The Sandman is coming to an end after just two seasons, surprising many fans of the Netflix series. Showrunner Allan Heinberg recently revealed the reasons behind the early conclusion in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
The show follows Morpheus, the King of Dreams, on his journey across worlds to reclaim what was stolen and restore his power. Heinberg explained that while the original comic book has an anthology structure with many stories focused on different characters, the series chose to concentrate mainly on Dream as the protagonist to keep the audience engaged.
“We learned making season one that we were only going to focus on the stories where Dream was the protagonist,” Heinberg said. The challenge with anthologies, he noted, is that each new cast needs to earn the audience’s trust and interest. Viewers consistently stayed engaged when Dream was on screen or the focus, but lost interest during other storylines.
This focus led to skipping the adaptation of the graphic novel A Game of You, which primarily features another character, Barbie. Instead, Netflix proposed to jump directly from Season of Mists to Brief Lives, allowing the show to maintain its focus on Dream’s story. Heinberg detailed how the writers worked to incorporate Dream’s storyline into this arc, using creative substitutions like Dream’s relationship with Nada to maintain continuity.
Originally, Heinberg envisioned The Sandman as a three-season show, ending with The Kindly Ones arc and additional storylines. However, by removing A Game of You, the series condensed the narrative into two seasons while preserving major comic arcs like Orpheus’ death and Dream’s response.
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Heinberg also teased the series finale as a “very interesting” and “freestanding” episode that reflects the central themes of love and hope amidst a dark world. This final episode serves as a heartfelt goodbye and thank you to the audience for their support.
Fans can look forward to a conclusion that remains true to the spirit of Neil Gaiman’s beloved comic series, while delivering a focused, character-driven story about Dream and his journey.
