House of the Dragon star Freddie Fox will play Loki in The Sandman

The first season of The Sandman, Netflix's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's iconic comic book, was a strange, dreamy hit. I've always like that The Sandman resists the elevator pitch, but I'll try to give one: it's about an immortal being named Dream (Tom Sturridge), who is the personification of dreams and rules the realm where we all go when we fall asleep. The story chronicles a turbulent time is his eternal life, and the lives of his siblings the Endless, who like Dream all represent different aspects of the human condition.

I thought that was pretty good. Anyway, the second season will continue to march through the comics, with lots of classic issues on tap. One story will involve Dream getting handed the key to Hell, which gives him a lot of power and responsibility he'd rather not have. Various deites show up to try and convince Dream to hand rulership of Hell over to them. One of these is the Norse god Odin, who turns up with his sons Thor and Loki.

Odin, Thor and Loki have been around for centuries, but got an infusion of pop cultural relevance thanks to their prominent appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where they're played by Anthony Hopkins, Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston respectively. The versions who show up in The Sandman will be different. According to Redanian Intelligence, which has a great success rate for this kind of thing, Loki will be played by English actor Freddie Fox, who has featured in stuff like Slow Horses, The Genlemen and the new movie The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, where he plays James Bond creator Ian Fleming.

Of interest to Game of Thrones fans, Freddie Fox will also appear in the upcoming second season of prequel series House of the Dragon as Gwayne Hightower, Alicent Hightower's older brother. Obviously, he'll be fighting on behalf of his nephew King Aegon II Targaryen against Aegon's half-sister Rhaenyra Targaryen, who contests his claim to the Iron Throne. Both sides will need all the help they can get.

As for Loki, it's a juicy role. Who doesn't want to play a scheming, wicked trickster god? Unfortunately, we don't yet know when we'll get to see the second season of The Sandman — production on season 2 was delayed by last years actors and writers strikes — but it's coming along. 2025 seems like a decent bet.

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