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“The Sandman” - Season 1

Fans of author Neil Gaiman and the hit Starz series “American Gods” have a new reason to get excited. Gaiman’s “The Sandman” comic book series gets its own small-screen debut Friday, Aug. 5, on Netflix. Weaving together modern myth and dark fantasy, “The Sandman” follows Dream, also known as Morpheus (Tom Sturridge, “On the Road,” 2012), the Master of Dreams, who gives shape to everyone’s darkest fears and fantasies. But when Dream is captured by a wizard and imprisoned for over a century, he returns to find his realm in ruins. To set things right and restore order to his realm, Dream sets out on a journey through different worlds and timelines, where he encounters old friends and foes, as well as a variety of new beings and entities along the way. Developed for television by Gaiman, David S. Goyer (“The Dark Knight,” 2008) and Allan Heinberg (“Grey’s Anatomy”), “The Sandman” is directed by Jamie Childs (“His Dark Materials”), Andrés Baiz (“Narcos”), Louise Hooper (“Flesh and Blood”), Mairzee Almas (“Shadow and Bone”), Mike Barker (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) and Coralie Fargeat (“Revenge,” 2017). The series’ main cast is rounded out by Kirby Howell-baptiste (“Killing Eve”), Mason Alexander Park (“Cowboy Bebop”), Donna Preston (“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” 2018), Razane Jammal (“Paranormal”), Joely Richardson (“Nip/tuck”), Niamh Walsh (“Jamestown”), David Thewlis (“Landscapers”), Patton Oswalt (“A.P. Bio”), Stephen Fry (“The Dropout”), Gwendoline Christie (“Game of Thrones”), Jenna Coleman (“Victoria”) and newcomer Kyo Ra.