Netflix has announced the main cast for their upcoming live action adaptation of Neil Gaiman's seminal comic book series, The Sandman. The announcement confirms the long-held rumor that The Boat that Rocked and Far from the Madding Crowd star Tom Sturridge will play the lead, Dream, the Lord of the Dreaming.

Alongside him will star Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) as Lucifer, Ruler of Hell, Vivienne Acheampong (The Witches) as Lucienne, chief librarian and trusted guardian of Dream's realm, Charles Dance (Gosford Park and Game of Thrones) as Roderick Burgess, Charlatan, blackmailer and magician, Asim Chaudhry (People Just Do Nothing) as Abel and Sanjeev Bhaskar (Yesterday) as Cain, the first victim and the first predator, residents and loyal subjects of the Dream Realm.

Finally, Logan star Boyd Holbrook will star as The Corinthian, an escaped nightmare who wishes to taste all that the world has in store, with the character likely to be the main antagonist. The Hunger Games star Liam Hemsworth and Stranger Things star Dacre Montgomery were at one time rumored for the role.

"For the last thirty-three years, the Sandman characters have breathed and walked around and talked in my head. I'm unbelievably happy that now, finally, they get to step out of my head and into reality. I can't wait until the people out there get to see what we've been seeing as Dream and the rest of them take flesh, and the flesh belongs to some of the finest actors out there. This is astonishing, and I'm so grateful to the actors and to all of The Sandman collaborators - Netflix, Warner Bros., DC, to Allan Heinberg and David Goyer, and the legions of crafters and geniuses on the show - for making the wildest of all my dreams into reality," Neil Gaiman said in a statement today that was included in Netflix's official press release announcing the cast.

The Sandman is a dark fantasy series which Netflix describes as, "A rich blend of modern myth and dark fantasy in which contemporary fiction, historical drama and legend are seamlessly interwoven, The Sandman follows the people and places affected by Morpheus, the Dream King, as he mends the cosmic - and human - mistakes he's made during his vast existence."

The Netflix series will be based on the critically acclaimed comic book series by author Neil Gaiman. The Sandman originally ran for 75 issues from 1989-1996, and follows the main character Dream, also known as Morpheus (among other names), a conceptual entity struggling with his place in the universe. He is one of the seven Endless, with the other Endless being Destiny, Death, Desire, Despair, Delirium, formerly Delight, and Destruction. The Sandman is a story about the power of stories and how they can evolve, and how Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, is captured and subsequently learns that change is often inevitable.

Gaiman (Good Omens) is on board as an executive producer and co-writer on the Netflix adaptation, with the series being produced by Warner Bros. Television. David S. Goyer will also serve as an executive producer, with Wonder Woman writer Allan Heinberg penning the series alongside Gaiman. The first season will consist of 11 episodes and will cover the first graphic novel in The Sandman saga, "Preludes & Nocturnes". No premiere date for The Sandman has yet been announced by Netflix. This comes to us courtesy of Netflix UK on Twitter.