The Sandman season 2: everything we know about the hit Netflix fantasy show’s return

The Sandman season 2 is in full production mode

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• Announced in November 2022- Principal photography began in June 2023- Filming halted by Hollywood strikes before restarting in November 2023- Season 2 is based on fourth and fifth graphic novels in Neil Gaiman-penned book series- Main cast members expected to return- New actors and their roles reportedly revealed- No trailer released yet- Unclear if show will be renewed for a third season- One spin-off in development, with others potentially on the way

The Sandmanseason 2 feels like it’s a long way off at this point.Netflix’s TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s iconic graphic novel series is still being filmed as we speak (or, rather, write), so it’s going to be a while before it takes its first steps on the streaming giant.

In the meantime, there’s plenty of reading up for you to do onThe Sandman’s second season. In this article, we’ve compiled a list of everything we know about one of thebest Netflix shows' sophomore outing. That includes our thoughts on when it’ll air, as well as its confirmed cast, likely story threads, and the show’s future.

Major spoilers followforThe Sandmanseason 1and Gaiman’s literary works.Potential season 2 spoilersare also discussed, so be warned if you haven’t read the source material from start to finish.

The Sandman season 2 release date: what we know

35 years ago today, the first issue of The Sandman comic was released. This week, The Sandman officially restarts production.In the words of @neilhimself, “Good things are coming.” pic.twitter.com/oLCU7UpFuLNovember 29, 2023

The Sandmanseason 2 doesn’t have a release date yet. But, after a lengthy wait,season 2 ofThe Sandmanwas no longer a dream for Netflix fansafter it was announced in November 2022.

WithThe Sandmanstirring from its slumber for a big season 2 announcement– said reveal being that filming had recommenced in November 2023 following the end of the Hollywood actors and writers strikes – the countdown is on for its return on the world’sbest streaming service.

So, when can we expect it to launch? We predictThe Sandman’s next installment will arrive in early 2025. It could be released at the very end of 2024, but that would mean a ridiculous crunch period for the VFX-heavy show. We think Netflix will allow its cast and crew to get every detail right before it’s ready to air – it took 35 years for a live-action adaptation to finally see the light of day, after all – so we’re confident the streaming giant won’t rush it out.

The Sandman season 2 cast: confirmed and rumored

Spoilers follow for The Sandman season 1.

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The Sandmanseason 2’s cast hasn’t been officially announced yet, but here’s who we expect to see again following their appearances in season 1 and the show’s bonus episode:

There’ll be a couple of new faces in the show’s sophomore outing, too. At CCXP 2022 (aka Brazil Comic-Con), which was posted onNetflix Brasil’s X account, Neil Gaiman confirmed another of the Endless – Delirium, i.e. the immortal group’s youngest member – would make their bow. Per a thread posted on theDCEULeaks Reddit forum, Esme Creed-Miles (Hanna) has reportedly been cast as Delirium.

Gaiman also teased (viaEntertainment Weekly(EW)) that David Tennant and Michael Sheen, who voiced characters in bonus episode story ‘A Dream of Thousand Cats’, might appear in the main show. It’s unclear if they’ll play the same individuals from that short story and/or show up in season 2, however.

As for other newcomers, Indya Moore (Pose), whose role is currently unknown, was seen filming scenes with Sturridge and Howell-Baptiste prior to the 2023 actors strike (per UK newspaperThe Daily Mail). Additionally,What’s on Netflixalso suggests Ruairi O’Connor (The Morning Show) has been cast as Morpheus' son Orpheus, which might also mean the return of Melissanthi Mahut’s Calliope – Orpheus' mother and Morpheus' lover – who starred in ‘Calliope’, aka the second short story in season 1’s bonus episode.

The Sandman season 2 story speculation

Full spoilers follow for The Sandman season 1, plus potential spoilers for season 2.

Story details are understandably thin on the ground, but there’s much we can speculate on, based on how season 1 ended and the overarching narrative that plays out in Gaiman’s works.

Before we get into that, while we’ve all been referring toThe Sandman’s next outing as season 2, that might be a misguided assessment. Indeed, uponThe Sandman’s renewal, a Netflix press release simply called it “a continuation of the story”, rather than a definitive second season.

So, what gives? Well,The Sandman’s primary plot jumps from one graphic novel to the next, often leaping thousands of years in the process, so the structure of the live-action adaptation’s narrative isn’t likely to follow Netflix’s usual 10-episode length and/or seasonal terminology. Speaking toCollider, actors Kirby Howell-Baptiste and Vivienne Acheampong suggested we’ll continue to see a non-linear story play out, meaning the show’s future installments might be known as volumes, rather than traditional seasons.

Okay, so what do we know about The Sandman’s second outing? It’ll draw from the forth and fifth volumes of Gaiman’s works – ‘Season of Mists’ and ‘A Game of You’ – which the author confirmed toRadioTimes.com, saying: “Our plans for the second season is the second two graphic novels, which technically, in this case, will be books four and five, with some bits of the short stories in book three scattered among some other stuff.”

What that means in practice is complicated.The Sandmanis not a linear saga, and what happens in ‘Season of Mists’ and ‘A Game of You’ are not related. Whether Gaiman, showrunner Allen Heinberg, and producer David S. Goyer stick to the stories as they’re told in the books, or try to rework them into a more linear narrative for general audiences, is unclear. That said,The Sandmanseason 1 was very faithful, so it’s hard to see why things will deviate too far from the original formula.

PerNetflix Tudum, here’s a teaser for the show’s next chapter: “When last we left Dream, and his friends and foes, the forces of hell were on the move, led by Lucifer themself. The new episodes of the series will dive into that conflict and continue to explore the many challenges facing the universe in the wake of Morpheus’ century-long absence.”

Raise your hand if you want to live in the Dreaming. Here’s some never-before-seen concept art of Morpheus’s realm from @ILMVFX. pic.twitter.com/DEGHrm4lzLJanuary 24, 2023

Established fans will know how the continuing battle between Hell’s overlord and Morpheus plays out. However, for less well-versed fans wanting some more details, we’ll let Heinberg reveal more (viaEW): “The end of episode 1 [of season 2] is Dream saying to Matthew ‘I’m going to Hell and I may not come back. So then episode two begins with the rematch between Dream and Lucifer. It’s so juicy! I’m so looking forward to doing something entirely different with Gwendoline’s look. I don’t want to spoil the surprises for people who haven’t read ‘Season of Mists’, but that’s where Dream’s trouble really begins.”

Adds Gaiman (viaET Online): “The Lucifer-Morpheus rematch is going to happen and it is going to be a stranger, darker, and much more disruptive Morpheus than anybody could possibly imagine who hasn’t actually snuck out and read Season of Mists’ inThe Sandmancomics.” Color us excited.

As for ‘A Game of You’, which is centered around Barbie, one of the Hal’s B&B guests we met in season 1, Heinberg teased: “We’ve got a lot of characters who aren’t even human, who are talking animals, who I’m looking forward to meeting. Lenny Henry is so good as Martin Tenbones, and I can’t wait for the audience to meet [new characters like] Wanda, Foxglove, and Hazel.”

There’s plenty more plot-wise to look forward to, including what becomes of Lyta’s baby (who Morpheus will certainly be keeping an eye on), Lyta’s comic book ties to iconicDCsuperhero Wonder Woman, Morpheus' problems with Desire, the potential return of The Corinthian – providing Gaiman and company want to bring that aspect of the source material into season 2 –andMorpheus' promise to be a more benevolent ruler of the Dreaming, i.e. his domain. We’ll see how all of these plot points (and many more!) shake out inThe Sandmanseason 2.

The Sandman season 2 trailer: is there one?

No and it’ll be a while before a teaser forThe Sandmanseason 2 is with us. We’ll update this section once one is released.

Will The Sandman get a third season on Netflix?

Netflix hasn’t said ifThe Sandmanseason 2 will get a sequel, but two characters who – in canonical terms – appear in Gaiman’s source material will make their live-action debut soon in spin-off showDead Boy Detectives.

For the uninitiated:Dead Boy Detectiveswas initially created by Gaiman, and follows the adventures of Edwin Paine and Charles Rowland, who are murdered at various points during the 20th century but refuse to pass onto the afterlife. Instead, they stick around and investigate crimes concerning the undead and the supernatural.

The pair were first introduced in the ‘Seasons Of Mist’ storyline (The Sandman#25, to be precise) during a brief interlude from Morpheus' deliberations about the future of Hell. The duo are never seen in the graphic novels, but they would later go on to have their own comic book spin-off series, which was helmed by Ed Brubaker and Byran Talbot.

A live-action TV show ofDead Boy Detectiveswas greenlit in late 2021, withMax(then known as HBO Max) set to be its streaming home. In February 2023, though, it moved over to Netflix, with its first trailer (see above) released in November 2023as one of four underrated Netflix Geeked Week 2023 announcements.

No launch date has been set yet, but we knowDead Boy Detectiveswill tie into Netflix’s widerSandmanuniverse. As revealed by Gaiman, one of the Endless will feature inDead Boy Detectives(perThe Sandman News X fan account), which should link it to the mainline series.

Dead Boy Detectivesmight only be the start of a more expansive live-actionSandmanuniverse, too. Speaking toThe Hollywood Reporter, Jenna Coleman teased the possibility of a Johanna Constantine spin-off project, which Gaiman and Heinberg are keen to pursue.

As for how long the main show could run, Gaiman toldVariety: “As long as the audience is there… we want to tell the whole story that went through to ‘The Wake’. And after that we want to tell ‘Sandman: Overture’ and… we’d love to do things like ‘The Dream Hunters’ We quite probably weave the stories that are in ‘Sandman: Endless Nights’ into the body of the whole.

“What is nice is we have the entirety ofThe Sandmanto draw on. We also have the ‘Death’ books. It might be great to go off and do one of those as a sideline… we can keep going on this for a long time to come”. We hope we speak for everyone when we say we hope you do, Neil.

For more Netflix TV-based coverage, read our guides onStranger Thingsseason 5,Arcaneseason 2,The Lincoln Lawyerseason 3, andWednesdayseason 2.

As TechRadar’s senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You’ll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.

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