Thor, Loki, and Odin are among the newly cast characters in season 2 of the Neil Gaiman / Netflix series The Sandman
After spending decades in development hell, a live-action adaptation of the Neil Gaiman comic book series The Sandman actually made it into production and was released into the world as a Netflix series in August of 2022. (Read our review HERE.) Season 2 of the show went into production last year, then had to be put on pause for a while due to the writers and actors strikes. Thankfully, The Sandman season 2 was able to resume production as soon as those strikes came to an end, and a couple months ago we heard that new cast additions include Esmé Creed-Miles (Hanna) as Delirium, Adrian Lester (Hustle) as Destiny, and Barry Sloane (Pleasureland) as The Prodigal. Now the names of several more new cast members and characters have been revealed:
Ruairi O’Connor (The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It) has been cast as Orpheus,” the poet, musician, and oracle, is the only child of Dream and the muse, Calliope. Orpheus is an idealistic, romantic, young man – and very much his father’s son – until tragedy strikes and reveals to him the true nature of love.” Freddie Fox (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare) plays Loki, “the god of chaos. Loki is a charming, seductive shapeshifter. The smartest and most dangerous person in any room, Loki is utterly irresistible and never to be trusted.” Clive Russell (The 13th Warrior) is Odin, “the father of Thor, and blood-brother to Loki. He is a longtime ally of Dream’s, but finds himself driven to desperate extremes in his efforts to stave off Ragnarök.” Laurence O’Fuarain (The Witcher: Blood Origin) is Thor, “the storm god. With his hammer Mjollnir, Thor is brusque, rude, and driven entirely by his appetites – for food and drink, for battle, and for sex.” Ann Skelly (The Nevers) is Nuala and Douglas Booth (The Dirt) is Cluracan, “royal emissaries from the court of Faerie. Nuala and Cluracan are siblings who are opposites in every way. Nuala is responsible, empathetic, and principled. Cluracan is an impulsive rogue who lives for pleasure. They disagree about everything, except their devotion to one another.” Jack Gleeson (Game of Thrones) is Puck, “a malevolent hobgoblin who serves as the royal jester to King Auberon of Faerie. Puck is fascinated by mortals and enjoys nothing more than making sport of them for his own amusement. He’s also the inspiration for Shakespeare’s Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Indya Moore (Pose) is Wanda, “a professional driver and security agent for an exclusive travel firm. Wanda proves herself to be an indispensable guide on an Endless road trip to the waking world.” Steve Coogan (The Trip) provides the voice of Barnabas, “the canine companion of the Endless’s prodigal brother. Barnabas is loyal and loving, but an outspoken cynic. He’s man’s best friend and man’s sharpest critic.”
Described as “a rich, character-driven blend of myth and dark fantasy”, The Sandman has the following synopsis: When the Sandman, aka Dream — the powerful cosmic being who controls all our dreams — is unexpectedly captured and held prisoner for over a century, he must journey across different worlds and timelines to fix the chaos his absence has caused.
When Netflix ordered season 2, they said, “The Sandman will return with new episodes based on multiple volumes of the Neil Gaiman graphic novel to explore even more stories of the Endless.“ For some reason, they don’t like to actually call this “season 2”, but that’s the easiest way to refer to it.
The new cast members join the returning Tom Sturridge as Dream, Kirby as Death, Mason Alexander Park as Desire, and Donna Preston as Despair. Other returning cast members include Patton Oswalt, Vivienne Acheampong, Gwendoline Christie, Jenna Coleman, Ferdinand Kingsley, Stephen Fry, Asim Chaudhry, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Vanesu Samunyai, and Razane Jammal.
The Sandman was developed for Netflix by Neil Gaiman, David S. Goyer, and Allan Heinberg, all of whom serve as executive producers on the show. Heinberg is also the showrunner. Every episode of season 2 is being directed by Jamie Childs.
Are you a fan of The Sandman? What do you think of these new additions to the season 2 cast? Let us know by leaving a comment below.