Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman had the longest of mistiest paths to becoming a TV show, three decades after the DC Vertigo comic’s debut. The hesitation was down to the fantasy author resisting several awful movie attempts, and too much could have gone wrong in adapting the infinitely layered fantasy story, but Netflix brought a lugubrious and stunning spectacle to life, full of Life Amid Death as the first three graphic novels were initially adapted.
The second season has taken years to come together, which isn’t unheard of for a Netflix fantasy series with heavy VFX. Sadly, however, this could also conceivably be the final season, given that several Gaiman projects (like Amazon’s Good Omens) have been cut short, cancelled, or apparently indefinitely paused in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against the author (as initially reported by Tortoise Media). Those accusations do make the show’s bonus “Calliope” story hit differently than when the episode first surfaced, but The Sandman‘s second season is still coming, so let’s (awkwardly) sift through what we can expect.
Plot
No doubt, the lead-up to this second season has been handled differently than the show’s debut, given a hard-to-ignore backburnering of Gaiman, who was previously front and center in Netflix’s behind-the-scene looks and not even mentioned in featurette counterparts, which instead now have showrunner Allan Heinberg in the spotlight. In the below Netflix video, star Tom Sturridge has revealed that Morpheus/Dream is now cleaning up the mess that he has created, “the consequences of which are enormous,” and which place him “in a place of rebuilding.” Heinberg adds that Dream “has reclaimed his stolen tools and missing dreams, and is now focused on rebuilding his realm and attending to his duties,” but “the sins of his past [will] catch up with him and make that impossible.”
How many episodes will we see? The first season brought 10 initial episodes and a bonus hour, but Netflix has not offered a count for the second season. However, Redanian Intelligence has passed on the rumor that we could see 12 new episodes of The Sandman when the show returns. This seems too good to be true, so we will await official word on that note, but the second season will leap headlong into Season Of Mists, the fourth graphic novel (that is considered the favorite volume of many The Sandman fans). Among countless other threads, Morpheus will go head-to-head again with Gwendoline Christie’s Lucifer, who will be Hell-bent upon revenge, but Dream also has much personal business, long after he condemned his lover, Nada, to Hell.
These reported episode titles reflect much fire and brimstone:
– “The Song of Orpheus”
– “More Devils Than Vast Hell Can Hold”
– “Brief Lives”
– “Family Blood”
– “The Ruler of Hell”
– “Season of Mists”
In addition to plenty of Lucifer, a family dinner will being The Endless fully together with more siblings including Esmé Creed-Miles as Delirium, Adrian Lester as Destiny, and Barry Sloane as “The Prodigal”/Destruction. We will also meet Clive Russell as Odin and Freddie Fox as Loki.
Also, the once-hypothesized Johanna Constantine spin off is surely off the table, but Jenna Coleman did tell Screenrant that her character is back. She added that the already gorgeous series will be “probably more visually stunning than it was the first year,” and that the scale of the series has grown. From that statement, we can assume that, as Gaiman previously disclosed, this is has remained a very expensive series to produce.
That detail doesn’t bode well for a third season to dive further into the The Sandman‘s ten graphic novels, especially given the troubled status of other Gaiman adaptations. For that to happen, viewership would need to be huge.
Cast
Returning members of the Endless include Dream/Morpheus (Tom Sturridge), Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), Desire (Mason Alexander Park), and Despair (Donna Preston). New siblings include Esmé Creed-Miles as Delirium, Adrian Lester as Destiny, and Barry Sloane as “The Prodigal”/Destruction. As noted already, Gwendoline Christie will reprise Lucifer, and Jenna Coleman will return as Johanna Constantine.
New characters will include Orpheus, son of Dream (Ruairi O’Connor), Puck (Jack Gleeson), Wanda (Indya Moore), Nuala (Ann Skelly), Loki (Freddie Fox), Odin (Clive Russell), and Cluracan (Douglas Booth).
In the voice acting realm, Patton Oswalt will be back as Matthew the Raven, and he will be joined by Steve Coogan as Barnabas the dog.
Release Date
Netflix hasn’t pinpointed a release date yet but committed to The Sandman gracing dreams again in 2025.
Trailer
Without a proper trailer, the suggestion is that the series won’t return until at least summer, but if you did miss the bonus episode with “A Dream Of A Thousand Cats,” this episode previews that story as well as “Calliope.”