There will be hell to pay.
Season 1 of The Sandman ends on a cryptic cliffhanger. Azazel, one of the co-rulers of Hell, convinces Lucifer Morningstar (Gwendoline Christie) that action must be taken against Morpheus, the King of Dreams (Tom Sturridge). Lucifer agrees, saying they have a plan to bring Morpheus “to his knees.”
Netflix greenlit Season 2 after fans spent weeks hankering for its renewal. The Sandman pulled impressive viewership numbers, remaining the most-watched English language show on the platform for over three weeks. Fans’ prayers were answered, but don’t get too excited yet. It’ll be a minute until we see new Sandman episodes.
WHEN could THE SANDMAN SEASON 2 AIR?
It will probably be many nights of sleep until we see Sandman Season 2. Season 1 was filmed between October 2020 and August 2021, and extensive post-production followed. It wasn’t until August 5, 2022, that the first 10 episodes hit Netflix, with one bonus episode followingly shortly after.
If 22 months of work is the norm for a Sandman season, then we won’t see Season 2 until Fall 2024. The lingering effects of the pandemic may have extended Season 1’s filming, but it will still take time to match the freshman season’s visual and narrative caliber. Even if Season 2 is created a little quicker, it seems unlikely that it would release in 2023.
Sandman Season 2 will also have a lot of ground to cover, and we have no idea how many episodes will comprise the sophomore installment. However, we do have a good sense of what Season 2 will be about.
WHAT COULD HAPPEN IN SANDMAN SEASON 2?
Given that Season 1 was a fairly faithful retelling of Volumes 1 and 2 of The Sandman, it makes sense that Season 2 will continue with Volumes 3 and 4, called “Dream Country” and “Season of Mists.”
Volume 3 includes two of the most beloved stories in the entire series, another that becomes more important as the comics go on, and a fourth story that likely won’t be touched. Netflix already adapted “A Dream of a Thousand Cats” and “Calliope” for Season 1’s bonus episode, which leaves one more story in “Dream Country” that could potentially make it on-screen.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” depicts the premiere of William Shakespeare’s play for an audience of the creatures and rulers of Faerie. We were introduced to Will as a novice playwright in the pub with Hob Gadling (Ferdinand Kingsley) in Episode 6, “The Sound of Her Wings,” and the Faerie are referenced at that same pub two centuries prior by Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), so the stage has been set for this story.
The fourth story in Volume 3, “Façade,” will likely be cut, because it depicts the demise of a DC superhero that has yet to be portrayed on-screen, Element Girl. Element Girl isn’t the only DC Comics hero (or villain) to grace The Sandman’s pages, and it will be interesting to see how the show works around all those appearances.
The fourth volume of The Sandman, “Season of Mists,” delves into the relationships and dynamics between Dream and his siblings Death, Destiny, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium. It also sees the return of Season 1 characters Cain and Abel, Hob Gadling, Choronzon, Nada, Lucifer, and Azazel, as well as the introduction of the Egyptian, Shinto, and Norse pantheons, representatives from Faerie, Order and Chaos, and the angels Duma and Remiel.
So while we still don’t know when The Sandman will wake from its slumber and head to Netflix for Season 2, we are confident that it will be a jampacked set of episodes that explores some of these characters and scenarios.
The Sandman is available to stream now on Netflix.
