The adventures of Lord Morpheus conclude in the two-part final season of The Sandman
Neil Gaiman’s groundbreaking comic book The Sandman revolutionized the genre, introducing Lord Morpheus, a.k.a. Dream of the Endless, a god-like entity who is the personification of mortals’ dreams.
Bringing the character to the screen has been a monumental undertaking, with initial attempts dating back to the early 1990s. The project sat in dreaded “development hell” for decades, as screenwriter after screenwriter attempted to translate Gaiman’s surreal, dream-infused tales into something approaching a narrative. These aborted attempts included various feature films and even an animated project.
In 2013, a screenwriter was hired by Warner Bros to take a crack at the movie — who ultimately advised the studio that The Sandman would work better as a series, due to the fragmentary nature of Gaiman’s storytelling. Sometime around 2018, Gaiman was working on adapting his novel Good Omens as a limited series for Amazon when writer/producer David S. Goyer (the Dark Knight trilogy) approached him about collaborating on a series. That ultimately came to fruition with the first season of the Netflix series that premiered in 2022.
With Tom Sturridge cast as Dream, that first season went on to become wildly successful, ranking as Netflix’s No. 1 global offering three days after its release, ultimately becoming the streamer’s eighth most-watched English-language series of 2022.
With the new season split into two parts, the first six episodes arrive this week (the remaining five episodes will drop July 24, with an additional “bonus episode” on July 31). The new season will also be The Sandman’s last, and it’s nothing if not ambitious.
When Morpheus takes extreme measures to attempt to rescue a woman he sent to eternal damnation 10,000 years ago, he must confront the ruler of Hell, fallen angel Lucifer Morningstar (Game of Thrones alum Gwendoline Christie), which yields a wildly unanticipated result.
“This season is about Dream’s having to accept responsibility for his arrogance, for his ignorance and for his feelings — which he doesn’t even admit to having,” showrunner Allan Heinberg told Netflix’s Tudum. “But sooner or later, we all have to reckon with the fact that the struggles we face are often of our own making. Dream must now figure out what to do about it.”
Meanwhile, fans can anticipate the return of Dream’s siblings: Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), Desire (Mason Alexander Park); and Despair (Donna Preston). The new season also introduces the rest of the Endless family. “We’ll meet Dream’s eldest brother, Destiny [Adrian Lester]; his younger sister, Delirium [Esmé Creed-Miles]; and the mysterious The Prodigal [Barry Sloane], who abandoned the family 300 years ago — and whom Dream cannot forgive,” says Heinberg.
Other characters introduced in season two include: Morpheus’ son, the oracle Orpheus (Ruairi O’Connor); Norse gods Odin (Clive Russell), Loki (Freddie Fox) and Thor (Laurence O’Fuarain); Nuala and Cluracan (Ann Skelly and Douglas Booth), royal emissaries from the court of Faerie, accompanied by malevolent hobgoblin Puck (Jack Gleeson), royal jester to King Auberon of Faerie; and Barnabas (voiced by Steve Coogan), canine companion of the Prodigal.
While in his own realm, Morpheus continues to be assisted by his faithful librarian Lucienne (Vivienne Acheampong), wise sidekick Matthew the Raven (voiced by comedian Patton Oswalt) and wisecracking janitor Merv Pumpkinhead (Star Wars’ Mark Hamill).
While Gaiman was very hands-on in the first season, The Sandman’s creator has limited involvement this time out — for some very unpleasant reasons, stemming from multiple women accusing him of sexual assault last year; Gaiman has denied all allegations, insisting that each sexual encounter was consensual.
While Gaiman remains innocent until proven guilty, that hasn’t prevented him from experiencing fallout. Not only was he forced to exit the upcoming final season of Good Omens, Disney slammed the brakes on plans to adapt his novel The Graveyard Book into a feature, while he was also dropped by his longtime comic book publisher, Dark Horse.
Whether those allegations contributed to Netflix’s cancellation of the series is a matter of some speculation, but Heinberg has insisted that two seasons was always the plan. “The Sandman series has always been focused exclusively on Dream’s story, and back in 2022, when we looked at the remaining Dream material from the comics, we knew we only had enough story for one more season,” he said in a statement. “We are extremely grateful to Netflix for bringing the team all back together and giving us the time and resources to make a faithful adaptation in a way that we hope will surprise and delight the comics’ loyal readers as well as fans of our show.”
The Sandman premieres Thursday, July 3 on Netflix