The complex characters and beautiful dark fantasy world of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman earned the series a place in the canon of critically acclaimed comic books. 

But these immersive worlds also made the series, first published in 1989, notoriously difficult to adapt. 

“For well over 30 years, my part in Sandman adaptations was just to try and stop bad ones from happening,” Gaiman told Tudum. “And fortunately, I was always successful in this.”

Now the graphic novels are coming to life August 5 on Netflix with a series faithful enough to satisfy fans while also welcoming newcomers to the world of the Dreaming. We’ve put together a primer to introduce you to the show, its cast and creators and the complex mythology Gaiman crafted.

The Sandman Season 1 Trailer

Who is the Sandman?

The Sandman is an adaptation of the DC Comics series of the same name, which spanned 10 trade paperbacks published between 1989 and 1996. The Sandman, also known as Morpheus or Dream of the Endless, is a godlike being who personifies dreams and rules over the realm of sleep.

When Dream is captured by occultists seeking immortality, his absence causes chaos in both the Dreaming and the waking world. Finally free after 105 years, Dream must recover the power that was stolen from him and try to put things right. That journey takes him around the world and into the depths of hell as he deals with wizards, demons, rogue nightmares and his complicated family. 

How is The Sandman creator Neil Gaiman involved?

Gaiman executive produced The Sandman and developed the show along with Dark Knight and Blade screenwriter David S. Goyer and Wonder Woman writer Allan Heinberg. Gaiman also worked with Goyer and Heinberg to write the series premiere, “Sleep of the Just.”

“The three of us agreed to co-write the first episode, and we all talked it through, divided it into three and went away and each wrote a third,” Gaiman says. “Then we came back and knitted it together. Allan, as our showrunner, took overall responsibility for getting it onto the screen. But what was nice was having that as a script before there was a writers’ room. We’d set the tone, and the tone was Sandman.”

Both Heinberg and Goyer read The Sandman comic books when they first came out. Goyer adapted one of Gaiman’s short stories, “Murder Mysteries,” in the ’90s and became friends with the writer. He had initially been attached to adapt a film adaptation of The Sandman, but when that project fell apart, he switched to pitching a television show. Since Goyer was serving as showrunner of Foundation, he recruited his longtime collaborator, Heinberg, to help with the Netflix adaptation.

“This is Sandman being made for people who love Sandman, by people who love Sandman, and that is so incredible for me,” Gaiman says. “It’s been so special. I feel like I’m on the cusp, and I cannot wait until people see this show.”

Who plays the Sandman?

The creative team auditioned about 200 actors before casting Tom Sturridge as Dream. The Tony Award–nominated actor had never read The Sandman comics, but dove into the source material to prepare for the role.

“I just fell in love with Sandman as a piece of literature,” Sturridge says. “What became terrifying about the audition was not so much trying to become him, but being so excited to potentially be a part of this world. Now I’m an obsessive Sandman fan. I feel I may have read it all the way from start to finish several times now, and I feel like I know it intimately.”

After multiple traditional auditions and a long interview about his character and the series, Sturridge learned he’d gotten the role while in COVID lockdown. Since he couldn’t go out to celebrate, he went to sleep.

“I thought very carefully about how I was going to dream that night, because I wanted to find Morpheus, and I wanted to see if I could meet him in my dreams,” Sturridge says.

Which other characters appear?

The Sandman features a huge and diverse ensemble cast. Dream’s foes include the fallen angel Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie), the escaped nightmare the Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook), the scheming occultist Roderick Burgess (Charles Dance), Morpheus’ jealous sibling Desire (Mason Alexander Park) and John Dee (David Thewlis), who uses power stolen from Dream for his own twisted ends.

Luckily, Dream has some friends and allies. They include the Dreaming’s librarian Lucienne (Vivienne Acheampong) and janitor Mervyn Pumpkinhead (Mark Hamill), Dream’s older sister Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) and his raven companion Matthew (Patton Oswalt). 

When does The Sandman come out on Netflix?

All 10 episodes of The Sandman will be released on Netflix on Aug. 5, so don’t sleep on it. Keep checking Tudum until then for more stories. Sweet dreams!