Fans of The Sandman have been eagerly awaiting the second season of Netflix’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s beloved comic series. And with the newly released trailer for Season 2 (which you can check out below) having been shared online today, it’s clear that their excitement is well-founded. The upcoming season promises, among other things, to take everything fans loved about Season 1 and make it even bolder and more visually stunning.
The first season of The Sandman, which is still holding on to a solid 88% Rotten Tomatoes critics score, captivated viewers with elements like its intricate storytelling and standout performances — particularly from Tom Sturridge as Morpheus, the Lord of Dream. Season 2 will continue Dream’s journey, picking up just a few weeks after the events of the first season. The new season begins with Dream on the path to recovery, transforming his palace and vowing to leave the past behind. But, as always in The Sandman universe, the past has a way of catching up.
“The Sandman series has always been focused exclusively on Dream’s story,” showrunner Allan Heinberg said in a recent promotional interview with Netflix. “When we looked at the remaining Dream material from the comics, we knew we only had enough story for one more season.”
One of the key themes in the comments from fans and the team behind the show is the show’s visual impact. The new trailer for Season 2, for example, has already sparked an outpouring of excitement, with viewers on YouTube calling it a “visual masterpiece” — and many believe it looks set to be even more epic than Season 1. Indeed, while The Sandman has certainly always been known for its lavish, dreamlike aesthetic, the new season seems poised to take things to the next level. In the words of one YouTube commenter: “Season 1 was a visual masterpiece, and this looks like it’s raising the bar.”
Heinberg, meanwhile, highlights the expansion of the team behind the show and the resources they had at their disposal. “We are fortunate that nearly everyone who worked in front of or behind the camera for Season 1 is back for Season 2,” Heinberg continued in his interview. “We all learned an enormous amount about the show in Season 1, so getting the same team back together a year or more later allowed us to build on everything we learned and to try to raise our game on every front.”
The new season will also expand the story’s universe even more, exploring different time periods, realms, and worlds that add complexity to Dream’s narrative. The Sandman will take viewers to places like ancient Greece and Elizabethan England.
In addition to settings like those, Season 2 will also introduce new faces, including the enigmatic Delirium (played by Esmé Creed-Miles), the youngest member of the Endless. Fans of the comics will recognize the Endless as anthropomorphic personifications of fundamental forces Destiny, Death, Dream, Desire, Despair, and Delirium. As Heinberg explained, “The Endless … are meant to go on in perpetuity. They’re not supposed to change. But change is, of course, inevitable and essential to all life.”
Heinberg goes on to note that there are many new characters, including Thor, Loki, and Odin, in a banquet scene with “divine representatives” from different universes. “It’s a showstopper everywhere you look.”
Also worth noting: This final season of the show will be split into two volumes, with the six-episode Volume 1 dropping on July 3 and five-episode Volume 2 coming on July 24. A special bonus episode is coming on July 31.
