The second and final season of The Sandman comes to Netflix next month.
Netflix's The Sandman, an exquisite and largely faithful adaptation of Neil Gaiman's beloved graphic novel series, proved to be a hit for the streaming giant, racking up nearly 400 million viewing hours between its release on August 5 and September 18, 2022. Yet there was initially some question about whether even those numbers were strong enough to justify a second season of the critically acclaimed series, which cost a bundle to make. Fortunately, Netflix made the right call and renewed The Sandman for a second and final season. And judging by the official trailer, it should be every bit as lavish and riveting as its predecessor.
(Spoilers for S1 below.)
The first half of S1 covered Morpheus/Dream's (Tom Sturridge) capture and long imprisonment by British aristocrat Roderick Burgess (Charles Dance) and later his son Alex (Laurie Kynaston). Once he escaped, Dream found his realm, the Dreaming, had fallen into decay, and he had to retrieve his scattered totems (his helm, a pouch of sand, and a ruby) in order to rebuilt it. In the second half, Dream tracked an escaped nightmare called The Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook), now a prolific serial killer. Everything converged on a young woman named Rose Walker (Kyo Ra), an unwitting Vortex—someone who can attract and manipulate dreams, with dire consequences.
Dream uncreated the Corinthian and destroyed the Vortex, but Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie) in Hell was plotting revenge after Dream bested her in a battle to win back his helm. We also had two bonus episodes: the animated "Dream of a Thousand Cats," and "Calliope," in which Dream rescued his ex-wife, the titular muse (Melissanthi Mahut), from the author who had imprisoned her to inspire his many books.
The second season "begins a few weeks later," showrunner Allan Heinberg said in a statement. "After more than a century away from the Dreaming, Dream has been restoring and rebuilding his kingdom. As he transforms the palace, he vows to leave the past behind and look to the future. The past, of course, has other ideas." The eleven episodes will adapt the storylines from “Tales in the Sand,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Song of Orpheus,” “Thermidor,” and “The Tempest,” among other installments in the Sandman series. We're also getting a bonus episode adapting the standalone "Death: the High Cost of Living," featuring everyone's favorite member of the Endless.