The Sandman: Netflix eyes actors to play nightmare creature The Corinthian

Rumor has it that Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games) and Dacre Montgomery (Stranger Things) are in the running to play nightmare creature the Corinthian in The Sandman.

Netflix will start filming its adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s very soon, and we’re getting more rumors about who might be onscreen as some of our favorite characters from the seminal comic. We’ve already heard that Tom Sturridge (Vanity Fair, Velvet Buzzsaw) is in talks to play Dream. Now, we’re hearing rumors about who may play the sadistic nightmare creature the Corinthian.

In the comics, the Corinthian is a character created by Dream of the Endless, intended to be a nightmare. His first appearance comes in Sandman #10, the second issue of the volume The Doll’s House. He tends to dress in all-white clothing and wears sunglasses to hide what is by far his most disturbing and frightening feature: his lack of eyes, which are replaced by a set of teeth in each eye socket. Despite no eyes, he can somehow still see. It looks pretty menacing:

It’s not only his appearance that’s frightening, either. In The Doll’s House, the Corinthian is the star guest at a serial killer convention, which is exactly what it sounds like. He’s charismatic, sadistic, a little patronizing, and totally evil. He is a nightmare, after all.

So who could play such a menacing villain? According to an exclusive report by The Illuminerdi and a similar report from Slash Film, Netflix is eyeing either Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games) or Dacre Montgomery (Stranger Things) for the role.

Between these two, I personally prefer Dacre Montgomery. We know he can portray a convincing bad guy from his time playing Billy Hargrove in Stranger Things. His performance was totally frightening and menacing, not to mention being fairly charming when he wanted to be. Remember when he almost had an affair with Mike’s mom?

If a live-action Sandman adaptation was happening years ago, my first choice for The Corinthian would have been Hugo Weaving. Unfortunately, at 60, he’s a bit too old for the role now. We also this year had the Audible dramatization of The Sandman where Riz Ahmed voiced a wonderful Corinthian, setting a high standard for how the character should sound.

As things stand, I could settle for either Hemsworth or Montgomery. But before deciding I’d have to see them in costume, with teeth instead of eyes. I trust that Gaiman and the casting team know what they’re doing.

One thing to consider is that the Corinthian doesn’t show up in the comics until the second volume. Gaiman has previously said that the first season of the TV show will only adapt a little bit of the second volume. This means he could show up earlier than he does in the books, perhaps in the Preludes and Nocturnes storyline. I’m intrigued to find out how they swap and change things.

It’s important to note that no casting has been confirmed yet. There are a lot of rumors going around, but that’s all they are until we get confirmation. I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more concrete info in the coming weeks since The Sandman is slated to begin filming this month, coronavirus permitting.

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