Ashley Hurst
The Sandman – Picture: Warner Bros. Television / Netflix
Netflix’s The Sandman has now been streaming on Netflix for well over a month and we’re yet to learn whether or not it’ll return for a season 2. Here’s everything we know about season 2 of The Sandman on Netflix.
The 10-episode season covers the first two volumes of Neil Gaiman’s seminal comics, Preludes and Nocturnes and The Doll’s House.
Following the first season’s release, we saw a bonus episode drop on August 19th, 2022.
What we see in the first season of The Sandman merely scratches the surface. The Sandman comic spans 10 core volumes, plus a prequel and many spinoffs in the wider “Sandman Universe.” If Netflix wants to complete the saga, there’s potential for many seasons.
The Sandman Season 2 Netflix Renewal Status
Has The Sandman been renewed or canceled at Netflix?
Official Renewal Status: Not Yet Renewed (last updated: September 15th, 2022)
Our Renewal Prediction: 50/50
The Sandman has not yet been renewed for a second season and after a month’s wait, we’ve revised our prediction to the show now having a 50/50 chance of getting renewed.
As we’ve covered at What’s on Netflix, renewals come down to lots of factors that aren’t always visible to us viewers. You can read about some renewal factors that will undoubtedly apply to The Sandman here. One of the big things for The Sandman will undoubtedly be its completion rate (the number of people who go on to watch the entire season).
The debut season ends on something of a cliffhanger, and the team is keen to adapt the rest of the comics.
Neil Gaiman has been vocal about season 2 on his Twitter page. Here’s what he’s revealed so far regarding the future of the show:
- Gaiman said that even being number 1 in the top 10s may not be enough to get a season 2 adding “Because ‘Sandman’ is a really expensive show,”
- Scripts for Season 2 were written this year so they’re “ready to go if we get another season.”
- Asked if the show could be revived elsewhere if Netflix cancels, Neil Gaiman said it could be revived elsewhere.
The Sandman – Picture: Netflix
Regarding when we might see a season 2 announcement, it may come in September. That’s when Netflix will host its second TUDUM event on September 24th. As of right now, the title is not in the lineup for TUDUM, however.
One bad sign for the show is when the social media pages for the title go dark. That was the case between September 1st and September 14th but thankfully, the page is posting and retweeting again. Netflix’s Tudum site hasn’t uploaded any The Sandman content since August 23rd.
How well is The Sandman performing on Netflix?
Thanks to a myriad of resources online, we can look at how well the show is performing and benchmark it against other shows.
The biggest numbers we get from Netflix are the hourly viewing figures for the show which we get every Tuesday. Over a month later, the show remains in the top 5 English shows streaming on Netflix. It’s decaying between 30-41% each week.
Benchmarked against other shows (particularly those that get canceled), this hourly data shows that interest persists for The Sandman.
| Week Period | Hours Viewed(M) | Rank | Week in Top 10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 31st, 2022 to August 7th, 2022 | 69,480,000 | 1 | 1 |
| August 7th, 2022 to August 14th, 2022 | 127,500,000 (+84%) | 1 | 2 |
| August 14th, 2022 to August 21st, 2022 | 77,240,000 (-39%) | 1 | 3 |
| August 21st, 2022 to August 28th, 2022 | 53,790,000 (-30%) | 2 | 4 |
| August 28th, 2022 to September 4th, 2022 | 33,320,000 (-38%) | 3 | 5 |
| September 4th, 2022 to September 11th, 2022 | 19,590,000 (-41%) | 5 | 6 |
In our weekly top 10 reports where What’s on Netflix contributor Frédéric Durand used CVE metrics to compare the show against other English language dramas, he put the show at a likely renewal with it tracking better than The Lincoln Lawyer and only just behind Vikings: Valhalla.
CVE Viewership of The Sandman in week 5 compared to other English-language Netflix shows – those in red are canceled, green are renewed and black pending.
Completion data will be key for The Sandman, as we outlined above.
Digital I, a London-based SVOD analytics company, has previously provided What’s on Netflix with data that suggests completion rates under 50% usually means that shows get the chop.
Sadly, provisional panel-level data (data has not yet been weighted and projected) is not looking good.
Per Sophia Vahdati, Marketing Director at Digital I:
“Only 43% of those who started it within the first 4 weeks finished the show during the same time period. We know that the 4 weeks or 28 days time period has historically been important for Netflix when evaluating a series’ success. The fact we haven’t heard about it yet could be good news, as they’re waiting to see whether the show reaches a higher completion rate over 2 or even 3 months. Basically, if fans want it to be renewed, they need to hurry up and finish the series!”
Completion data for Netflix shows in 2022
FlixPatrol data tracks the raw top 10s for the show, suggests as of September 15th, is the 8th most popular TV show in 2022 so far.
Their data suggests the show peaked between August 8th and August 11th and showed a steady drop-off over the next few weeks.
The show eventually left the Netflix Top 10s in the United States on September 9th, 2022.
FlixPatrol Data for Netflix’s The Sandman
How about external demand factors? Using stats from Wikipedia, Google, Reddit, Twitter, Torrents, and IMDb, TelevisionStats.com measures the popularity of shows.
Their data indicates that the show was the number 1 show in the world for 10 days but, as of September 14th, had dropped to the 19th show in the world.
Demand for The Sandman as of September 14th, 2022
What to expect from The Sandman Season 2 on Netflix?
Warning: Spoilers for the comic book are ahead!
Remember in episode four, when Morpheus is being escorted to Lucifer, and he comes across his old love, Nada, imprisoned in Hell? This side-story only lasted a minute or so and isn’t really mentioned again in season one. That said, this scene sets up a story that will no doubt be covered in season two. Tales in the Sand is set in Africa, in a city ruled by a woman named Nada. She has never found love. But when she briefly crosses paths with a stranger, she instantly falls for him, so much so that she’s unable to sleep. However, the next morning she learns that the man has disappeared, and she hunts for him.
Eventually, Nada realizes that the man she lusted after is Dream of the Endless, and he loves her too.
After seeing that Dream had fallen in love with a mortal, the sun burns Nada’s glass city to the ground. Nada, in her guilt, kills herself and enters the realm of Death. There, she is greeted by Morpheus, who offers her to be his queen, but she denies it. As a result, he condemns her to Hell for eternity.
Tales in the Sand is a love story that ends in tragedy. And it’s not the first failed relationship for Dream. He’s very, very bad at relationships.
Picture: Netflix
Potential The Sandman Season 2 storyline: Season of Mists
Season of Mists will undoubtedly be the largest story arc of season two.
One of the most popular storylines from the entire comic run begins with an Endless family meeting.
This will be the first time we see the family all together, except for Destruction, but that’s an altogether different story. Bear in mind that so far, we’ve only met four of the seven endless: Dream (Tom Sturridge), Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), Desire (Mason Alexander Park), and Despair (Donna Preston).
During the meeting, we once again see Desire scheming. They tease Morpheus about his treatment of his former lover Nada, whom he condemned to Hell. Eventually, he gives in and travels to Hell to free her. Yet, when he arrives in Hell, he finds that the realm is empty.
Turns out, Lucifer has grown tired and abandoned Hell — passing the Key to Hell and, therefore, the responsibility of it to Dream. Of course, Morpheus has his own realm to rule over; he cannot rule Hell. As a result, back in The Dreaming, he is greeted by various immortal beings, each vying to become the next Ruler of Hell.
Picture: Netflix
Potential The Sandman Season 2 storyline: A Game of You
Season of Mists is followed by A Game of You.
Since season one covered two volumes, it seems natural that the second season would do the same. Should this be the case, we’ll see A Game of You get adapted. This volume continues the story of Barbie, a tenant of Hal’s residence in season one. In the show, we see her living as a princess in her own fantasy realm, known as The Land: which feels inspired by Jim Henson’s Labyrinth. In The Doll’s House, we see her alongside her wise companion, a dog-like creature called Martin Tenbones. This volume has a little of everything from talking animals to a severed head that talks. What’s not to love?
Would you like to see season 2 of The Sandman on Netflix? Let us know in the comments down below.
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