British Author Neil Gaiman Talks To A Reporter As He Arrives At The Premiere Of The Animated Movie 'Coraline.'
British author Neil Gaiman talks to a reporter as he arrives at the premiere of the animated movie "Coraline" in Portland, Oregon February 5, 2009. Reuters

Neil Gaiman disappointed fans big time when he said his suggestion of Tom Hiddleston playing Morpheus on the "Sandman" was just a joke. Fans got extra excited when they thought there would be a chance of Benedict Cumberbatch of "Sherlock Holmes" or Tom Hiddleston of the "Thor" franchise would play Morpheus.

In an interview with RadioTimes.com, Neil Gaiman raised the hopes up of Tom Hiddleston's fans when the enigmatic actor's name was thrown in for the possible actors who could play Morpheus in the "Sandman." Before Tom was mentioned, Neil said the thing with Morpheus is that there are many eligible actors that could play the character.

The prolific writer said that there was a time when he thought Johnny Depp is just perfect for the role, but now that he's "too old," the role would suit Benedict Cumberbatch of "Sherlock Holmes" more. He said the moment he laid eyes on the actor on the highly-watched TV detective series; he already thought Benedict is "incredibly Morpheus." He is also sure that fans would think the same. However, because Cumberbatch is already with "Doctor Strange," Neil said Tom Hiddleston can also take on the role of Morpheus. "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," he said.

While it was an innocent citing of a name, fans quickly latched on to the writer's statement and started to pray and hope that Tom as Morpheus would happen. Neil Gaiman, upon realizing the furor he raised took to Twitter to say he was just joking on the interview with RadioTimes when he mentioned Tom Hiddleston. He retweeted a fan's hope that Tom would become Morpheus and add that his statement in his interview should not have been taken so seriously. "It's not true. It was a joke in an interview I'm afraid RT ‪@PickleAM: Please oh please let it be true that ‪@twhiddleston will play Morpheus!," Neil's tweet reads.

It comes as no surprise that Neil himself is suggesting names for the characters of his work, "The Sandman." He shared that this time, he is more involved in the script-writing process. He shared that throughout the late 1990s, a Sandman film was planned by Warner Bros, parent company of DC Comics, but the scripts were all not passable.

Meanwhile, even though Tom Hiddleston is not slated to play Morpheus, he's still bound to make some fans' holidays extra cheery. The "Avengers" star can be seen in a YouTube video singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" with a dog on his lap. The actor showed that not only could he act, he could sing as well.