OTT - Aug 23, 2022
The Netflix series may be the most popular DC comics television series in years, but creator Neil Gaiman expressed some doubt about the forthcoming show.
Netflix's adaptation of The Sandman has been a big success in season one —but that doesn't mean it's getting a season two. Find out what creator Neil Gaiman said about its chances.
Details focussed on season one
Season one largely focuses on the first two arcs of the comic, Preludes & Nocturnes and The Doll’s House. By the end of the season, Dream has escaped his century of captivity, reclaimed his vestiments of power, and learned a few things about being a better-anthropomorphized concept.
What does the creator have to say about the series?
The current state of DC Comics’ live-action adaptations may be up in the air, but there has been one bright spot in recent weeks. Over a decade of false starts and development failures, Neil Gaiman‘s great Vertigo comic The Sandman has come to television screens.
Even as the show changes some details from the comics, downplaying its larger DC Universe connections, it retains all of the beauty and horror that made the original series an enduring classic.
Best of all, the show has become a hit regarding viewership and word-of-mouth buzz. So popular was the first season that Netflix dropped a surprise bonus episode, adapting two of the best stand-alone stories, "A Dream of a Thousand Cats" and "Calliope."
And with more than 50 more concerns of original comics to draw from, to say nothing of the various spin-offs, The Sandman seems poised for a successful second season.
Admirers’ concern regarding the season
Unfortunately, destiny may have other plans. When a Twitter user reached out to Neil Gaiman to express praise for the series and his confusion about the show’s foggy future, the author responded with an answer. The Sandman may not get a second season because it is “a really expensive show,” he Tweeted. So even though the series has been a hit thus far, Neil Gaiman revealed that “we have to perform incredibly well” to be given enough funds for a season two.
How “incredibly is the show"? Honestly, there's no idea to know right now for sure. Netflix famously refuses to release its streaming data, instead choosing to send out press releases with unclear claims about how Red Notice is the most popular movie on the service because it accrued "282 million viewing hours," not indicating how many people watched the film all the way through. Even after all these years, we’re still not sure what constitutes success for Netflix.
Complicating matters is the current precarious state of streaming, especially for Netflix and Warner Brothers. After years of growth, Netflix subscriber counts have dropped, forcing the company to take drastic measures, including axing shows with audiences both real and potential. Warner Brothers are experiencing its state of upheaval as new CEO David Zaslav takes over HBO Max and has limited ideas about what DC shows should be.
According to Neil Gaiman, admirers’ only recourse is to make more viewers, encouraging them to watch the show. When they do, they’re sure to get hooked on the many forthcoming plot hints Neil Gaiman has crafted alongside fellow showrunners Allan Heinberg and David S. Goyer. While those and other stories are told beautifully in Neil Gaiman’s original The Sandman, those who want to see them play out in live-action must encourage others to check out the show while it's still available on Netflix.
