How well do The Sandman actors match their characters?

Charles Dance as Roderick Burgess

Probably the biggest name to be announced in the cast so far, Game of Thrones veteran Charles Dance will play Roderick Burgess!

(SPOILERS incoming!) Roderick Burgess is not in the comics for very long. He dies quite early on. But that’s not to say he doesn’t play a big role. In fact, it’s Burgess who really gets the plot rolling. He’s the founder of the Order of Ancient Mysteries. At the beginning of the saga, he mistakenly captures Dream in an attempt to trap his sister Death. His aim is to control Death and thus achieve immortality. As a result of his failed attempt, Dream is left imprisoned for decades. Once Dream finally escapes, he seeks to reclaim his totems of power and rebuild his kingdom. Thus begins The Sandman.

As you can see below, Dance bears some resemblance to Burgess. His name was actually mentioned around in fan cast lists prior to the announcement. The Netflix team would be hard-pressed in finding a better actor to portray the character. I don’t think we can have any complaints here:

As Dance is such a big name, I wonder if the writers will keep him involved for longer. It would seem a little wasteful for him to only be involved for a couple of episodes. Then again, maybe they could only land a respected actor like Dance for a short while. Either way, I’m super excited to see him in the line-up.