Back in February, Netflix announced that the upcoming second season of The Sandman would be its last. The news came shortly after the publication of a New York Magazine piece outlining - in disturbing detail - allegations of sexual assault made against creator and series EP Neil Gaiman.
Now, the streamer has released the first trailer for the final season of The Sandman, which will be split into two parts. The 6-episode Volume 1 premieres on July 3, and the 5-episode Volume 2 arrives on July 24.
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.”
This first teaser begins with Destiny summoning his Endless brothers and sisters for a family meeting, as we get quick glimpses of several characters who will be integral to this final part of the story, including Delirium, the Three Fates, aka The Kindly Ones, Lucifer, and "The Prodigal" (Morpheus' long-lost brother, Destruction).
Check out the trailer and some promo stills featuring the rest of The Endless, the Kindly Ones, Lucifer, and more below.
We had assumed that the accusations against Gaiman might lead to the show being cancelled, but Variety recently 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 (The Kindly Ones, for example) 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.