THE SANDMAN: Neil Gaiman Can Take The Show To Other Platforms If Netflix Doesn't Commit To Second Season

THE SANDMAN: Neil Gaiman Can Take The Show To Other Platforms If Netflix Doesn't Commit To Second Season

Though The Sandman has found success of Netflix, season 2 is far from guaranteed, and Neil Gaiman has now confirmed that he has the option to bring the show to other platforms should the need arise.

By MarkCassidy - Aug 21, 2022 10:08 AM EST
Filed Under: The Sandman

The Sandman has proven to be very popular on Netflix (it's currently the most-watched streaming series worldwide), but we know that doesn't necessarily guarantee a second season. Fortunately, Neil Gaiman, Allan Heinberg and co. do have options available to them should the streamer decide not to continue the story for whatever reason.

When asked why season 2 wasn't a foregone conclusion after the show's success, Gaiman explained why nothing is set in stone at this point.

"Because Sandman is a really expensive show," the author responded. "And for Netflix to release the money to let us make another season we have to perform incredibly well. So yes, we've been the top show in the world for the last two weeks. That still may not be enough."

It would be devastating for Netflix to axe The Sandman after just a single season, but if it does happen, it probably won't mean the end of the series! In the same thread, Gaiman confirmed that they can take the show to other platforms should the need arise.

Hopefully it won't come to that, but Netflix has been known to make some seemingly baffling cancellation decisions, so fingers crossed.

Have you guys finished The Sandman yet? What about today's bonus episode? You can check out our review here.

"There is another world that waits for all of us when we close our eyes and sleep — a place called the Dreaming, where The Sandman, Master of Dreams (Tom Sturridge), gives shape to all of our deepest fears and fantasies. But when Dream is unexpectedly captured and held prisoner for a century, his absence sets off a series of events that will change both the dreaming and waking worlds forever. To restore order, Dream must journey across different worlds and timelines to mend the mistakes he’s made during his vast existence, revisiting old friends and foes, and meeting new entities — both cosmic and human — along the way."

The Sandman stars Tom Sturridge as Morpheus, Kirby Howell Baptiste as Death, Boyd Holbrook as The Corinthian, Donna Preston as Despair, Stephen Fry as Gilbert, Mason Alexander Park as Desire, Charles Dance as black magician Roderick Burgess, and Sanjeeve Bhaskar as Cain. Joely Richardson will play Ethel Cripps, while David Thewlis will take on the role of her son John Dee, aka the deranged Dr. Destiny.

The 10-episode first season of The Sandman adapts the first two arcs of the Vertigo comics series, "Preludes and Nocturnes" and "The Doll's House."

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VictorAlonzo
VictorAlonzo - 8/21/2022, 10:46 AM
I watched this entire season after watching episode 1 of SHULK. Long story short- keep up the excellent work 👏 👍🏽 👍🏽!!!
mastakilla39
mastakilla39 - 8/21/2022, 11:10 AM
@VictorAlonzo - I like it, but a bit overrated. A solid 3.5/5 for me. Never read the comic so dont know the lore and the explanations in the show didnt make a lot of sense. And some of the resolve for the setups happen too fast so it has uneven pacing. Its like a high budget CW show.

Episode highlights for me was the Diner and the episode he meets a sibling and they just walk around town discussing their purpose for existence.
VictorAlonzo
VictorAlonzo - 8/21/2022, 11:41 AM
@mastakilla39 - 3.5? What did you think of episode 1 of SHE-HULK? How would you rate season one of Hawkeye?
TheWalkingCuban
TheWalkingCuban - 8/21/2022, 1:29 PM
@VictorAlonzo - I wasn’t one to trip over the over strong woman stuff, but I think maybe a less obvious and yet for obvious angle would’ve been better, like she’s always having to defend people, and that gives her strength to control her hulkness
mastakilla39
mastakilla39 - 8/21/2022, 3:04 PM
@VictorAlonzo - S1 of Hawkeye is a 1 or 2 out of 5, severely disappointing. It started off promising, than everything just fizzled off. Problem with Marvel shows is that they are too complicated and overstuff for such a short season and runtime. Disney has to stop being cheap and commit to longer episodes.

She-Hulk's feminist agenda is a bit much, but how they integrate it into the story so far services the character and the plot very well. So She-Hulk right now is a 4/5 for me but it only has 1 episode so I won't know til its done. Reason why She-Hulk is probably going to score higher than most shows too is that its a sitcom so the expectation and importance of the show is very low to nothing to begin with.

I'm fine with the gender politics of Sandman, my problem is more of the "structure" so the pacing, story, and lore. I feel like they breezed over the lore and story but overemphasize gender politics. therefore when major story points happen it ends very fast and when the gender politics is being explore it feels like a drag because the story now has to pause, so you end up with uneven pacing.
VictorAlonzo
VictorAlonzo - 8/21/2022, 3:13 PM
@mastakilla39 - I can dig it.
VictorAlonzo
VictorAlonzo - 8/21/2022, 3:16 PM
@TheWalkingCuban - interesting concept. 🤔 that may be a nice angle for her lore... MARVEL, MAKE IT SO!
TheWalkingCuban
TheWalkingCuban - 8/21/2022, 4:01 PM
@VictorAlonzo - well it is what at least one of the storylines is about. Honestly they chose the political route. I’m not saying it wouldn’t be sincere from a woman but from a giant corporation, it’s virtue signaling and they’re doing it over and over. Let the lawyer in her shine.
TheWalkingCuban
TheWalkingCuban - 8/21/2022, 4:07 PM
@VictorAlonzo - o hate that there’s no edit button. The giant corporation is Disney. For some good news, I found my blue scrub top. I thought I only had light blue and gray which are not uniform for x-ray techs where I work. But I don’t want to buy more, almost had to for a second there! I’m a travel tech, nobody is going to make me buy any more Scrubs!
VictorAlonzo
VictorAlonzo - 8/21/2022, 5:39 PM
@TheWalkingCuban - CBM takes joy in giving us the old "switcheroo". Edit reminds me of an absent father. Sometimes here, usually not... trauma triggered.
TheWalkingCuban
TheWalkingCuban - 8/21/2022, 6:32 PM
@VictorAlonzo -
Itwasme
Itwasme - 8/21/2022, 10:49 AM
Something at factor here is how Netflix does their deals and the difficulties that creates for additional seasons. Unlike most services/channels Netflix covers 100% of the production costs with creators usually getting paid a percentage of the total assigned budget. For each additional seasons Netflix's budget per season increases. So if Netflix spent $50mm on season 1, their deal might automatically go up to $65mm next season. Seasons 3 and 4 go up even more considerably, which is one of the reasons why Netflix rarely does them. This is all part of their strategy to prioritize quantity over quality.

Its interesting (and smart) that Gaiman and company negotiated the ability to shop around the project afterwards.
xfan320
xfan320 - 8/21/2022, 10:53 AM
@Itwasme - my guess is Gaiman pushed for the continuation deal due to his prior ties with Starz and the likelihood of them producing/renewing future projects of his.
Itwasme
Itwasme - 8/21/2022, 10:56 AM
@xfan320 - with an established IP now, it will be easy for him to get production companies behind it. Earlier there appeared to be so much doubt over how well they could pull it off.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 8/21/2022, 11:00 AM
@Itwasme - I talked about this before, but I am really fascinated by Netflix' strategy. Not just producing shows, but also marketing them.

Their strategy is a great way to get many shows out there that creators otherwise maybe couldn't have gotten made, but with a show like Sandman I wish they locked Sandman down for four or five seasons or so.

Sandman was always gonna be a big show, if Netflix allows it to be. In the end, I think long-running shows is what will have subscribers stick around.
mastakilla39
mastakilla39 - 8/21/2022, 11:02 AM
@Itwasme - This Season was expensive, it cost 150 mil. 15 mil per episode and prob more than that if they shot 2 extra episode too. Thats why they are hesitant on renewing it. It has to get at least stranger things S4 views and The Witcher new subscriber numbers to be worth a renewal for them.
Itwasme
Itwasme - 8/21/2022, 11:07 AM
@bkmeijer1 - I think they kind of got stuck on growth mode.

I was meeting with the CEO of a very well known lifestyle brand the other day and we were talking about the need to keep your core audience. It's one thing to have the Khardashians supporting your product, but you have to still water the lawn of the people who got you there. Netflix was at one point on its way to building a core audience in the beginning, but they've lost their way, didn't water that lawn, and now people are leaving. Totally different types of companies, but the same issue.
Itwasme
Itwasme - 8/21/2022, 11:08 AM
@mastakilla39 - damn, wasn't sure on that budget. Season 2 is gonna be like $200mm...
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 8/21/2022, 11:19 AM
@Itwasme - audience retention and interaction is also very fascinating.

Right now I feel Netflix' strategy is mostly focused one producing easily digestible one/two season shows, so that new and existing audiences always have something to watch (regardless of quality). It's a great way to keep/gain audience, but also a great way to lose them as well.

Think Netflix is doing a smart thing with the whole ''Geeked'' thing now though. Netflix presents new and existing stuff in light of that. They not only label their content in a certain (relevant sort of) way, but also their core audience.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 8/21/2022, 12:00 PM
@Itwasme - Agreed. Look at Cobra Kai. It started out as a YouTube series, then moved to Netflix where it's doing even better.

Just goes to show that established, we'll liked shows can always find a new home if contracts permit it.
Itwasme
Itwasme - 8/21/2022, 12:05 PM
@CorndogBurglar - thing is Cobra Kai has a budget of around $3-4mm an episode now - and that's after the increases. Compare that to $15mm, which maybe goes up to $20mm for season 2 for Sandman and you see their hesitation. This show is popular, but is it 4-5x as popular? Doubtful.
JDL
JDL - 8/21/2022, 2:22 PM
@Itwasme - @CorndogBurglar - I have a problem with them moving the show successfully. I can not see Netflix letting the first season go out the door any time soon. Any one else doing a season 2 would do so without that back catalog, small as it is, and I can't see that working. YMMV.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 8/21/2022, 2:43 PM
@CorndogBurglar - Cobra Kai is indeed great.

Think part of the reason why Netflix picked it up though is also because it is relatively cheap (think same applied to Young Justice and Clone Wars).

It does shows that cheap shows can still do well though, which right now Netflix doesn't seem to realize with all their big budget projects.
Itwasme
Itwasme - 8/21/2022, 3:09 PM
@JDL - a good point there. Curious what the deal is between them on that.

I do think it's going to get picked up for season 2, but the cost just speaks to why they would take some time with that decision. Or it'll be tomorrow... lol
JDL
JDL - 8/22/2022, 12:20 AM
@Itwasme - Every thing I have ever heard on this subject is that Netflix ups it's fee after the third year, not the first. Now this show could be different but given Netflix's financial state* I very seriously doubt it.

*To be blunt their financial position isn't great and this year had cooled the love affair of Wall Street for streamers. Shows that build up an audience over time are only going to work on Netflix if their numbers and social qualities are good enough in the first place. As always YMMV.
Gmoney84
Gmoney84 - 8/21/2022, 11:00 AM
Damn good show. Season 2 feels like a no brained.
TheSuperMex
TheSuperMex - 8/21/2022, 11:08 AM
Well it won’t be on HBO for sure.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 8/21/2022, 11:18 AM
Prime
Kyos
Kyos - 8/21/2022, 11:49 AM
Maybe Netflix might consider spending less of their budget on forgettable $200 million action movies, and instead continue shows that people actually want to see.
Kyos
Kyos - 8/21/2022, 11:53 AM
And The Sandman is one thing, because it is quite expensive, but the amount of rather low budget shows they cancelled for no apparent reason other than prefering to favour us with gems like [frick]ing 6 Underground or Red Notice...
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