Tom Sturridge may be ready to show you terror in a handful of dust.
Collider has revealed that the upcoming Netflix series The Sandman, based on the classic DC Comics/VERTIGO series by Neil Gaiman and various artists, is in talks with actor Tom Sturridge to star as lead character The Sandman/Dream/Morpheus.
According to the article, Collider's sources say "Sturridge tested for the title role earlier this year along with Tom York (Poldark) and Colin Morgan (Merlin) before emerging victorious."
First announced back in July 2019, The Sandman drama series received an 11-episode order from Netflix, with Gaiman serving as executive producer with David S. Goyer and writer/showrunner Allan Heinberg. Production was delayed due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, but Gaiman recently revealed that shooting will begin in three weeks.
Sturridge, 34, is an English actor probably best known as Lord Byron in the film Mary Shelley and as Henry VI in the TV film series The Hollow Crown. His other films include Velvet Buzzsaw, Journey's End, Song to Song, Effie Gray, Junkhearts, Waiting for Forever, The Boat That Rocked, and Being Julia. He also played Tom Gulliver in the 1996 TV miniseries Gulliver's Travels.
Created in 1988 by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg, Dream first appeared in The Sandman (vol.2) #1 as one of the Endless, personifications of ideas and concepts that were tied to life, and were fated to fulfill their functions until the universe ended and all life disappeared from the cosmos. On the night of June 10th, 1916, British occultist Roderick Burgess and his Order of Ancient Mysteries accidentally summoned Dream while trying to summon and imprison Dream's older sister Death. Drained from a recent odyssey, Dream was no match for Burgess, who stole his ruby, helm and pouch and held him captive in a crystal prison in the basement of his house in Wych Cross. Burgess hoped Dream could be coerced into setting up a trap for his sister, but Dream refused to speak to him. Dream's imprisonment led to worldwide problems. Some people slept all day, while others couldn't sleep or experienced waking dreams. Among those affected was Wesley Dodds whose nightmares only stopped when he became the mystery-man Sandman and fought crime.
Roderick died in 1947 and Alex Burgess took over as Dream's captor. Over the next 40 years, he too attempted to negotiate with Dream, to no avail, while the Order fell apart. On September 14th, 1988, after another failed attempt to get Dream to talk to him, Alex, now confined to a wheelchair, was taken back to his room, but not before one of the wheels on his chair scuffed the binding circle, breaking the enchantment that prevented Dream from entering the minds of mortals. One of his guards fell asleep on duty, allowing him to tap into the power of dreams and make his escape from his crystal prison. He confronted Alex Burgess in dreams and demanded his helm, pouch and ruby back. Alex told him they were stolen long ago and begged for mercy, but Dream cursed him with a never-ending nightmare.
Dream returned to the Dreaming, but escaping his prison took a lot out of him, and he collapsed on the way to his castle. He was taken to the House of Mystery and cared for by Cain and Abel. Once he was strong enough, he went to his castle, and found it in shambles. Lucien, his only servant loyal enough to have stayed at the castle during Dream's imprisonment told him the Dreaming had suffered because of his absence. He summoned the Three Witches, and they gave him clues as to where he could find his helm, pouch and ruby.
Later, after reclaiming these objects and rebuilding the Dreaming, Dream was confronted by the Kindly Ones, forces of vengeance who merged with Lyta Hall, who believed Dream had murdered her young son Daniel after Dream told her that Daniel belonged to him because he had gestated in the Dreaming. Dream refused to fight the Kindly Ones, allowing them to destroy him in order to save the Dreaming, and Death took Dream. Dream's role in the Endless was assumed by Daniel.