‘The Sandman’ Season 2 Resumes Production, Neil Gaiman Pens Letter to Fans on Comic’s 35th Anniversary: ‘Good Things Are Coming’
Netflix has resumed production on Season 2 of “The Sandman” in London after it was initially interrupted by the Hollywood strikes.
The news comes on the 35th anniversary of the DC comic book series on which the show is based. Neil Gaiman, who wrote the comics and developed the TV series, celebrated the occasion with a letter to fans promising that “good things are coming.” Netflix also shared a new photo that shows Tom Sturridge, who plays Dream, and Mason Alexander Park, who plays Desire, on set.
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Season 1 of “The Sandman” premiered in August of 2022 with a surprise 11th episode arriving on Netflix a week later. The series was generally well received, with Variety‘s review saying that “the show works hard to set itself apart from those Netflix attempts at reanimating beloved properties that instead flattened them out.”
Though Netflix does not officially refer to the installation currently in production as a second season, the streamer ordered more episodes of “The Sandman” last December.
Allan Heinberg serves as showrunner of “The Sandman,” which was developed by Gaiman and David S. Goyer. All three executive produce, while Warner Bros. Television serves as the studio. Stars include Tom Sturridge, Boyd Holbrook, Vivienne Acheampong and Patton Oswalt. Gaiman wrote the original comics with Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg.
Read Gaiman’s letter in full below.
We never know where our dreams will take us. 35 years ago today, the first issue of The Sandman was released and set many people and characters on paths that seemed, even at the time, so unlikely as to be impossible. Back then most comics featured superheroes. Sandman wasn’t that. It wasn’t like anything else, but magically (the magic consisting of hard work, youthful overconfidence, and some key people who believed in the vision) we were given the opportunity to tell the story I had in my head and bring Morpheus and the rest of the Endless to life.
A little over 36 years ago, in October 1987, the worst storm in at least 500 years left my house without power and my family trapped in our little village by fallen trees, and I spent my time writing an outline for the first eight issues of Sandman.
Thirteen months later, in November 1988, the first issue of Sandman hit the comics shops.
Like those who walk a path in Destiny’s garden, I look back and see one clear path stretching behind me. At times on this journey the way forward seemed impossible, and I don’t think I could have conceived of the impact that these characters would have on individuals or on the world. When I look at the path ahead, though, I don’t see darkness. I see how the world of The Sandman continues to grow and evolve and take new forms.
This week we officially restart production on the next sequence of stories of The Sandman for Netflix. Genius show runner Allan Heinberg and the countless people in front of and behind the camera are building something endlessly special, and bringing these stories to life in a way that would once have been unimaginable.
A journey is beginning that will take us from Destiny’s garden to Hell, from the Heart of the Dreaming to Ancient Greece and revolutionary France, and from there to places even I cannot quite imagine on the screen. I will be patient. Good things are coming.
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