The Neil Gaiman-inspired series The Sandman has been cancelled by the Netflix streaming service, but season 2 will still premiere this year
After spending decades in development hell, a live-action adaptation of the Neil Gaiman comic book series The Sandman actually made it into production and was released into the world as a Netflix series in August of 2022. (Read our review HERE.) Season 2 will be coming along sometime in 2025… and that will be the end. Variety reports that Netflix has cancelled the show. Which, if you’ve been keeping track of what’s going on with Gaiman, is not a surprise at all.
Showrunner Allan Heinberg provided a statement in which he said that Gaiman’s current issues had nothing to do with the cancellation. Rather, they just ran out of story. Heinberg said, “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. 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.“
Still, this is just one of several Gaiman projects that have fallen apart now that he has been accused of sexual assault by nine women. At Prime Video, Good Omens season 3 was shelved in favor of a 90 minute send-off episode. Disney hit pause on the development of a movie based on his novel The Graveyard Book. A Coraline musical was scrapped. And Gaiman was dropped by Dark Horse Comics, who cancelled his comic book series Anansi Boys.
Described as “a rich, character-driven blend of myth and dark fantasy”, The Sandman has the following synopsis: When the Sandman, aka Dream — the powerful cosmic being who controls all our dreams — is unexpectedly captured and held prisoner for over a century, he must journey across different worlds and timelines to fix the chaos his absence has caused.
When Netflix ordered season 2, they said, “The Sandman will return with new episodes based on multiple volumes of the Neil Gaiman graphic novel to explore even more stories of the Endless.“ For some reason, they don’t like to actually call this “season 2”, but that’s the easiest way to refer to it.
The Sandman was developed for Netflix by Gaiman, David S. Goyer, and Allan Heinberg, all of whom serve as executive producers on the show. Every episode of season 2 was directed by Jamie Childs.
What do you think about the fact that The Sandman has been cancelled? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
