An American fantasy drama series, The Sandman is based upon the titular best-selling DC comic book series written by Neil Gaiman in 1989-1996. Initially, the show took 30 years for receiving a proper adaptation and finally landed on Netflix in August. Ever since its debut, fans of the dark fantasy series have been eagerly waiting for any news to drop on the release date of season 2.
Developed by Gaiman, Allan Heinberg, and David S. Goyer for Netflix, the plot of the series focuses on the titular character, who is also called Dream. Featuring Tom Sturridge as Dream, alongside Vivienne Acheampong, Gwendoline Christie, Charles Dance, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Boyd Holbrook, and Asim Chaudhary, The Sandman has become one of the most highly anticipated Netflix original shows.
The official synopsis of the series, according to Netflix, reads: “After years of imprisonment, Morpheus — the King of Dreams — embarks on a journey across worlds to find what was stolen from him and restore his power.”
That being said, The Sandman season 2 is unfortunately not releasing on Netflix in April 2023, which is, however, not surprising because the second season was announced early in November 2022. If you’re wondering about the release date of The Sandman season 2, continue to read the article for more updates on that.
When was The Sandman officially renewed for a second season?
The Sandman was officially renewed for a second season on November 3rd, 2022, three month after its first season rpemeired on the streaming giant. The factors that determined the renewal of show for a second season include its completion rate (i.e. the number of people who watch the entire season). In a now-deleted Tweet made on November 2nd, hinted the arrival of the second season:
“The Dream continues. Netflix Sandman will return with new episodes based on multiple volumes of the Neil Gaiman graphic novels to explore even more stories of the Endless.”
Hours later, Netflix confirmed the renewal with an official statement. According to the official streamer, the Sandman world will continue to expand and the series will return with even more episodes as it will continue to adapt stories from multiple The Sandman graphic novels.
Neil Gaiman, upon the renewal, made a statement:
“Millions upon millions of people have welcomed and watched and loved The Sandman on Netflix, from established Sandman fans to people who were simply curious, and then became obsessed with the Lord of Dreams, his family and their goings-on. It gives me unbelievable pleasure to say that, working with Netflix and Warner Bros., Allan Heinberg, David Goyer and I will be bringing even more of The Sandman stories to life. There are some astonishing stories waiting for Morpheus and the rest of them (not to mention more members of the Endless Family to meet). Nobody is going to be happier about this than the Sandman cast and crew: they are the biggest Sandman fans there are. And now it’s time to get back to work. There’s a family meal ahead, after all. And Lucifer is waiting for Morpheus to return to Hell…”
Additionally, showrunner Allan Heinberg also expressied his gratitude to Netflix, saying:
“I’m profoundly grateful to Netflix and to Warner Bros. — to the artists and crew who made our first 11 episodes so magical — and to the extraordinary fans of The Sandman, who advocated tirelessly — endlessly — on the show’s behalf and made it possible for us to continue telling Morpheus’ story.”
When will The Sandman Season 2 arrive on Netflix?
As previously mentioned, The Sandman Season 2 is not a part of the list of releases in April. However, since the fantasy series received a green flag from Netflix for a second season in November, we can take an educated guess as to the release date of the show.
Presuming that the production on season 2 won’t take as long as the first, as it was originally delayed due to Covid-19, and with fewer restrictions now in place, and the casting being already complete, filming for the second season wouldn’t take that long. Resultantly, we expect the show to release in 2024 too owing to the exhausting process of post-production considering that such shows require more time for the special effects.
In conversation with ScreenRant, Ian Markiewicz, one of the VFX supervisors mentioned the utilization of the special effects in season 2, saying:
“We have a really wonderful framework for what we think season 2 looks like. Allan is still touching up scripts and reworking things, but we have an arc. Up until pretty recently, I think maybe even two weeks or so, Gary, our production designer, myself and Allan meet over lunch, and we will do a script over that meeting. It’s like, “Okay, let’s look at 201,” and we’ll do our breakdowns together, where we do page turns on 201, and we say, “Okay, what do we think? Where can we film this? Can we film this in a real space? If not, what do we need to build, if we need to build it? Are we building this as a physical set, or can it be a building as a virtual set or a combination thereof? Is it physical to a certain extent, and then digital beyond that?” Just trying to break each one down to be like, “What’s the most value for this, what’s the most sensible way that covers the need for what we need it to be?” That process is happening now, which is great, and it’s really fun and exciting to be able to sort of have season 1 and behind us to know what we feel worked there, things that we wanted to sort of finesse further, and how that impacts our approach for season 2.”
What is the production status of The Sandman Season 2?
During the Fan Expo San Francisco, actor Mason Alexander Park confounded the fans of the show with his cryptic comment. He said (courtesy of ScreenRant), “Netflix has not gone on record as calling it a season two, on purpose. And so, I will, from now on and in the future, and possibly until the end of the universe not refer to it as season two until we know what it is.
“There is more Sandman coming in a really cool way, and it can take many forms, so we’re starting shooting in the summer, and we’re gonna tackle the next huge chunk of stories in however long that might take. And I’m really excited to share the format of what that might be with everybody eventually.”
popping back in on this fine monday morning to share the news that THE SANDMAN BEGINS FILMING SUMMER 2023 💕💓💗💖💞💘💝 pic.twitter.com/ZlkVmIuGo0
— swirly ☥ (@swirlingthings) January 16, 2023
So, is there a season two of The Sandman? Nevertheless, something is cooking in this Gaiman’s cauldron and we know whatever it is, the filming of it is beginning in 2023. In fact, quite recently, Netflix updated the show’s fans that it will benign filming in June 2023 and it will continue till October 2023. Additionally, the shooting will return from January 2024 to April 2024.
As per the recent reports, the above-mentioned two periods of filming will be termed as block one and block two. Additionally, the working title of the series remains Essex.
Who are the expected cast members of The Sandman Season 2?
We expect the following members to reprise their roles in the second season of this fantasy horror:
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Tom Sturridge as Morpheus
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Lucienne as Vivienne Acheampong
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Lucifer Morningstar as Gwendoline Christie
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Desire as Mason Alexander Park
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Despair as Donna Preston.
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Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death
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Jenna Coleman as Johanna Constantine
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Vanesu Samunyai as Rose Walker
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Eddie Karanja as Jed Walker
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Patton Oswalt as Matthew the Raven
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Sanjeev Bhaskar as Cain
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Asim Chaudhry as Abel
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Razane Jammal as Lyta Hall
The evil Corinthian, played by Boyd Holbrook, will, unfortunately, not return in the second season as he was defeated by Morpheus. In conversation with Digital Spy, Holbrook shed some light on his character, saying:
“Is he ever gone? Is anything ever gone? He’s reincarnated later on [in the comics] as a different entity, as a good guy. So I think that’s something really fun to play with, to already know him as this dark entity, and to see what a lighter entity of The Corinthian would look like.”
Quite recently, Netflix released the descriptions of four new characters, whose revelations suggest that the show might diverge slightly from the comics. For instance, Wanda will reportedly take a different story arc in the show. The four new characters include Delirium, Destiny, Wanda and Destruction. Below mentioned are the details of their personalities (courtesy of What’s on Netflix):
Delirium: “Delirium is the youngest of the Endless — the family of anthropomorphic personifications of seven natural forces. Formerly known as Delight, she has evolved to become the epitome of deliciousness. She is childish, silly, and immature, although very occasionally speaks with rationality. She loves to speak her mind. Her realm is incoherent and nonsensical, symbolic of her character.
Delirium is first introduced into the comics in volume 4, “Season of Mists,” during a chaotic Endless family meeting. This story will be covered in the show. Plus, it will also skip forward a few volumes and adapt a Delirium-centric story “Brief Lives,” in which she embarks on a journey alongside Dream to find their long-lost brother Destruction, who has long abandoned his post.”
Destruction: “Destruction is the fourth eldest of all the Endless. As his name suggests, he embodies all things destructive… well, not exactly. He actually abandoned his realm and duties in the 1700s after realizing that humanity causes its own destruction without his input. He has already been mentioned in the TV show; his siblings sometimes refer to him as The Prodigal.
Unlike the force he embodies, Destruction lives a life of peace in recluse. In fact, as a keen artist, therefore he tends to create rather than destroy. He is portrayed as a good-looking man with striking eyes and a hearty laugh. While he misses his family, Destruction does not intend to return to his duties. He makes his first appearance in “Brief Lives,” which pretty much confirms that the show will skip forward volumes to tell this story.”
Destiny: “To complete the seven Endless, Destiny — the eldest in the family — will appear in the new episodes. Destiny is all-knowing; he knows everything that has happened and everything that will happen. A blind, monk-like figure, he roams his realm — a humongous, ever-changing labyrinth called The Garden of Forking Ways, containing a castle in its center — with a book chained to him. While Destiny loves and cares for his siblings, he cannot tell them anything, because he cannot alter any future events. Since he is omniscient, he knows his siblings better than they know themselves.”
Wanda: “A transgender female, Wanda appears to replace Ruby DeLonge’s character in “Brief Lives.” This, of course, marks a huge deviation from the source material. She is a straight-talking, no-fuss driver and security agent for a travel firm. She assists Dream and Delirium in their pursuit to locate Destruction, making good friends with them along the way.”
What to expect from The Sandman season 2?
In season 1 episode 4, we saw Morpheus being escorted to Lucifer when he meets his old love, Nada, who is imprisoned in Hell. Regardless of how trivial this story seems to keep into consideration the whole narrative, this storyline was not elaborated more in detail in season one. We expect this scene to be elaborated on in season two.
Season 2 will presumably follow the story arc of Season of Mists; one of the most popular storylines that begins with an Endless family meeting. In the story, every family member is seen together except for Destruction. So far, in season one we are only introduced to Dream (Tom Sturridge), Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), Desire (Mason Alexander Park), and Despair (Donna Preston).
Note that season one covered two volumes of the comic. If season two is expectedly following the footsteps of its predecessor, then the story arc of Season of Mists will be followed by the plot structure of A Game of You. In this volume, we uncover the story of Barbie, who is seen living in Hal’s residence in season one. Additionally, she is seen living in her own fantasy realm, known by the name of The Land. From talking animals to a severed head, this volume abounds almost everything under the sun.
If you have seen season one, then you must have wondered why the last episode of the series is so unconnected from the rest of the episodes. Responding to a similar question on Tumblr, Neil Gaiman said, “Think of Episode 11 as the bridge into Season 2.”
That being said, on a scale of 1-10, how excited are you to stream the second season of The Sandman on Netflix? Don’t forget to stay tuned to Web News Observer, for more updates on The Sandman season 2!