‘The Sandman’ Showrunner Explains Why Season 2 Is Final: “Anthologies Are Very Difficult to Pull Off”

Netflix’s The Sandman was quickly labeled one of the most promising TV shows when it first arrived in 2022, which was also a reason to believe that the series would run for more than just two seasons.

Apart from the fact that The Sandman was based on a very well-known comic book series created by Neil Gaiman, the show also blew its fans’ minds away by its stunning cinematography, great visuals and the performance of the leading cast.

So, there were definitely many reasons to count on The Sandman staying around for longer than it actually does, but the series’ showrunner Allan Heinberg has just offered a different perspective on the matter.

‘The Sandman’ Showrunner Says the Anthology Format Wouldn’t Work That Well Anyway

Both the show and the original comic book series’ fans are well aware that Netflix’s The Sandman diverts from its source material by making Dream the protagonist of the entire series; the comics, however, have a different structure and actually look like an anthology that goes from one character to another.

According to The Sandman’s showrunner Allan Heinberg, this major change was the reason why everyone on set knew that the show wouldn’t last that long.

“We realized that the audience, for a serialized drama, needs a character that they can follow and root for throughout the entire run of the show. Anthologies are very difficult to pull off [because] every time you introduce a new cast of characters, you have to earn the audience’s trust, love and rooting interest”, he said in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

Heinberg then also added that the team did try to make some kind of experiment and stay away from Dream and his story for a while, which didn’t perform with the audiences as well as the episodes centring entirely on the leading character.

“Anytime we drifted into other people’s storylines, they got confused and lost interest because it’s called The Sandman and they thought the show was about the Sandman, which we all understand”, Heinberg stated.

Allan Heinberg Originally Planned Three Seasons for ‘The Sandman’

Even though Neil Gaiman’s book series boasts of a much bigger number of installments that would be adapted into at least a five-season show, the showrunner wasn’t really going to make an adaptation that faithful to the source material.

“I had always thought of The Sandman as a three-season show with 11 episodes in each season, and initially I had crafted season two to end with Orpheus’ death and Dream’s response to it”, Heinberg said, adding that things came together organically afterwards, making it all look like a definite ending in season 2.

“So it was a very organic process of looking at the comics and saying, “If we’re just telling Dream’s story, what are those elements, and can we do it in the 11 episodes that we had? And then [we’ll have] the additional Death episode at the end”, he revealed.

When Will ‘The Sandman’ Season 2 Part 2 Be Released?

The second season’s second part will arrive on Netflix on July 24.