Meet the incredible cast of Audible’s The Sandman adaptation

Netflix is adapting Neil Gaiman’s iconic comic series The Sandman for TV. But before that, we’ll get treated to an audiobook adaptation from Audible. The cast has been announced, and it’s seriously impressive.

The audio dramatization is directed by Dirk Maggs, who has frequently collaborated with Gaiman over the years, having previously worked on audiobook editions of Good Omens and Anansi Boys. On his Twitter, Maggs called the project “the biggest, longest, most exciting and demanding production” of his career.

The first part of the audiobook will adapt the first three 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 impressive thing is the cast.

There are a massive 68 actors involved in this, but here are some of the highlights:

• James McAvoy, best known as Professor X in the new X-Men movies, takes the lead of Dream, one of a group of beings known as the Endless who oversee the human experience. McAvoy also played Richard in the BBC’s adaptation of Neverwhere, so he’s used to working on Gaiman projects.
• Andy Serkis, aka Gollum in The Lord of the Rings movies, will play Matthew, Dream’s right-hand man…well, raven.
• Good Omens star Michael Sheen will play Lucifer.
• Riz Ahmed is the nightmarish serial killer the Corintheian.
• Rocketman star Taron Egerton is DC hero John Constantine, who comes into play early in the story.
• Joanna Lumley, who you may remember as Patsy Stone from the British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, will play Lady Joanna Constantine.
• Singer-songwriter Justin Vivian Bond is Desire, one of Dream’s siblings.
• Miriam Margolyes plays Despair, Desire’s twin.
• 2 Broke Girls star Kat Dennings is Death, another of Dream’s siblings and surprisingly chill considering her job.
• The Walking Dead star Samantha Mortan (Alpha) will play Urania Blackwell, who has an important scene with Death early on.
• Cheers and Frasier star Bebe Neuwirth is on board as the siamese cat from “A Dream of a Thousand Cats.” This book goes places.
• Arthur Darvill, aka Rory from Doctor Who, will play William Shakespeare.
• Anton Lesser (Qyburn from Game of Thrones) is Doctor John Hathaway.

And the whole thing will be narrated by Gaiman himself.

In an official statement about the project, Gaiman revealed that an audiobook edition of The Sandman was something that Dirk Maggs pitched to DC almost 30 years ago, but it didn’t quite get off the ground.

"This is a rich audio adaptation of The Sandman graphic novels, brilliantly crafted by Dirk Maggs, with an all-star cast. I’ve loved being there to talk casting, there to read the scripts and offer occasional advice, and there in the studios, watching magic get made and recording the narration. I can’t wait until the world hears what we’ve done."

Man, he is not kidding about the all-star cast. The Netflix show should be so lucky. Fans were excited on Twitter, too:

We’ll mostly likely be waiting a while for that Netflix show, though. “It’s going really well, except it’s kind of hibernating right now until people start making TV again,” Gaiman said on his Tumblr. “The scripts for the first season are written, casting had started, directors hired, sets were being built. Everything was ready to go into production, and then we moved into a pause.”

Audible’s The Sandman is available for pre-order on Audible today, with a release date set for July 15.

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