Netflix is currently hard at work on the second season of The Sandman, its adaptation of Neil Gaiman's seminal graphic novel. As usual, describing The Sandman in summary is difficult. It's about a man named Dream, or Orpheus, or the Sandman, who isn't really a man but the personification of the concept of dreams. He has siblings who are likewise people in and of themselves, but also expressions of various aspects of the human condition. Dream interacts with a lot of creatures from myth and legend as he tries his best to manage his realm. Sounds normal, right?
Anyway, I love the original comic book and I liked the first season of the show a lot, so I'm happy to see that Netflix is moving full speed ahead with season 2. They just announced several new cast members coming aboard, including:
- Ruairi O’Connor (The Morning Show) as Orpheus, Dream's son and the actual Orpheus from Greek myth, the one who descends into the Underworld to retrieve his lost love Eurydice. Don't look behind you, Orpheus, don't do it, Hades told you not to do it, bad things will happen if you do it, just don't do it...ah, he did it.
- Freddie Fox (Slow Horses) as Loki, the Norse trickster god, because Tom Hiddleston's Loki isn't the only interpretation out there. You might recognize Freddie Fox as Alicent Hightower's priggish brother Gwayne over on House of the Dragon.
- Clive Russell (Game of Thrones) as Odin, first among the Norse gods. Russell played Brynden "the Blackfish" Tully on Game of Thrones.
- Laurence O’Fuarain (The Witcher: Blood Origin) as Thor; we all know who Thor is, right? Norse god of thunder, loves hammers.
- Ann Skelly (The Nevers) as Nuala, a woman from the realm of Faerie. In the comic, she has a long working relationship with Dream.
- Douglas Booth (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) as Cluracan, Nuala's brother. While she's on the shy side, Cluracan is something of an adventurous rogue.
- Indya Moore (Pose) plays Wanda, a professional driver and security agent for an exclusive travel firm. In the comic, Wanda is involved in a storyline where Dream and his sister Delirium go on a bit of a road trip, so we can we expect that to play out in season 2.
- Jack Gleeson (Game of Thrones) as Puck, an impish spirit from Faerie who may literally be the Puck from William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream. You know, the one who goes, "If we spirits have offended, Think but this, and all is mended," etc. Think back to high school English, you'll remember. Gleeson, of course, played the brat king Joffrey Baratheon on Game of Thrones. Puck is no angel, either.
- Steve Coogan (Alan Partridge) as Barnabas, a talking dog and the companion of Dream's Endless brother Destruction.
This group joins other newcomers like Esmé Creed-Miles as Delirium, Adrian Lester as his brother Destiny, and Barry Sloane as Destruction. And there are lots of folk returning from season 1 as well, including Tom Sturride as Dream, Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death, Donna Preston as Despair, Mason Alexander Park as Desire, Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer, Patton Oswalt as Matthew the Raven, and many more. They're committing to the very large cast of the comic and I'm into it.
The first season of The Sandman dropped in 2022 and the second isn't expected until 2025. That's a long time, but at least it's coming.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.