Neil Gaiman Wants Benedict Cumberbatch or Tom Hiddleston for SANDMAN
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, David Goyer, Jack Thorne, and Neil Gaiman have been hard at work trying to get a script completed for a big screen adaptation of Sandman. Gordon-Levitt, who has been rumored in the past to be starring in the film, was also in negotiations to direct the film. Gaiman seems to have a different vision of who should be cast in the role of Morpheus, though.
In an interview with the Radio Times, the writer says that after seeing Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock he started to like him for the role. He acknowledges the fact that his casting is very unlikely to happen since Cumberbatch is playing Doctor Strange for Marvel. He then mentions that Tom Hiddleston could be a possibility. You can read his quote below, in which Gaiman reveals that he'll be reading the most up-to-date version of the script over Christmas.
"There was a time Johnny Depp would've been a great Morpheus, but now he's too old and it's fine. I think the first time I saw Benedict [Cumberbatch] was as Sherlock Holmes, I thought, 'wow, that's incredibly Morpheus.' Tom Hiddleston is still out there, and the truth is, as far as I'm concerned, anybody who sounds English with great cheekbones can probably pull it off. With Joseph Gordon-Levitt in charge, his instincts are good and he loves the material. He wants it to be true to the material. [T]hey've written a script. I got a phone call about two, three weeks ago from Joe and David [S. Goyer] saying, 'Jack did a script, we read it, we want some things done to it. We want you to see it, but not this version. The next version will be in three weeks and then you'll be the first person to see it.' So I am now a week before seeing the script. It's going to come in just before Christmas. I'm nervous, I'm on tenterhooks. But do I have good feelings? Yeah I do."
I'm incredibly excited to see this up on the big screen. It great to keep hearing that it's still very much in active development. It's going to be cool to finally see Gordon-Levitt's vision of this comic brought to life. I personally think that Hiddleston would be an amazing choice to play Morpheus. Hopefully they can make that happen.