The Sandman. (L to R) Tom Sturridge as Dream, Patton Oswalt as Matthew the Raven (voice) in episode 103 of The Sandman. Cr. Liam Daniel/Netflix © 2022
The Sandman season 2 will feature several iconic figures from the world of Greek mythology, from Hades and Persephone, to Orpheus and Eurydice. The new season will retell one of the most famous stories from the mythos: The Song of Orpheus.
In 2022, The Sandman season one introduced us to Morpheus (Tom Sturridge), ruler of the Dream Realm. It covered the first two volumes of Neil Gaiman’s seminal graphic novel, and a little of the third. Between Dream traveling to Hell to confront Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie) to the chaos of John Dee (David Thewlis) controlling the dreams of others and making them come true — it captivated viewers, and everyone is desperate for more. With season two officially on the way, prepare to visit more realms as the show dives further into world mythology.
After we’ve previously reported season 2 of the show is casting Norse Gods, such as Odin, Thor, and Loki for season 2; we can now confirm that more gods are coming – these also leaked over the weekend. The new episodes will feature several iconic names from Greek myth, including Hades, Persephone, and Eurydice. This is in addition to Orpheus, who we saw being played by Ruairi O’Connor when the new season started filming in June at Durdle Door.
Not familiar with these characters? Let’s explain who they are and how they tie into The Sandman universe!
These four cast members perfectly set up “The Song of Orpheus.”
The introduction of Eurydice, Persephone, Hades and Orpheus will come as no surprise to readers of the comics.
These characters play a big role in The Sandman Special #1, “The Song of Orpheus” (1991). The story is a retelling of the original myth, perfectly weaved into the Sandman mythos. Season 2 will cover this storyline, as well as Volume 4, “Season of Mists,” and Volume 7, “Brief Lives.”
Beware of spoilers. The Song of Orpheus covers the wedding of Dream and Calliope’s son Orpheus to his betrothed nymph Eurydice, the granddaughter of Ares. The entire Endless family are present, including Destruction and Delirium, who have not appeared in the show yet. When Eurydice is killed, a grief-stricken Orpheus becomes determined to bring her back. He seeks help from those in his family, such as Destruction and Death, and ultimately decides to travel to the Underworld to bargain for her life.
When he arrives, he begs Hades and Persephone to return his wife back to him. He convinces them through his beautiful, powerful music; but it’s not all that simple, for they have one caveat. For Eurydice to return to him, he must walk alone back to the world, trusting in the fact that she is following him. However, if he looks back, she will never return to him.
When will The Sandman season 2 return to filming?
Like all other Netflix shows, The Sandman was put on pause thanks to the WGA writer’s strike, where writers sought (and achieved) a better deal for their work. This includes lessening the usage of A.I. in projects, and giving writers a much fairer pay. With the strike now over, Sandman is one step closer to returning to filming. However, with the SAG-AFTRA actor’s strike still ongoing, we may have to wait a little longer.
“We shot two weeks of it before the strikes closed it down,” Gaiman wrote his Tumblr page. “When SAG settle, I hope it will start shooting once more.”
Of course, The Sandman did two weeks of filming during the writer’s strike. Photos were released of the show filming at Durdle Door in Dorset, England. Plus, the new season further filmed in a cemetery in Poole, Dorset, featuring a new character played by Pose star Indya Moore.
New characters confirmed to appear in The Sandman season 2 include Delirium, Destiny, Destruction, Thor, Loki, Odin, Orpheus, Hades, Persephone, Eurydice, Auberon, Titania, and Wanda.
Given the delays, it’s evident that we’ll be waiting much longer for The Sandman to return to our screens. Depending on how much longer it takes for filming to resume, a release date of late 2024 to early 2025 seems like a fair estimate. In the meantime, however, Netflix’s Dead Boy Detectives will release next year. The series is set within the Sandman Universe and ties directly into the storyline “Season of Mists,” which will be covered in The Sandman season 2.
