Neil Gaiman Revealed That Michael Jackson Wanted to Star as Morpheus in ‘The Sandman’

Neil Gaiman, the creator of The Sandman, has claimed that Michael Jackson coveted the role of Morpheus.

Gaiman talked about the early prototypes of the OTT project in the 1990s, which was an adaptation of his 1989–1996 comic book series.

“By 1996, I was being taken to Warners, where the then-president of Warner Bros sat me down and told me that Michael Jackson had phoned him the day before and asked him if he could star as Morpheus in The Sandman.” Gaiman revealed in an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.

He continued: “So, there was a lot of interest in this and they knew that it was one of the Crown Jewels and what did I think? And I was like, ‘Ooh.’”

Tom Sturridge plays Morpheus in the recently released OTT movie. Gwendoline Christie and Jenna Coleman are also members of the cast.

In a four-star review of The Sandman, NME wrote: “Often falling back on a corny British sense of humour and slightly over-polished to a contemporary sheen, there’s a cheap whiff of Doctor Who to the earlier episodes that will put a lot of people off.”

“Stick with The Sandman through its biggest excesses though and there’s enough imagination to fuel another 30 years of waiting for anything half so original to come along again.”

—Silviya.Y