Not every big-budget DC series is heading to HBO Max in 2022. We’ve just gotten a closer look at Netflix’s ambitious and extremely expensive adaptation of The Sandman. The series’ first trailer showcases many of the key heroes and villains who will shape the story in Season 1.
But don’t worry if you can’t tell Dream from Desire. Let’s break down all the familiar faces in this new footage so you’re ready for The Sandman when it drops in August 2022.
The trailer opens with several shots of Tom Sturridge’s Morpheus, the main protagonist of the series and the titular Sandman himself. Morpheus is also known as Dream. One of the seven immortal beings known as The Endless, Morpheus rules over a realm called The Dreaming, which is shaped by the dreams of mortals.
While executive producer Neil Gaiman has hinted the series isn’t exactly a 1:1 adaptation of the comics, it definitely looks as though Season 1 will follow the events of the first Sandman graphic novel, Preludes and Nocturnes. We can see Morpheus being summoned and imprisoned by a group of cultists led by Charles Dance’s character Roderick Burgess.
Though Morpheus eventually escapes, his decades of confinement leave his realm in ruins and cause a strange series of events all across the world. Here we see Vivienne Acheampong’s Lucienne, Morpheus' personal librarian, informing her master of the destruction that has befallen The Dreaming.
We may or may not meet all of Dream’s six siblings over the course of Season 1, but we do see two see two of them in the trailer. Kirby Howell-Baptiste plays Death, Morpheus’ older sister. She’s surprisingly chipper for a being who’s existed as long as life itself.
This is Mason Alexander Park as Desire.
The embodiment of lust, Desire’s form changes to suit the beholder. They’ve been scheming against their brother for eons, and they’re only too happy to take advantage of the chaos in The Dreaming.
While the Sandman comics feature a number of iconic DC heroes and villains in guest roles, we don’t know how many of those characters are available to Netflix. However, the trailer does feature two characters with important ties to the wider DC Universe.
This scene shows Jenna Coleman’s Johanna Constantine speaking with a character named Mad Hettie.
In the comics, Johanna is a distant ancestor of John Constantine and has a run-in with Dream during the French Revolution. But it seems the Netflix series will also feature Johanna in the present day, rather than John himself. That said, we’re not sure if Coleman is playing two different members of the Constantine family or if Johanna is immortal.
Hettie definitely is immortal, though. She’s managed to stay alive for centuries by literally hiding her heart from Death. Maybe Johanna has picked up a few tricks from her?
The other important DCU character here is David Thewlis’ John Dee. In the comics, Dee was a supervillain named Doctor Destiny, one who battled the Justice League using a device that could turn dreams into reality.
You might also recognize this character from the Arrowverse, where he was played by Jeremy Davies in the 2018 crossover “Elseworlds.”
The Sandman retconned Dee’s backstory and revealed that he acquired his dream manipulation power after coming into possession of Morpheus’ mystical ruby amulet. Dee is one of the central villains of the first Sandman story arc, and he looks to be filling a similar role here.
The trailer also shows another important villain in Boyd Holbrook’s character The Corinthian. Created by Morpheus himself, The Corinthian is a living nightmare with extra mouths where his eyes should be. He’s an accomplished serial killer who runs amok in the many years Morpheus is imprisoned on Earth, and cleaning up The Corinthian’s mess is one of our hero’s first missions after regaining his freedom.
Finally, we come to Matthew the Raven. Formerly a mortal human named Matthew Cable (yes, the same Matthew Cable who appeared in the short-lived Swamp Thing series on DC Universe), he serves as Morpheus’ familiar and assistant in the Dreaming. This version of Matthew is voiced by none other than Patton Oswalt.
One major character is conspicuously absent in this trailer. We don’t see Gwendoline Christie’s Lucifer Morningstar anywhere, despite this fallen angel playing a big role in the early part of the series. Christie is technically playing the same character featured in the Lucifer TV series, just at an earlier point before Lucifer abdicates the throne of Hell and moves to Los Angeles.
For more on Netflix's upcoming slate, find out everything announced so far during Netflix's Geeked Week event.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
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But don’t worry if you can’t tell Dream from Desire. Let’s break down all the familiar faces in this new footage so you’re ready for The Sandman when it drops in August 2022.
Netflix's The Sandman Trailer: Morpheus and the Endless
The trailer opens with several shots of Tom Sturridge’s Morpheus, the main protagonist of the series and the titular Sandman himself. Morpheus is also known as Dream. One of the seven immortal beings known as The Endless, Morpheus rules over a realm called The Dreaming, which is shaped by the dreams of mortals.
While executive producer Neil Gaiman has hinted the series isn’t exactly a 1:1 adaptation of the comics, it definitely looks as though Season 1 will follow the events of the first Sandman graphic novel, Preludes and Nocturnes. We can see Morpheus being summoned and imprisoned by a group of cultists led by Charles Dance’s character Roderick Burgess.
Though Morpheus eventually escapes, his decades of confinement leave his realm in ruins and cause a strange series of events all across the world. Here we see Vivienne Acheampong’s Lucienne, Morpheus' personal librarian, informing her master of the destruction that has befallen The Dreaming.
We may or may not meet all of Dream’s six siblings over the course of Season 1, but we do see two see two of them in the trailer. Kirby Howell-Baptiste plays Death, Morpheus’ older sister. She’s surprisingly chipper for a being who’s existed as long as life itself.
This is Mason Alexander Park as Desire.
The embodiment of lust, Desire’s form changes to suit the beholder. They’ve been scheming against their brother for eons, and they’re only too happy to take advantage of the chaos in The Dreaming.
The Sandman's DC Universe Characters
While the Sandman comics feature a number of iconic DC heroes and villains in guest roles, we don’t know how many of those characters are available to Netflix. However, the trailer does feature two characters with important ties to the wider DC Universe.
This scene shows Jenna Coleman’s Johanna Constantine speaking with a character named Mad Hettie.
In the comics, Johanna is a distant ancestor of John Constantine and has a run-in with Dream during the French Revolution. But it seems the Netflix series will also feature Johanna in the present day, rather than John himself. That said, we’re not sure if Coleman is playing two different members of the Constantine family or if Johanna is immortal.
Hettie definitely is immortal, though. She’s managed to stay alive for centuries by literally hiding her heart from Death. Maybe Johanna has picked up a few tricks from her?
The other important DCU character here is David Thewlis’ John Dee. In the comics, Dee was a supervillain named Doctor Destiny, one who battled the Justice League using a device that could turn dreams into reality.
You might also recognize this character from the Arrowverse, where he was played by Jeremy Davies in the 2018 crossover “Elseworlds.”
The Sandman retconned Dee’s backstory and revealed that he acquired his dream manipulation power after coming into possession of Morpheus’ mystical ruby amulet. Dee is one of the central villains of the first Sandman story arc, and he looks to be filling a similar role here.
The Corinthian and Matthew the Raven
The trailer also shows another important villain in Boyd Holbrook’s character The Corinthian. Created by Morpheus himself, The Corinthian is a living nightmare with extra mouths where his eyes should be. He’s an accomplished serial killer who runs amok in the many years Morpheus is imprisoned on Earth, and cleaning up The Corinthian’s mess is one of our hero’s first missions after regaining his freedom.
Finally, we come to Matthew the Raven. Formerly a mortal human named Matthew Cable (yes, the same Matthew Cable who appeared in the short-lived Swamp Thing series on DC Universe), he serves as Morpheus’ familiar and assistant in the Dreaming. This version of Matthew is voiced by none other than Patton Oswalt.
One major character is conspicuously absent in this trailer. We don’t see Gwendoline Christie’s Lucifer Morningstar anywhere, despite this fallen angel playing a big role in the early part of the series. Christie is technically playing the same character featured in the Lucifer TV series, just at an earlier point before Lucifer abdicates the throne of Hell and moves to Los Angeles.
For more on Netflix's upcoming slate, find out everything announced so far during Netflix's Geeked Week event.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
Continue reading...