The Sandman's main character is Dream, the Lord of Dreams (also known, to various characters throughout the series, as Morpheus, Oneiros, the Shaper, the Shaper of Form, Lord of the Dreaming, the Dream King, Dream-Sneak, Dream Cat, Murphy, Kai'ckul, and Lord L'Zoril), who is essentially the anthropomorphic personification of dreams. At the start of the series, Morpheus is captured by an occult ritual and held prisoner for 70 years. Morpheus escapes in the modern day and, after avenging himself upon his captors, sets about rebuilding his kingdom, which has fallen into disrepair in his absence. Gaiman himself has summarized the plot of the series (in the foreword to Endless Nights) as "The Lord of Dreams learns that one must change or die, and makes his decision."
The character's initial haughty and often cruel manner begins to soften after his years of imprisonment at the start of the series, but the challenge of undoing past sins and changing old ways is an enormous one for a being who has been set in his ways for billions of years. In its beginnings, the series is a very dark horror comic. Later, the series evolves into an elaborate fantasy series, incorporating elements of classical and contemporary mythology, ultimately placing its protagonist in the role of a tragic hero.
The storylines primarily take place in the Dreaming, Morpheus's realm, and the waking world, with occasional visits to other domains, such as Hell, Faerie, Asgard, and the domains of the other Endless. Many use the contemporary United States of America and the United Kingdom as a backdrop. The DC Universe was the official setting of the series,but well-known DC characters and places were rarely featured after 1990. A notable exception is Lyta Hall, formerly Fury of the 1980s super-team Infinity, Inc., who figures prominently in the "Kindly Ones" story arc, and her superhuman abilities are not ignored.
Most of the storylines take place in modern times, but many short stories are set in the past, taking advantage of the immortal nature of many of the characters, and deal with historical individuals and events such as in the short story "Men of Good Fortune."

Joseph Gordon-Levitt to Direct and Star in Neil Gaiman's Sandman



Following rumors of his involvement with the project as an actor last month, Deadline is reporting Joseph Gordon-Levitt is negotiating with Warner Bros. not only to star in a big screen take on Neil Gaiman's Sandman, but is planning to direct as well. David Goyer will provide the screenplay.

Sandman, which launched DC Comics' Vertigo imprint, ran for 75 issues beginning in 1989. Gaiman's worlds-within-worlds weaved an episodic anthology, focusing on the allegorical character of Dream and his brothers and sisters, known as the Endless (Death, Desire, Despair, Delirium, Destruction and Destiny).

Gordon-Levitt made his directorial debut earlier this year with Don Jon. The film, which he also wrote and headlines, also stars Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza and Brie Larson.

UPDATE: Gordon-Levitt has confirmed the news, posting the following to his Twitter account:

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm incredibly honored to be working with David Goyer, Warner Bros, and @neilhimself on SANDMAN. #Prelude"

The use of the "Prelude" hashtag is of some interest as it suggests that Goyer's script might focus on the series' first collection, "Preludes and Nocturnes," which detail the earthly imprisonment of Dream, his escape and his reclamation of various objects of power.

(Photo credit: WENN.com)