Fans of Neil Gaiman’s epic graphic novel series about the King of Dreams and his realm, the Dreaming, have been waiting forever for the story to come to life onscreen. Now that it’s here, the Netflix adaptation of The Sandman has been the stuff of dreams for fans around the world.
As reported by the Daily Mail, The Sandman quickly shot to the top spot on the Netflix Top 10, unseating Virgin River as the most watched show on the streaming platform.
The original comic book run featured 75 issues as well as various spinoff stories over the years, so there is plenty of material to carry The Sandman for several seasons and beyond. Season 1 only covered the first two graphic novels, Preludes & Nocturnes (issues 1-8) and The Doll’s House (issues 9-16).
If you’re one of the people who binged the whole series and were left with questions about the ending and how it sets things up for the future, we’ve got you covered.
Warning: spoilers ahead!
Will there be The Sandman season 2?
It’s important to note that as of this writing there’s no announced plans for The Sandman season 2 — yet. Considering the hype and early viewing numbers, Netflix very well could grant the show more seasons. However, we can't be sure when Netflix will make a call on future seasons of The Sandman.
Personally, we'd love to see multiple seasons picked up to see more of roster of great actors in The Sandman cast and with so many of Gaiman's stories left to explore should the show get the green light for more seasons.
Could Lucifer Morningstar go to war in The Sandman season 2?
The biggest hint at what could happen in The Sandman season 2 comes from a conversation Lucifer Morningstar (Gwendoline Christie) has with Lord Azazel. Lucifer is still smarting after being bested by Dream in episode 4. She doesn’t like losing.
Lord Azazel arrives to inform her that the generals of hell have assembled and discussed their common enemy — namely Dream — and want her to know they’re ready for her command should she desire to strike. They may be stuck in hell, but there’s no reason they can’t make hell even bigger by taking over other realms.
This idea pleases Lucifer, who is always looking for a way to upset the apple basket and possibly inflict harm on God and the Silver City.
Hell going to war could be a major story that plays out in The Sandman season 2 and it would give fans more time with Christie in a role that allows her to dig deep and show everyone how sinister the devil can be.
Desire could cause more trouble in The Sandman season 2
We didn’t spend a lot of time with Mason Alexander Park as Desire in the first season of The Sandman, but even in our brief interactions we know that Desire enjoys stirring up trouble as often as possible. At the end of the last episode, they hint at more trouble to come.
Desire was responsible for Unity Kinkaid becoming pregnant during her slumber, leading to the vortex known as Rose Walker. Dream was able to avoid killing Rose through a clever workaround, but that doesn’t mean Desire’s scheming has come to an end.
Though the series doesn’t touch on the how or why, it’s clear that harming a member of the Endless is a bad idea. If Dream had killed Rose, a member of the Endless family, it could have spelled disaster for him. (We won’t go into the comic book particulars of why it’s such a big problem, but clearly from the show we know it’s a problem that we should remember in the future)
It looks like Desire has another plan in the works already, so naturally Dream will have to contend with this when the plan comes to fruition.
Rose Walker and Lyta Hall’s baby and how they could factor into The Sandman season 2
We still don’t know how Rose Walker's best friend Lyta Hall (Razanne Jamal) became pregnant with her dead husband’s baby while she was sleeping, nor do we know how the baby factors into future stories.
Our first thought is that Desire could have had something to do with the baby's conception, similar to what happened to Unity Kinkaid. However, since Dream allowed Lyta to keep the baby boy — for now, until Dream comes for him — we have to think that the baby isn’t another vortex.
It could also be that Lyta was so close to Rose at the height of Rose's vortex power that the lines between Lyta's dreams and the waking world were completely blurred, so instead of being a vortex the baby is something else entirely. It's likely that we'll see more of Lyta's baby in the future.
Now that Rose is no longer a vortex, life should be getting back to normal for her and her brother. At the end of the season we see Rose and Jed living together with Lyta and the baby, with Hal and his beau there to help keep watch over them. They're all orphans but they've built a new family unit.
But we can't forget that Rose is still linked to the Endless. As a child of the Endless, she could still have a target on her back if someone wanted to get Dream’s attention. That means there’s every reason to believe Rose's story isn’t over.
Endless possibilities for The Sandman season 2 and beyond
With so much source material to draw upon as well as the potential for new characters and worlds to be developed under Gaiman’s watchful eye, Netflix could have a bona fide franchise on its hands.
It’s important to remember there are seven Endless and we’ve only met four: Dream, Death, Desire and Despair. We have yet to meet Delirium, Destiny and Destruction, referred to as "The Prodigal" after abandoning his duties.
We were also introduced to so many characters in season 1. We could have a whole season of Jenna Coleman’s Johanna Constantine alone, or one of the Corinthian's early adventures. (Boyd Holbrook needs to return in some form, either as his past self or a Corinthian 2.0)
What The Sandman season 1 does well is to establish Gaiman’s cinematic world. Whether you’re a longtime fan or a newcomer, everyone can watch together. And now that the world has come to life, it’s just a matter of where it goes from here.
All episodes of The Sandman season 1 are available to watch right now on Netflix.
