Daisy Head as Judy Talbot

Daisy Head appears as Judy Talbot, a character who has interactions with John Dee.

Razane Jammal as Lyta Hall

Lyta Hall (Razane Jammal) is a widow and a friend of Rose.

Mark Hamill as Mervyn Pumpkinhead

Mark Hamill, obviously best known for his iconic Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, voices Mervyn Pumpkinhead—who, you guessed it, has a pumpkin for a head.

It's Hamill's latest instant-legend voice role, following Chucky in Child's Play (2019) and the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series.

Taron Egerton is also reported to be in the series in an undisclosed role. He previously voiced John Constantine in the Audible original adaptation of the series, so perhaps he'll pick up that mantle once more.

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What is the story behind The Sandman?

The Sandman Season 1 is based on the first two graphic novels of The Sandman series, titled "Preludes and Nocturnes" and "The Doll's House." In these stories, we see Dream being captured by magicians and trying to find his way home, as well as to find his sense of self and understand humanity.

Is there a trailer for The Sandman?

The Sandman trailer is dark, moody and mysterious, much like the books.

In the trailer, Dream narrates action and describes how his control of dreams shapes the waking world. We see The Corinthian exploring (and terrorizing) the waking world, Lucienne advising Dream and Dream asking Johanna Constantine for help, as well as glimpses of Lucifer reigning over Hell, Rose Walker, and more.

Is The Sandman scary?

Some parts of The Sandman comic are truly chilling, and the story certainly has horror elements within it. That said, "scary" is subjective. Gaiman said of the series, "It will be scary. But it will be lots of other things, too, because the joy of Sandman is that it’s a lot of different things in the soup, and you can taste all the flavors.”

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Is The Sandman based on Neil Gaiman?

The Sandman series is based on Gaiman's work, and it's been quite a long time for any production to get his seal of approval.

“I’ve now spent literally 32 years making bad adaptations of Sandman not happen, and sometimes, that took a lot of work—to stop versions of Sandman, normally as movies, [from] happening," Gaiman said in a statement. "I always kept myself distanced from Sandman adaptations, partly because if they were going to be terrible, I needed to reserve for myself the ability to go out into the world and say, ‘No, no, no. Don’t watch this. This is terrible.’ I wanted to keep that as a superpower."

Who will play Lucifer in Sandman?

Gwendoline Christie plays Lucifer in The Sandman on Netflix. Her real-life partner, Giles Deacon, styled her in the role of the wicked one. Gaiman sent comic book artists photos of a young David Bowie to inspire the look.

Will Tom Ellis appear in Sandman?

It's unlikely that Tom Ellis, who stars as the titular Lucifer in Lucifer on Netflix, will appear in The Sandman—at least not as the devil. But who knows what surprises may be in store?

Next, check out the best superhero movies of all time—ranked!