Neil Gaiman wants Tom Hiddleston to play Morpheus in the Sandman movie.

The 'Sandman' author and producer of the much-anticipated film based on the comic books has revealed he would like to see the 33-year-old Brit play the iconic role.

He shared: ''It's a funny thing with Morpheus.

''Again, it's that thing where you look around and think, 'Yes this person would be a fantastic person', and then time passes.

''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 was as Sherlock Holmes, I thought, 'wow, that's incredibly Morpheus'. And fans probably thought the same because they immediately started doing fan-art, meshing the two of them up.

''Then again, 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.''

Although casting for the film appears to be a little way off, Gaiman is pleased to be involved with the project.

He told the Radio Times: ''My position on it has always been, for over 25 years now, I would rather see no Sandman movie than a bad Sandman movie.

''A couple of times, people say, 'It's a crime there's never been a Sandman movie', and a couple of times, to be honest, I have thrown my body in front of a bus on a couple of bad ones over the years. I'm just happy that no bad Sandman movie has ever been made. But I'm really hoping that a good one will be.''