It’s not often you receive a press release which opens with the words: This July, James McAvoy will give voice to all of our dreams.
But that was the case yesterday when DC Comics unveiled the A-list cast who will be voicing its upcoming audiobook adaption of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman.
McAvoy, who with roles in His Dark Materials, Wanted, Glass and Atomic Blonde, is no stranger to comic book or fantasy fare, will voice Morpheus, the dark-eyed Lord of Dreams from whom the series gets its name. Joining him will be Kat Dennings as Death, Michael Sheen as Lucifer, Taron Egerton as John Constantine, Samantha Morton as Urania Blackwell, Riz Ahmed as the Corinthian, Andy Serkis as Matthew the Raven, Bebe Neuwirth as the Siamese Cat and Neil Gaiman himself as the Narrator.
Audible’s audio production was already pretty exciting news for Sandman fans, but it’s quickly becoming a dream come true. Even better, that’s only a small fraction of the performers who will be bringing the beloved fantasy comic to life.
For those who have never read The Sandman, Vertigo’s comic and Audible’s audio production both begin simply enough. When an occultist attempts to capture the physical embodiment of Death (Dennings) in a bargain for eternal life, he instead mistakenly traps Death’s younger brother Dream (McAvoy), another of the seven god-like siblings known as The Endless who oversee aspects of human existence, including Desire (Bond), Despair (Margolyes), Destiny, Destruction and Delirium. After seventy years of imprisonment, Dream finally escapes, embarking on a quest to reclaim his lost objects of power and rebuild his kingdom—the world of sleep and imagination called The Dreaming.
From there, things just get increasingly stranger, imaginative and wonderful.
Along with revealing the cast, Audible also confirmed that the audio production would adapt the first three books in Gaiman’s series—Preludes & Nocturnes, The Doll’s House and Dream Country. That means that along with the iconic story of Dream’s capture and search for his missing tools, fans will likely hear the comic’s legendary serial killer convention brought to life, as well as the World Fantasy Award-winning short story “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” the terrifying “24 Hours” and much more.
Audible’s The Sandman is scheduled to debut on July 15, 2020, and is now available for pre-order at Audible.com/TheSandman. The production will be released in English initially, with French, German, Italian, Castilian Spanish and Latin American Spanish editions to follow. It’s executive produced by Gaiman, who also serves as creative director, and Dirk Maggs, who directs and wrote the script for the adaptation.
Of course, while the debut is over two months away, the wait shouldn’t be too excruciating since you’ve read the series. Or have you? If not, now might be a perfect time discover it. The graphic novels are all in print and available digitally. We can’t think of a better way to pass the time between now and July. But whether you decide to do that or not, it’s time for you to sound off. Are you ready to return to The Dreaming? And what do you think of the cast?
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