THE SANDMAN Dreams Up Rotten Tomatoes Score As First Season 2 Reviews Arrive

THE SANDMAN Dreams Up Rotten Tomatoes Score As First Season 2 Reviews Arrive

The first six episodes of The Sandman season 2 are now streaming on Netflix, and critics have been weighing in with their thoughts on what will be our final visit to The Dreaming...

By MarkCassidy - Jul 03, 2025 08:07 PM EST
Filed Under: The Sandman

The Sandman season 2, Vol. 1 is now streaming on Netflix, and critics have been sharing their verdicts on the first six episodes of what will be our final visit to The Dreaming since the embargo lifted earlier today.

After initially generating a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score when the first few reviews hit, Vol. 1 has now dropped to 75% based on 16 write-ups. That score is likely to fluctuate, but the consensus seems to be that this adaptation of the later storylines from Neil Gaiman's seminal saga doesn't quite match up to the first season.

Mileage is almost certain to vary depending on whether you're a fan of the source material, which some of the more negative reviews pretty much use as the basis of their criticism.

You can have a read through the reviews and reactions at the links below.

An updated synopsis reads: “After a fateful reunion with his family, Dream of the Endless (Tom Sturridge) must face one impossible decision after another as he attempts to save himself, his kingdom, and the waking world from the epic fallout of his past misdeeds. To make amends, Dream must confront longtime friends and foes, gods, monsters, and mortals. But the path to forgiveness is full of unexpected twists and turns, and true absolution may cost Dream everything. Based on the beloved award-winning DC comic series, the second season of ‘The Sandman’ will tell Dream’s story arc in full to its thrilling conclusion.”

We had assumed that the recent accusations against Neil Gaiman might lead to the show being cancelled, but Variety claimed that "the second season was intended to be the last prior to filming."

Whether this is accurate or not, fans of the acclaimed series are not happy. While it's true that excluding elements of the comic run that don't focus specifically on Morpheus would allow them to adapt more of the story, it'll be difficult to do justice to the later arcs with just one more season.

Season 2 stars Tom Sturridge, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Mason Alexander Park, Donna Preston, Esmé Creed-Miles, Adrian Lester, Barry Sloane, Patton Oswalt, Vivienne Acheampong, Gwendoline Christie, Jenna Coleman, Ferdinand Kingsley, Stephen Fry, Asim Chaudhry, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Razane Jammal, Ruairi O’Connor, Freddie Fox, Clive Russell, Laurence O’Fuarain, Ann Skelly, Douglas Booth, Jack Gleeson, Indya Moore and Steve Coogan.

Have you watched The Sandman yet? You can check out our review of the first season here.

THE SANDMAN Faces His Destiny In First S2, Vol. 2 Clip: I Deserve To Die For What I've Done
Related:

THE SANDMAN Faces His Destiny In First S2, Vol. 2 Clip: "I Deserve To Die For What I've Done"

[It Was] All Very Conceptual: THE LAST JEDI Director Rian Johnson Opens Up On Scrapped STAR WARS Trilogy
Recommended For You:

"[It Was] All Very Conceptual": THE LAST JEDI Director Rian Johnson Opens Up On Scrapped STAR WARS Trilogy

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.

This post was submitted by a user who has agreed to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. ComicBookMovie.com will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. Please CONTACT US for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content. CLICK HERE to learn more about our copyright and trademark policies.

Note that ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

Kurban
Kurban - 7/3/2025, 8:36 PM
The casting for this show is awful.
CreateNowSlpL8r
CreateNowSlpL8r - 7/3/2025, 8:44 PM
@Kurban - AWFUL
Malatrova15
Malatrova15 - 7/3/2025, 8:40 PM
Awful casting... awful Rush chapters...puré slop..glad Gaiman Is taking the Big L for being a diddler
OrgasmicPotatoe
OrgasmicPotatoe - 7/3/2025, 10:38 PM
@Malatrova15 - You take that back right now, Rush is one of the greatest bands in history and are a national treasure, please b e civil now
TheNewYorkerr
TheNewYorkerr - 7/3/2025, 8:58 PM
This show isn’t bad. Season two took to damn long, so I don’t care.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 7/3/2025, 10:42 PM
@TheNewYorkerr - it's bad
KaptainKhaos
KaptainKhaos - 7/3/2025, 9:15 PM
"The cast is Awful"

Nah Dawgs, imma gunna need to know why without the words Woke, DEI, Agenda, The Message or any other nonsense buzzword
HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 7/3/2025, 9:46 PM
@KaptainKhaos - Desire is suppose to be desirable yet somehow Despair is more attractive than Desire.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 7/3/2025, 10:43 PM
@KaptainKhaos - have you read the comics dawg?
KaptainKhaos
KaptainKhaos - 7/4/2025, 12:50 PM
@McMurdo - reading is for nerds
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 7/3/2025, 9:35 PM
Cool , good to see the generally positive reception so far so hopefully that “score” continues to climb up rather then go down!!.

Are these reviews just for the first half or the entire season since they are splitting it up with 6 now , 5 on the 24th and a special on the 31st?.

If it’s the former then the reviews are subject to change positively or negatively even more depending on how the latter half wraps it up so we’ll see.

Also not too surprised about the season having some disjointedness since this take is very Dream focused in regards to his arc and relationships so they have tried to make it more serialized while the comics themselves are somewhat anthological which is bound to create some issues.

Anyway , still looking forward to it since I liked S1!!.
Lem1
Lem1 - 7/3/2025, 9:57 PM
Great cinematography. My main gripes with the show...they stripped too much of the fantastical aesthetics away, too obviously budget-conscious, everything is dialed down too much, not enough Passion/emotion in the characters, nothing's quite Iconic, score's a missed opportunity, and the stories are incredibly shortened often. I can't help but think a lot of the choices are because the producer is gay, from Morpheus's clothing & makeup to some of the emphasis they put on Desire, preaching certain things at us - although some comic justification, there's just too much needless swapping in the roles to the point it feels obviously pandering to certain groups rather than simply bringing the comic to life. I don't need things that weren't meant to be to be altered to pander to me just because I'm from one of these 'minority' groups. Just wanna be swept away in a fantastic adventure/odyssey, and there is a good enough amount of that to keep me watching, but...still a bit disappointed.
BassMan
BassMan - 7/3/2025, 10:03 PM
@Lem1 - the style of the early comics was one of the things that really stuck with me. Translating that to live action was always gonna be a near impossible task. They do a commendable job though.
KennKathleen
KennKathleen - 7/3/2025, 11:00 PM
I enjoyed season one, but since it feels like several lifetimes ago, I'll likely watch it again before I even attempt S2. That being said...

https://youtube.com/shorts/Xme57cM68Ls?si=YfcCHYuENMX1DHxo

OT: If they don't bring it like this or better - just keep it in the cartoons.
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 7/4/2025, 1:03 AM
Nice, I liked S1.
SirReginald
SirReginald - 7/4/2025, 1:48 AM
I would rather see an anime version of the comics with visually accurate characters. The art style of Vampire Hunter D (2000) would be nice.
WarMonkey
WarMonkey - 7/4/2025, 9:48 AM
@SirReginald - I just rewatched D and it's sequel Bloodlust last week. They're still amazing! I love your idea.
SirReginald
SirReginald - 7/5/2025, 7:50 AM
@WarMonkey - I love that art style in Bloodlust
SteviesRightFoo
SteviesRightFoo - 7/4/2025, 3:35 AM
An ign 7.5 is a real world 2
BassMan
BassMan - 7/4/2025, 3:54 AM
It’s been good so far, but it’s nothing next to the source material. Should have been an animated show that ran for numerous seasons imo.
DevilsDreams
DevilsDreams - 7/4/2025, 4:15 AM
@BassMan - If I'm honest, I would have liked to see a hybrid, so some live action, some animation for the more dream like sequences. Could have allowed for some fun trickery too.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 7/4/2025, 4:06 AM
"The writing is elegant and often poetic..."

Of course it is, it's based on one of the best pieces of comics literature of all time! And it's brilliantly adapted by David Goyer, Allan Heinberg and Neil Gaiman himself.


"...and visually, it remains one of the most stylistically daring shows on streaming."
User Comment Image
DevilsDreams
DevilsDreams - 7/4/2025, 4:14 AM
I did enjoy the first season, but in the original run of the comics there were 10 compiled volumes that told the main story, along with a couple of extras, which were side stories and not required for the main plot.
You just can't condense so much down into 2 seasons and expect to tell even most of the story...
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 7/4/2025, 5:58 AM
I'm the biggest Sandman fan out there, and I thought they did a very good job of condensing the story. My biggest disappointment was Delirium. Actress was fine, but they toned down her unpredictability and dangerous side.
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 7/4/2025, 6:16 AM
@MarkCassidy - I never thought they would manage to do an even half decent live action adaption of Sandman, have been pleasently surprised by it so far even if I understand the pushback on some of the changes.

I was more open than many to them trying with a looser adaption and more condensed story but didn't expect to enjoy it anywhere near as much as I did. I was half expecting to hate it like that HORRIBLE adaption of Terry Pratchett's The Watch .

...STILL would love a fully source accurate animated version which I always felt would be the ideal vehicle for an adaption. As good as the stories were the visual style was what made the graphic novels as iconic as they were and that needs the freedom of animation for me.

Course, odds of anything new being worked on will likely be a way off now till the dust settles on allegations one way or another. Could still see them doing that someday even if all allegations are proven true beyond reasonable doubt with succesfull civil cases and/or criminal convictions but that COULD be a long way off as doubt any studio will want to go there sadly where things currently stand.
KingZero
KingZero - 7/4/2025, 7:36 AM
I loved the comics and thought the first season was great, but visually it felt a bit too superficial at times. It's difficult to translate these comics to live action, which is why it took so many attempts and years to get there I suppose. I thought the first episode of season 2 was also good, and I thought visually a step up. Delirium should be a bit more unhinged, almost distractingly so, hanging over every scene she's in, but she's just a bit quirky. Hopefully they expand on that a bit. I think it's possible to streamline Morpheus' story as so many issues either don't or barely feature him, and sometimes not even as his recognisable form. Even when he does appear, some stories are a parable almost involving him rather than affecting the main narrative, however much they may enrich that. I think with Gaiman's real life story, Sandman is somewhat overshadowed now. In the way he treats Nada, it's possibly a reflection of how the author sees himself; Calliope, brilliantly brought to life in season 1, is now a very uncomfortable watch too. For me this is a send off; Gaiman is my favourite author, but what he's done- and apologised for and downplayed- isn't something I can forget about. So many other people have been involved in Sandman over the years, and in this show now too that their work deserves to be seen. Sandman is after all itself really more of an interpolation of myths and other literature than it is wholly original. But for me, this is goodbye to Sandman.
SuperiorHeckler
SuperiorHeckler - 7/4/2025, 12:21 PM
Why do they have Rachel Maddow sitting on a black throne with a raven on her shoulder??? 🤨

Please log in to post comments.

Don't have an account?
Please Register.

View Recorder