'Indya Moore's casting in Sandman season 2 is more important than you think'

Pose was a dream project in every way possible, not just because it assembled the largest trans cast ever seen on TV, but because it prioritised trans joy while still refusing to shy away from queer pain and hardship. So with that in mind, it's extremely fitting that Indya Moore's next big TV show happens to revolve around Morpheus, The King of Dreams himself.

Yep, in case you missed it, the actress who rose to fame as Angel Evangelista is ascending to Sandman in season two, and she's set to play a character even more sacred this time around. Or at least to those of us who devoured Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman saga in comic book form back when we first visited The Dreaming in the late 80s and early 90s.

After Moore was spotted on The Sandman set last year with series regulars Tom Sturridge and Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Netflix has now confirmed that she's playing Wanda, a key character from the "Game of You" arc that was first published across 1991-1992.

The official description released by Netflix simply reads: "Indya Moore (Queen & Slim, Pose, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom) plays Wanda, a professional driver and security agent for an exclusive travel firm. Wanda proves herself to be an indispensable guide on an Endless road trip to the waking world."

Sounds intriguing, sure, but what this doesn't convey is just how important — yet controversial — Wanda's Sandman debut in the comic still remains even now, three decades on.

You have to realise that queer representation of any kind was rare to see in the media back then, especially when it came to stories that treated our community with even a modicum of kindness. And that was even more true for trans people in particular, which is what makes Wanda's debut so remarkable.

Her very existence was groundbreaking in of itself, and crucially, Wanda was never just a punchline either. But that's not the whole story. As important as Wanda is still to so many people, there's also a large contingent of fans who can't get past her being killed abruptly off-panel, feeding into the endless cycle of trans characters who have tragically and unnecessarily died in the media.

For those who haven't read "A Game of You" — and you really should — the story is technically about Barbie, a previously established Sandman character who moves into a new flat with a bunch of misfits, including her best friend Wanda.

Wanda isn't the star, not technically, but she's easily the most interesting character in that apartment. She's bold and witty and confident. She's also brave and strong and she doesn't take shit from anyone, no matter how cruel the world can be. But behind all that bravado, Wanda also has a big heart, full of loyalty to her friends and anyone deserving of kindness. It's baffling really that she only appeared in this one-off storyline, despite some of the clunkier aspects of the writing.

Read more: When will The Sandman season 2 be released on Netflix?

Giving Wanda the surname "Mann" was very on-the-nose, for example, and there's a lot of focus on transphobic barbs from other characters, although that's arguably more reflective of real-life transphobia than any commentary on Wanda herself. At the end of the day, the writing is clearly on Wanda's side, whether you end up liking how her narrative ends or not.

Long story short, Barbie finds herself trapped in the dream world, so her housemate Thessaly, actually a very powerful, ancient witch, casts a ritual for her and other friends named Hazel and Foxglove to enter Barbie's dreams. The moon goddess they call on only accepts "real women" though, and Wanda doesn't count according to her and Thessaly. Yep, even witches and deities and monsters reject Wanda's trans identity.

Meddling with celestial forces ends up creating a huge storm which almost kills a homeless woman named Maisie Hill nearby. But Wanda rushes out and saves her just in time. Back at the apartment, Wanda and Maisie bond as the storm builds around them until the entire building collapses. Barbie survives because Wanda and Maisie shield her sleeping body with their own.

And just like that, all the white cisgender women emerge unscathed while the only trans woman and the only Black woman do not. If you take into account that Maisie's trans grandchild was also murdered off-panel in a memory regaled by Maisie herself, technically both trans characters in the story met a tragic end.

But that's not quite the end for Wanda. Not exactly. In the aftermath, Barbie travels to Wanda's hometown for the funeral. There, her transphobic family cut Wanda's hair, dress her in boy clothes, and declare her death was a holy "punishment," all while deadnaming Wanda throughout. It's very grim and very hard to hear, but that's the point. We're not supposed to agree with any of this cruelty. We should only feel outrage, just as Barbie does.

Even Wanda's grave deadnames her. But Barbie, in a moving act of defiance, uses Wanda's favourite lipstick — "Tacky flamingo, or whatever it's called" — to cross that name out and write "WANDA" in huge pink letters instead.

And then, just a few pages later, we see Wanda one last time in Barbie's dream. But she looks different. Wanda has a softer frame now, the kind of delicate features and body shape that she always wanted in life. Death is with her, Sandman's sister. The pair wave at Barbie together, but she wakes up before she can wave back.

I remember reading this exact page in the late 90s as a young teenager. I didn't fully understand my own sexuality back then, but I knew that I didn't fit in somehow, even if my own struggle was to do with queerness rather than gender identity. Perhaps that's why Wanda's journey spoke to me so much, even if I couldn't quite grasp just how impactful this story would be.

There were no trans people in my life at the time, and the very few I did see in the media were always mocked or ridiculed (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective immediately springs to mind). But I remember how much I hated Wanda's family still, just as I hated Thessaly and the moon goddess for denying Wanda too.

But Death did no such thing. So when we get to see Wanda's soul as it truly is, we can see that it didn't matter what other people said, even gods, and it didn't matter that Wanda hadn't transitioned through surgery either. Wanda was still a woman, inside and out. To think otherwise would be absurd. And what's beautiful about this is she always will be too, although contention around Wanda's actual death is still very understandable.

Re-reading the issue now — #37 for completists — that one-two hit of Wanda's grave with the correct name and her waving goodbye to Barbie brought me to tears. The challenge now is in updating this story for Netflix in ways that channel the essence of Wanda's strength and beauty while reconciling that with the trickier, more divisive aspects of her narrative.

The Audible adaptation released a few years back has already made some welcome tweaks to the story, modernising the language used while cutting out some of the casual, unnecessary transphobia (although it's still made clear that such cruelty exists). The part where Maisie's grandchild was murdered has been left out, for example, and Wanda is more assertive in the face of hate. Voice actor Reece Lyons is also trans herself, bringing some much needed authenticity to the character, and that's set to continue with Indya Moore's involvement now in the series.

Does this mean Wanda might survive this time around? Netflix aren't entirely beholden to the source material, which means they have a chance to fundamentally change Wanda's fate while reintroducing her to a bigger audience than ever before. Leaked pics of Moore and Howell-Baptiste, who plays Death, show the pair working together on set though, so how that might go still remains unclear.

Until The Sandman returns to Netflix — and we don't know if recent allegations of sexual assault against Gaiman, which he denies, will derail or delay its release — no one knows exactly how Wanda's story will actually play out this time. But given the respectful way season one handled queerness, especially in regard to Sandman's non-binary sibling, Desire, it feels like this really could be a dream reimagining for fans old and new alike, not to mention a dream role for Indya Moore as well.

Sandman season 1 is out on Netflix now, season 2 will be released soon.