Things are now officially over for Netflix’s The Sandman, and there’s a new couple in season 2 that fans wished the show had explored way more.

Based on Neil Gaiman’s comic book series of the same name, The Sandman wasn’t a very faithful adaptation of the original source material, as the series’ showrunner Allan Heinberg was forced to cut down some major storylines and change those existing in The Sandman just due to the two-season format.

Particularly, the sophomore instalment’s finale introduced yet another big plot change — which, however, was never meant to drive the plot itself anyway.

What Happens in ‘The Sandman’ Season 2 Finale?

Despite still going with pretty much the same storyline, the series makes a major character swap in the end.

In “The Sandman”’s comics, Dream seeks ways to find Daniel Hall, a baby conceived in the Dreaming and thus destined to become his descendant; in the end, Dream resurrects Boyd Holbrook’s The Corinthian and orders him to find Daniel.

However, without much trust for The Corinthian after he ended up being a serial killer, Dream asks his raven companion Matthew to go look for the child as well.

In the show, however, Matthew is nowhere to be found when The Corinthian embarks on his mission — instead, the latter is joined by Johanna Constantine, a modern version of Lady Johanna Constantine from season 2’s first part.

Eventually, sparks start flying for the two, who by the time of The Sandman’s finale become some sort of a new couple.

Allan Heinberg Coupled Up The Corinthian and Johanna Constantine to Save on CGI

As it turned out, the show’s deviations from the original comic books aren’t always about drama, and even Neil Gaiman was open to several suggestions.

With The Sandman requiring lots of CGI for every single episode, showrunner Allan Heinberg felt like this many scenes featuring Matthew the raven would take all the show’s budget away from the team.

At some point, he even thought that the whole storyline arc wasn’t worth all this money, considering that the Corinthian kills Matthew and he is later resurrected by Dream.

“We were looking for more places to put [Johanna Constantine actor] Jenna Coleman, and it was Neil who suggested, ‘Why don’t we team up Johanna Constantine present-day with The Corinthian?’ Which I thought was an amazing idea, and we just ran with it”, Heinberg revealed in a new interview with Polygon after season 2 premiered on Netflix on July 24.

The showrunner also added that The Corinthian and Johanna’s love story dynamics felt right since both are complex characters with many things to learn from the past and evolve.

“They’re perfect for each other in this weird way”, Heinberg concluded.