Picture: Netflix
Netflix’s The Sandman is returning for its second season in 2025! Here’s the latest on everything we know about the forthcoming season, including all the new cast confirmed so far, what we can expect, and lots more.
The 11-episode first season of The Sandman arrived on August 5th, 2022, covering the first two volumes of the seminal comics, Preludes and Nocturnes and The Doll’s House. Following the first season’s release, a bonus animated episode (A Dream of a Thousand Cats/Calliope) dropped on August 19th, 2022.
What we saw in the first season of The Sandman merely scratches the surface. Season 2 is expected to run for 12 episodes and it will most likely conclude the saga. We know that filming covered the Season of Mists and Brief Lives story arcs, including the comic’s endgame volume, The Kindly Ones.
When was The Sandman renewed for Season 2?
Netflix renewed The Sandman for season 2 in November 2022, a few months after the show’s premiere. At the time of the renewal, Netflix released scant details of what fans can expect:
- The Sandman universe will continue to expand.
- The iconic series will return with even more episodes and stories adapted from multiple The Sandman graphic novels.
- The episode count and story details are currently under wraps.
Netflix didn’t officially call the show’s future “Season 2” but rather “more episodes.”
“Netflix has not gone on record as calling it ‘Season 2’ on purpose,” Mason Alexander Park has explained regarding the show’s future terminology. “And so, I will, from now on and in this conversation, refer to it as ‘more episodes’ because that is technically what has been announced.”
Even going into 2025, Netflix has not clarified the structure of the new season. Reports strongly suggest that it’ll be a 12-episode final season. We already know that Vivienne Acheampong (Lucienne) will appear in 11 episodes, and both Douglas Booth (Cluracan) and Laurence O’Fuarain (Thor) are in 7 and 3/4 episodes respectively.
Showrunner Allan Heinberg told Netflix:
“I’m profoundly grateful to Netflix and to Warner Bros. — to the artists and crew who made our first 11 episodes so magical — and to the extraordinary fans of The Sandman, who advocated tirelessly — endlessly — on the show’s behalf and made it possible for us to continue telling Morpheus’ story,”
How well did The Sandman perform on Netflix?
Netflix Hourly Data for The Sandman
We can assess the show’s performance and benchmark it against other shows thanks to many online resources.
The most significant numbers we get from Netflix are the hourly viewing figures for the show, which we get every Tuesday. Over a month later, the show remains in the top 5 English shows streaming on Netflix. It decays between 30% and 41% each week.
Between July 31 and September 18 (seven weeks), The Sandman had 393.14 million hours watched on Netflix globally before dropping out of Netflix’s global top 10.
Here’s how the show hours watched break down week to week:
| Week Period | Hours Viewed(M) | Rank | Week in Top 10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 31st, 2022 to August 7th, 2022 | 69,480,000 | 1 | 1 |
| August 7th, 2022 to August 14th, 2022 | 127,500,000 (+84%) | 1 | 2 |
| August 14th, 2022 to August 21st, 2022 | 77,240,000 (-39%) | 1 | 3 |
| August 21st, 2022 to August 28th, 2022 | 53,790,000 (-30%) | 2 | 4 |
| August 28th, 2022 to September 4th, 2022 | 33,320,000 (-38%) | 3 | 5 |
| September 4th, 2022 to September 11th, 2022 | 19,590,000 (-41%) | 5 | 6 |
| September 11th, 2022 to September 18th, 2022 | 12,220,000 (-38%) | 10 | 7 |
In our weekly top 10 reports, What’s on Netflix contributor Frédéric Durand used CVE metrics to compare the show against other English-language dramas. He put the show at a likely renewal, with it tracking better than The Lincoln Lawyer and only just behind Vikings: Valhalla.
CVE Viewership of The Sandman in week 5 compared to other English-language Netflix shows – those in red are canceled, green are renewed, and black pending.
Nielsen Data for The Sandman
We’ve got a few week’s worth of viewing hour data for The Sandman via Nielsen’s top 10s; here’s how it breaks down:
| Week Ending | Nielsen Original Position | Minutes | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 7th | 3 | 1,021M | 17.02M |
| August 14th | 1 | 1,386M | 23.10M |
| August 21st | 1 | 946M | 15.77M |
| August 28th | 3 | 681M | 11.35M |
Nielsen captures viewing hours in the United States and pits Netflix shows against titles from Amazon Prime, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, and Apple TV+.
What to expect from The Sandman Season 2 on Netflix
Warning: Spoilers for the comic book are ahead!
Returning characters in Season 2
All of the core cast from The Sandman Season 1 will return. This includes:
- Dream, played by Tom Sturridge
- Lucienne, played by Vivienne Acheampong
- Mervyn, played by Mark Hamill
- Lucifer, played by Gwendoline Christie
- Cain, played by Sanjeev Bhaskar
- Abel, played by Asim Chaudhry
- Death, played by Kirby Howell-Baptiste
- Despair, played by Donna Preston
- Desire, played by Mason Alexander Park
- Matthew the Raven, played by Patton Oswalt
New Characters to Feature in Season 2 of The Sandman
Characters that will feature in season 2 include:
- Delirium – Played by Esme Creed Miles – The youngest of the Endless, Delerium inhabits a sometimes ecstatic, sometimes incoherent realm, but she is always actively trying to navigate through it.
- Destruction – Played by Barry Sloane – The Endless sibling who abandoned his realm and is described as rugged, physically imposing, disarmingly handsome with bright, inquisitive eyes, a hearty laugh, and a generous heart.
- Destiny – Played by Adrian Lester – Eldest of the Endless and described as a stoic, all-knowing, monk-like figure who spends his days walking barefoot down the paths of his labyrinth garden.
- Wanda – Played by Indya Moore – A driver and security agent for an exclusive high-end travel firm. Will serve as a personal guide and liaison for Dream and Delirium during their time in the waking world.
- Thor (Laurence O’Fuarain), Loki (Freddie Fox) and Odin (Clive Russell) — The Norse Gods enter Dream’s Palace for a banquet, all vying to lay claim to the Key to Hell.
- Orpheus – Played by Ruairi O’Connor – The son of Morpheus.
- Barnabas – Played by Steve Coogan — Destruction’s canine companion.
- Nuala – Played by Ann Skelly – A fairy from the Faerie who is presented as a gift to Morpheus.
- Puck – Played by Jack Gleeson – A trickster capable of shapeshifting from English myth.
We previously interviewed Laurence O’Fuarain about his role as Thor in the new season. “The Thor we see in The Sandman is hot-tempered, full of bravado, but loyal to the end. He was really fun to play,” he teased.
Norse gods to feature in The Sandman season 2
Plenty of other casting in the new season has taken place, too. Here’s our big list of new cast members. Bear in mind that some of these character names may well be placeholder names:
- Amber Rose Revah as Goddess Ishtar
- Andre Flynn (The Musketeers) as Envoy to Lord Kilderkin
- Antonia Desplat as Persephone
- Assiba Blejah as Makena
- Ben Cutler (Eastenders) as Luke Burns
- Bridgette Amofa as TBD
- Charlotte Bate (Casualty) as TBD
- Charlotte Bate (I Think We Are Alone) as TBD
- Chris Barnes as Bruno
- Daniel Hoffmann-Gill (The Nevers) as Guillaume
- Daphne Alexander (The Fourth Kind) as Bromie
- Emily Yuen (Rocketman) as Mai Lai
- Garry Cooper as Hades
- Gavin Spokes (House of the Dragon, SCOOP) as Jeremy
- Jake Fairbrother as Remiel
- James Akka as TBD
- Joel Burman as TBD
- Jordan Adene (Young Wallander) as Donnie Capax (expected to be a variation on Danny the son of Bernie Capax)
- Jordan Stamatiadis as Aphy
- Kayode Akinyemi (Vikings: Valhalla) as Kris
- Kem Hassan as Phil Jones
- Lance C. Fuller as Leonard
- Luke Polie as Anthony
- Morgan Dun-Campbell as Aurora
- Olamide Candide-Johnson as TBD
- Paul Brennen (Men in Black: International) as Captain Carnot
- Rose Bianco as Dora
- Tafline Steen (Miss Scarlett and the Duke) as Xantho
- Umulisa Gahiga as Nada
- Wil Coban as Lord Azazel
- Zahra Browne (Pennyworth) as Charlier Adler
Confirmed The Sandman Season 2 storylines: Season of Mists and Brief Lives
Season of Mists will undoubtedly be season 2’s most significant story arc.
One of the most popular storylines from the entire comic run begins with an Endless family meeting.
This will be the first time we see the family all together, except for Destruction, but that’s an altogether different story. Bear in mind that so far, we’ve only met four of the seven endless: Dream (Tom Sturridge), Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), Desire (Mason Alexander Park), and Despair (Donna Preston).
During the meeting, we once again see Desire scheming. They tease Morpheus about his treatment of his former lover Nada, whom he condemned to Hell. Eventually, he gives in and travels to Hell to free her. Yet, when he arrives in Hell, he finds the realm empty.
Lucifer has grown tired and abandoned Hell, passing the Key to Hell and, therefore, its responsibility to Dream. Of course, Morpheus has his realm to rule over; he cannot rule Hell. As a result, back in The Dreaming, he is greeted by various immortal beings, each vying to become the next Ruler of Hell.
During Geeked Week 2024, Netflix gave us our first behind-the-scenes look at the new season. Check it out:
The Brief Lives story arc is also expected to play a significant role in season 2, given the characters we know that will feature thus far.
In the Brief Lives arc, the central characters are Dream and his sister, Delirium, who decides to embark on a quest to find their long-lost brother, Destruction, who has been absent for centuries. Delirium believes that finding Destruction will unite their family and restore their fractured relationships.
The Song of Orpheus, based on the popular Greek myth, will also be adapted in the new season. As will A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The comic’s ending is also set to take place. That’s a lot of content to fit into 12 episodes!
New look at The Sandman Season 2 (December 2024)
Our latest look at the new season comes from TVLine. Their exclusive behind-the-scenes image shows Tom Sturridge as Dream. He’s leaning towards the camera in a strange stance, perhaps ready for battle. Take a look:
Source: TVLine
How many episodes will be in Season 2 of The Sandman?
In April 2024, we learned that the second season of The Sandman would have 12 episodes.
In addition, we got several episode titles for the first of those six episodes:
- The Song of Orpheus, named after the special issue of the same name. Needless to say, this one will focus on Ruairi O’Connor’s Orpheus
- More Devils Than Vast Hell Can Hold, referencing the issue A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- Brief Lives, named after the issue of the same name
- Family Blood, likely referencing “spilling family blood”, something Dream seeks to avoid
- The Ruler of Hell, referencing Gwendoline Christie’s Lucifer. Or perhaps Hell will have a new ruler? We won’t spoil.
- Season of Mists, named after the comic collection of the same name. Previously mentioned Odin, Thor and Loki are most likely to appear in this episode.
A timeline of The Sandman’s Season 2 production
Rumors of a Summer 2023 production start for The Sandman began with Mason Alexander Park telling fans at the Fan Expo in San Francisco that they expected to begin filming in the summer.
In March 2023, we learned that filming was scheduled for June 2023 through October 2023. After a holiday break, shooting would return from January 2024 to April 2024. These two periods of filming will be referred to as block one and block two.
Cr. Laurence Cendrowicz/Netflix © 2022
In June 2023, we got confirmation that filming had started, with filming in London at Shepperton Studios and on-location in late June 2023 in Dorset. Production teams were spotted on the Lulworth Estate, and more filming occurred on the Durdle Door beach. Additional eyewitness reports suggest that some filming was also taking place in Parkstone Cemetery in Poole.
Tom Sturridge, returning as Dream, and what many speculate to be Ruairi O’Connor (The Morning Show, The Spanish Princess), who has joined the cast, were spotted filming on the beach.
Jamie Childs returns to the director’s chair in season 2.
Picture: BNPS
Picture: BNPS
In late November 2023, when filming picked back up, Netflix shared the first official look behind the scenes on The Sandman season 2.
In February 2024, it was reported that the series was filming throughout Brighton, including the iconic Royal Pavilion.
Picture: Netflix
In September 2024, The Sandman Season 2 officially wrapped filming.
When will Season 2 of The Sandman be released on Netflix?
Netflix has not yet provided a release date or window for The Sandman season 2.
At the moment, we’re expecting the series to be back on our screens in 2025. Our estimate is that we’ll see the show return sometime in early-to-mid-2025. One date we’ve had floated to us is July 24th, 2025, but we’re awaiting more information.
Contains additional contributions by Kasey Moore.
Would you like to see season 2 of The Sandman on Netflix? Let us know in the comments below.
Netflix Synopsis: "Two teen ghosts work alongside a clairvoyant to solve mysteries for their supernatural clientele -- until a powerful witch complicates their plans."
