Netflix just dropped a whole new episode of The Sandman!

Calling all Sandman fans! It’s time to get excited. Out of nowhere, Netflix has just dropped a bonus episode of the series. At over an hour long, it’s the longest episode in the entire show. The bonus episode tells two of the most iconic tales from the comic: “A Dream of a Thousand Cats” and “Calliope.”

Last week, clips from this episode were accidentally included in a reaction video on YouTube (that Netflix promptly took down), so fans knew that a bonus episode was coming. But no one could’ve imagined that it would be this soon. There was no release date or anything. And yet here we are. What a total, welcome surprise!

If you’ve seen the show, you know that the cast is absolutely stacked. The bonus episode is no different. I mean, there’s David Tennant, Michael Sheen, Sandra Oh, Joe Lycett, and James McAvoy. Doesn’t get much better than that, does it? Funnily enough, in Audible’s audio dramatization of the comic, James McAvoy voices Dream, Michael Sheen is Lucifer, and David Tennant plays Loki.

Watch the trailer below:

A Dream of a Thousand Cats

Making the “Cats” episode animated feels like an inspired decision. The style is glorious. The story begins with a group of cats being summoned to hear a Prophet. The Prophet (Sandra Oh) is there to spread the word that if every cat dreams of a world where cats are rulers over humanity, then it shall be.

The Sandman author Neil Gaiman also appears in this episode, playing a dead crow in The Dreaming who instructs the Siamese cat on how to locate Morpheus. This marks the first time that we see Dream show up in something other than human skin; here, he’s a big, black cat.

Calliope

This story is more connection to the broader arc of The Sandman. No doubt if the show gets renewed for more seasons, we’ll learn more about Calliope (Melissanthi Mahut), Dream’s relationship with her, and their child, Orpheus. Yes, these are the same Calliope and Orpheus from Greek mythology.

The story follows struggling writer Richard Madoc (Arthur Darvill), who keeps Calliope the muse a prisoner in his home and uses her to get inspiration for his bestselling books. But it comes at a price, especially when Calliope calls upon her ex-lover Dream to save her.

The Sandman is full of rich, creative stories like this. For instance, there’s a standalone story where Morpheus watches the first-ever performance of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” complete with actual faerie in the audience; hopefully that one is coming in season 2. Hopefully there is a season 2. With over 127,500,000 hours watched time last week, we’re hoping for the best.

The Sandman episode 11, “A Dream of a Thousand Cats/Calliope,” is now streaming on Netflix!

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