Though word arrived last year that Netflix's ambitious (and rather wonderful adaptation) of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman would be getting a second season, we've had to wait for the creative team to write the new episodes and for the cast to be available post-strike. But now we have confirmation that the new season is in production, with a new behind-the-scenes image featuring Dream (Tom Sturridge and Desire (Mason Alexander Park) and a message from Sandman comics creator Neil Gaiman.
"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," says Gaiman. "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."
We'll have to wait and see when the show returns, though given the cameras are only just rolling, it'll surely be late 2024 at the earliest.