Netflix is celebrating the 35th anniversary of The Sandman comic book series by resuming production on The Sandman Season 2. The Sandman‘s production was halted by the SAG-AFTRA actors’ strike but will now begin again as work continues on adapting Neil Gaiman’s beloved comic book opus. Netflix commemorated the occasion with the release of a new behind-the-scenes image from The Sandman set. The photo shows Dream of the Endless, played by Tom Sturridge, looming over his mischievous sibling Desire, portrayed by Mason Alexander Park. The Sandman is filming in London and is produced by Warner Bros. Television. You can see the new behind-the-scenes photo below.
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Netflix also released a letter from Gaiman about The Sandman’s 35th anniversary and the television adaptation resuming production. That letter follows
Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman 35th Anniversary and Season 2 letter
“We never know where our dreams will take us. 35 years ago today, the first issue of The Sandman was released and set many people and characters on paths that seemed, even at the time, so unlikely as to be impossible. Back then most comics featured superheroes. Sandman wasn’t that. It wasn’t like anything else, but magically (the magic consisting of hard work, youthful overconfidence, and some key people who believed in the vision) we were given the opportunity to tell the story I had in my head and bring Morpheus and the rest of the Endless to life.
“A little over 36 years ago, in October 1987, the worst storm in at least 500 years left my house without power and my family trapped in our little village by fallen trees, and I spent my time writing an outline for the first eight issues of Sandman.
“Thirteen months later, in November 1988, the first issue of Sandman hit the comics shops.
“Like those who walk a path in Destiny’s garden, I look back and see one clear path stretching behind me. At times on this journey the way forward seemed impossible, and I don’t think I could have conceived of the impact that these characters would have on individuals or on the world. When I look at the path ahead, though, I don’t see darkness. I see how the world of The Sandman continues to grow and evolve and take new forms.
“This week we officially restart production on the next sequence of stories of The Sandman for Netflix. Genius show runner Allan Heinberg and the countless people in front of and behind the camera are building something endlessly special, and bringing these stories to life in a way that would once have been unimaginable.
“A journey is beginning that will take us from Destiny’s garden to Hell, from the Heart of the Dreaming to Ancient Greece and revolutionary France, and from there to places even I cannot quite imagine on the screen. I will be patient. Good things are coming.”
What is The Sandman Season 2 about?
The Sandman Season 1 adapted the first two volumes of The Sandman comics, Preludes & Nocturnes and The Doll’s House. A bonus episode also adapted two standalone stories “Dream of a Thousand Cats” and “Calliope.” The Sandman Season 2 is expected to begin by adapting the fourth volume of The Sandman, titled Season of Mists, which contains its next major arc, involving Dream visiting Hell. More one-off episodes could also be in the works, as Gaiman discussed with ComicBook.com in August 2022.
“‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’” Gaiman answered when asked which The Sandman stories he’s most looking forward to adapting. “I really want to see that. Really want to see ‘Ramadan’ and I love the fact that one of the reasons I’m saying I want to see Ramadan is because I don’t know how we would do it. Would we move back into animation for that? Would we create a whole new way of storytelling? How do you indicate that you’re in a story and the story world rather than in our reality? And I think I would love, and one that I’m really excited to tell doesn’t really have Dream in it all, which is a story called ‘Hob’s Leviathan,’ which is a whole gambling-on-a tall ship-out-in-the ocean story in I think about 1905, 1890’s maybe, and I would love to see that story done mostly just because I think Kingsley’s Hob is one of my favorite things on screen. It was just a glorious surprise in episode six. How funny and grounded and human he manages to be while also being awful sometimes. And I would love to see that character. Just see more of it.”
The Sandman Season 1 is streaming now on Netflix and is also available on Blu-ray. Netflix will also be the new home of Dead Boy Detectives, a television series adapting another Gaiman co-creation that spun out of .