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 March 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 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 March. 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.”
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.
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:
- Tom Sturridge as Morpheus
- Lucienne as Vivienne Acheampong
- Lucifer Morningstar as Gwendoline Christie
- Desire as Mason Alexander Park
- Despair as Donna Preston.
- Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death
- Jenna Coleman as Johanna Constantine
- Vanesu Samunyai as Rose Walker
- Eddie Karanja as Jed Walker
- Patton Oswalt as Matthew the Raven
- Sanjeev Bhaskar as Cain
- Asim Chaudhry as Abel
- 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.”
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!