More casting news about season 2 of the filmed Sandman. From the way the various characters are described, I take it that we'll go from Seasons of Mist (plus the Orpheus stories from Fables and Reflections) directly to Brief Lives. (Meaning that when and if there's a third season, it'll be all The Kindly Ones and The Wake.) Now given that Netflix is increasingly unwilling to committ to longer shows, I don't blame Neil Gaiman for focusing on the main storyline, especially since Morpheus doesn't have much to do in A Game of You. Now it looks like Wanda will essentially be put in Ruby (from Brief Lives, not DW)'s position but with Wanda (from Game of You's) personality, buuuuut what about Thessaly?She is necessary for the plot of The Kindly Ones, and her introduction needs to the plot from A Game of You.

I've seen speculation that Thessaly might not show up at all and will be replaced by modern Johanna Constantine, which...yeah, that could work. Can see it. Will still miss my cold, ruthless Thessalian witch, though.

Anyway, back to the casting: looks like Joffrey Baratheon has grown up to play Puck, which: good for him! And I'm so looking forward to getting a non-Marvel, proper Norse inspired Loki and Odin. (Played by Freddie Fox and Clive Russell, respectively.) Why no Bast, though? I mean, yes, she's not strictly necessary to the plot, but I liked wily Bast and her relationship with Dream.

Going back to Wanda-as-Ruby: Obvious elephant in the room is obvious . In the comics, Ruby dies. Now she's a minor character, but her death is important because it's part of what makes Dream go from regarding the whole trip as a useful distraction to first breaking it off and then after Death talked to him continuing with the quest aware that there has to be a point to the accumulating deaths. But killiing off a trans character in 2024 has a whole different connotation than it did in the A Game of You days when Wanda was one of the first, and even there her death was controversial. Removing her from one story where she dies to put her in a different one where she also dies feals just - not right. I suppose the story could be changed so Wanda-as-Ruby quits when things go really weird and thus survives, but Ishtar etc. still die to make the point about how dangerous searching Destruction is?

I haven't seen Esmé Creed-Miles in anything yet that I recall. She's playing Delirium, and since s2 will include Brief Lives, that mean's she'll be virtually the co-lead for the second half of the season. I'm in equal parts delighted and nervous at seeing some of my favourite scenes of the entire Sandman saga getting played on the screen! Also, with Adrian Lester as Destiny, the "I wish I could live your life for you" scene should pack an even greater punch.

Lastly: Once we get the Endless family meeting from the start of Season of Mists, it's time to run a poll about the most delightfully dysfunctional and awkward family dinners ever. (My personal winner is the Livia and Claudius and Caligula dinner from I, Claudius, but the Endless scene from Seasons of Mist is certainly up there.