While Netflix has yet to renew Neil Gaiman’s ‘The Sandman’ for Season 2, it has just given fans of the hit new TV series the next best thing by releasing a surprise ‘bonus’ episode with guest stars Sandra Oh, James McAvoy, David Tennant and publishes Michael Schein.
The new episode of “The Sandman” Season 1, which will be released Friday at 12:00 p.m. PT, exactly two weeks after the start of the first 10 episodes, is a live-action/animated hybrid episode that will bring two fan- Favorite stories from Gaiman’s “Sandman” graphic novels adapted by DC Comics: “A Dream of a Thousand Cats” and “Calliope”.
“A Dream of a Thousand Cats” is the animated part and stars Tom Sturridge in his lead role “Sandman” as Dream and guest voice including Oh as The Prophet, Rosie Day as The Tabby Kitten, David Gyasi as The Gray Cat, Joe Lycett as The Black Cat, Gaiman himself as Crow/Skull Bird, McAvoy as the Golden-Haired Man, David Tennant as Don, Georgia Tennant as Laura Lynn, Sheen as Paul, Anna Lundberg as Marion, Nonso Anozie as Wyvern , Diane Morgan as Gryphon and Tom Wu as Hippogriff.
Gaiman die-hards will recall that McAvoy Morpheus, aka Dream, voices Audible’s The Sandman adaptation, while Sheen takes on the voice of Lucifer, portrayed by Gwendoline Christie in the Netflix series, and Tennant Loki . Sheen and Tennant also star in another Gaiman book TV adaptation, Amazon Prime Video’s Good Omens.
“We strived to make the animated version of ‘A Dream of a Thousand Cats’ as intriguing and hypnotic as possible, using the magic of actual oil paintings on canvas,” said Hisko Hulsing, who directed the animated story , in a statement. “We combined the paintings with classically drawn 2D animations based on realistic 3D animations of telepathic cats to create a trippy world that feels grounded and dreamy at the same time. Untold Studios in London created the stunning 3D animation of the cats. The beautiful 2D animations, oil paintings and stylizations were all created at Submarine Studios in Amsterdam.”
Directed by Louise Hooper, the live-action story “Calliope” stars Sturridge, along with guest stars Melissanthi Mahut as Calliope, Arthur Darvill as Richard Madoc, Nina Wadia as Fate Mother, Souad Faress as Fate Crone, Dinita Gohil as Fate Maiden, Kevin Harvey as Larry, Amita Suman as Nora and Derek Jacobi as Erasmus Fry.
The hybrid “Sandman” episode is a teleplay penned by Catherine Smyth-McMullen and executive produced by show creators Gaiman and David S. Goyer, with showrunner Allan Heinberg serving as executive producer.
Netflix’s The Sandman is produced by Warner Bros. Television and is based on the DC Comics series of the same name by Gaiman, Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg.