Will There Be A Sandman Season 2?
After a long wait, the highly anticipated adaptation of "The Sandman" has finally hit Netflix. Is it the TV show of your dreams? Well, you'll just have to watch and find out. Based on the DC comic of the same name, "The Sandman" follows Morpheus (Tom Sturridge), also known as Dream of the Endless, and by countless other names. The story begins when Morpheus, the living embodiment of dreams and ruler of The Dreaming, finds himself captured and held prisoner for over a century. When he finally escapes, he must not only track down the powerful objects stolen from him by his captors, but also rebuild his realm, which has fallen into disrepair in his long absence. Some of his creations have even fled, both dreams and nightmares. As the series continues, Neil Gaiman's magnum opus goes on to weave the story of Dream and his siblings effortlessly through history and mythology alike.
For many comic fans, "The Sandman" is something of a mixed bag initially, but it vastly improves by the back half of the season. This isn't all the Netflix show's fault. The comic took some time finding its footing in those early issues, so the first few episodes were always going to be less compelling than what happens once the series really takes off. If the first installment doesn't convince you, definitely keep watching.
Now that "The Sandman" has dropped, it's time to begin rampant speculation on the show's future. Gaiman's story, which is drawn by incredible artists including Jill Thompson, Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, and Marc Hempel, among so many others, ran for 75 issues, not including various spinoffs and a prequel. In other words, there's a whole lot more story to tell! So, will there be a season 2 of "The Sandman?"
Will The Sandman have a season 2?
Executive producer and showrunner Allan Heinberg told NME he wants to adapt all of "The Sandman," including spinoffs. Season 1 covers the first two collected volumes of the comics, "Preludes and Nocturnes" and "The Doll's House," so the show would likely need at least five seasons to adapt the main series. When asked which future storylines he was most excited about, Heinberg mentioned he was already working on outlines for volume 7, "Brief Lives." That makes the show's future seem hopeful at least.
Neil Gaiman also told Bustle they've already shot footage needed if the show makes it to season 5. He said they have plans for all the comics, including "Sandman: Overture," a prequel written long after the series concluded that covers why Dream was in such a weakened state that he was able to be captured by an amateur sorcerer in the first place.
Netflix doesn't have a great track record with letting shows reach their conclusion, giving many fan favorites the axe before their time (remember the soul-crushing cancellation of "Glow?"). Also, the budget for "The Sandman" is considerably high, costing as much as $15 million per episode (via Deadline). Netflix has already invested a ton of money in the project, but that doesn't necessarily mean the streaming service wants to shell out all that cash for so many more seasons. Hopefully, they considered the importance of telling the whole story when choosing to pick up the adaptation.
Much of the decision will likely come down to how well the show performs. Reviews are largely positive thus far, but that certainly doesn't mean enough people will watch. The comics have a rather large fanbase, but it's unclear how much "The Sandman" will appeal to your average Netflix subscriber. Fingers crossed!
How does The Sandman set up for season 2?
Spoilers for season 1 of "The Sandman" follow.
There aren't too many loose plot threads left dangling at the end of "The Sandman" season 1. As it does in the comics, "The Doll's House" wraps up pretty neatly, though by the end we know it was the machinations of Desire (Mason Alexander Park) that led to the existence of a dream vortex, Rose Walker (Vanesu Samunyai). Knowing creating a vortex would be a mess Dream would have to clean up by destroying the unlucky person, Desire hoped to get Dream to spill family blood. Desire had clearly been playing a long game, impregnating Unity Kincaid (Sandra James-Young) so many years earlier, which means Morpheus and Rose are indeed related. Luckily, Unity sidestepped the issue when she sacrificed herself to save Rose, but what exactly happens if Dream kills a relative, even unknowingly? It will take some time before Dream's siblings' true intentions are revealed, but the difficult relationship he shares with Desire and Despair (Donna Preston) has been well established.
Aside from that, the only major cliffhanger we're left with is Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie) preparing to take on Morpheus. At the end of the last episode, the fallen angel is pushed into action against the Dream King, but Lucifer's plans are as yet unknown, other than bringing Morpheus to his knees. This is a development not really shown until later in the comics, but more on that in a moment.
What could The Sandman season 2 be about?
Comic spoilers for "The Sandman" follow.
The next volume of "The Sandman," "Dream Country," collects four stand-alone tales, one of which is "A Midsummer Night's Dream," the story Neil Gaiman is most excited to adapt. It tracks a performance of the Shakespeare play for which the audience is the very fairies it's about. Also included is "Calliope," the story of a Muse imprisoned by a failing writer, which was actually teased by Gaiman a while back, initially making it seem as though it would be a part of season 1. The other two stories are "A Dream of a Thousand Cats," where we see the Dream King from a feline perspective, and "Façade," a sad tale about what became of Urania Blackwell, aka Element Girl. It would make sense for each to be stand-alone episodes.
"Dream Country" is great, but it's volume 4, "Season of Mists," where things truly start to get interesting. The season 1 finale was definitely setting up this story, which sees Lucifer vacate Hell. He decides to hand the responsibility to Morpheus, knowing all too well that it will only bring him trouble. With his own realm to worry about, Dream must pass the Key to Hell on to someone else, and there are no shortage of volunteers to take over.
The story also introduces the rest of the Endless, save Destruction, who had previously abandoned his realm. What happened long ago between Dream and Nada unfolds as well. You may remember her as the woman briefly introduced in episode 4 when Morpheus was escorted past her cell very much on purpose. She and Morpheus were once in love, at least until he sentenced her to Hell. Morpheus may be dreamy, but he's the worst boyfriend ever!