When production on the second season of The Sandman was nearing completion, Neil Gaiman — the writer of the original comic book — was accused by multiple women of engaging in nonconsensual “rough and degrading sex," as revealed in 2024 during a podcast from Tortoise Media.
On the TV side of things, the allegations have caused ripple effects over various Gaiman-related projects. For instance, it was announced that Prime Video series Good Omens was going to conclude with a single, 90-minute episode rather than a full third season as originally planned. Additionally, Disney dropped plans for a live-action adaptation of Gaiman's children's novel The Graveyard Book.
As for Netflix's The Sandman show, the allegations came at a strange time. The show had already been renewed for 'more episodes,' and filming was well underway by the time the allegations against Gaiman surfaced. Many viewers believe that the show ending with its second season was a direct result of the allegations; the first season covered the first two volumes of the comic while the second will cover the remaining eight, which had people thinking things were wrapping up earlier than planned. But according to series co-creator David S. Goyer, the plan to end Sandman with season 2 was set in stone from the renewal.
“When the accusations first came out, I think we were three weeks from finishing filming Season 2 — so we were very, very far down the path,” Goyer said in a recent interview with Variety. He went on to explain that Gaiman was significantly less involved in season 2 compared to season 1, and how Netflix reacted to the news:
"Neil wasn’t as involved in Season 2 as he was in Season 1. Obviously, it’s complicated. I have tremendous respect for women that come forward in those situations. It’s really concerning, but I know that Netflix, at the time, felt, ‘God, we spent two years making this thing. There’s all these actors and writers and directors involved that, if we didn’t air it, wouldn’t be fully compensated for it.’ And so we just decided, we’re going to let this work speak for itself. But I’d be crazy to say it wasn’t weird."
Goyer also added that the show's ending was planned out during the renewal process, months before the Gaiman allegations surfaced. “[The ending] was planned more than two years ago," he said, adding that it was clear audiences were mostly interested in Dream's story. "Obviously we love the books, but one of the concerns about some of the story arcs is that Dream [Sturridge] isn’t in them very much."
Season 2 focuses on telling Dream's story to its conclusive ending, without the numerous story arcs where he hardly features, like "A Game of You." The final season premieres on Thursday, July 3 with Volume 1; there will be a cache of six episodes in that set. Volume 2, which has five episodes, lands on July 24. The series will bow out with a bonus episode, "Death: The High Cost of Living," on July 31.
Dream is the lord of dreams, one of several eternal, anthropomorphic beings at the center of the story. The Sandman is a twisty, difficult bit of source material to adapt to TV. We're a little disappointed that the show won't cover the whole of the comics, but what we've seen of the second season looks promising.
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