[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for The Sandman series finale, “A Tale of Graceful Ends.”]
The Sandman has come to an finish on Netflix, and in lock step with one of many comics on which Season 2 relies, a brand new however acquainted character was revealed because the story of Tom Sturridge‘s Morpheus got here to an in depth. This new character introduced with it a shock look from an actor who’s no stranger to the world of fantasy TV. Right here, The Sandman showrunner and author Allan Heinberg explains why they wrote the function with this actor in thoughts, and why their efficiency made them crave a Season 3 regardless of Season 2 being the sequence’ final.
The 5 episodes of The Sandman Season 2 Quantity 2 debuted on Netflix on Thursday, July 24. The second and ultimate season relies on The Sandman: Season of Mists comedian storyline, in addition to Distant Mirrors, within the first half, however the ultimate episodes pull from The Kindly Ones and The Wake. Like within the comics, the Dream King faces the results of spilling Countless household blood on this installment. In Season 2 Quantity 1 (which got here out on July 3), Morpheus killed his son, Orpheus (Ruairi O’Connor), on the boy’s personal request after having spent hundreds of years as a severed head unable to be escorted into the afterlife by his aunt, Dying (Kirby Howell-Baptiste). After going centuries with out seeing one another, Dream reunited along with his son and granted him a boon by ending his lengthy, tragic existence.
Spilling Countless household blood is against the law punishable by dying by the Fates, referred to as the Kindly Ones in order to not offend them. Whereas these closest to him tried to forestall Morpheus’ destiny, the Dream King accepted his future and began planning for the top. Morpheus selected the child Daniel Corridor, the primary little one to ever be conceived within the Dreaming, as inheritor to his throne. Quickly after, the Kindly Ones, with Daniel’s vengeful mom Lyta Corridor (Razane Jammal) in tow, set off to kill Morpheus after Loki (Freddie Fox) and Puck (Jack Gleeson) made her wrongly imagine that the Dream King killed her son.
Tom Sturridge as Dream in ‘The Sandman’ Season 2 Episode 10 (Ed Miller / Netflix)
Whereas Lyta was mistaken about her child being useless, Dream was nonetheless responsible of spilling household blood. As the top of The Kindly Ones comedian depicted, Dream died willingly on the finish of The Sandman Season 2 Episode 10, along with his sister, Dying, by his aspect to pay his penance and save the Dreaming. When she requested why he’d select dying now, Morpheus revealed how a lot his son’s dying weighed on him. “I killed my son twice,” he mentioned. “As soon as once I wouldn’t assist him, and as soon as once I did. I knew what I used to be doing. I knew what the fee could be. The Dreaming is now not the identical. I’m now not the identical…There’s a worth for what I’ve completed, and I have to pay it.” And so, he did.
When Morpheus died, child Daniel was immediately reworked into an grownup, performed by Interview With the Vampire and Recreation of Thrones star Jacob Anderson in a shock look. Daniel was now the brand new Dream of the Countless and had inherited Morpheus’ energy. Like within the comics, Anderson’s “grownup” Daniel (he nonetheless has the thoughts of a kid in a manner) is wearing all white in stark distinction to Sturridge’s Dream’s all-black apparel. Anderson has a streak of blonde in his hair as a nod to Daniel’s blonde hair within the comics. He wears Morpheus’ emerald dreamstone on a gold chain.
Sturridge’s Dream was proper to decide on Daniel as his successor, as his humanity made him a extra compassionate ruler of the Dreaming and yet another able to forgiveness — one thing Morpheus took to lengthy to discover ways to do. Daniel forgave his mom for these she killed within the Dreaming of their first assembly within the realm. “Typically, life and dying have an effect on us in ways in which don’t have anything to do with the alternatives we make,” Daniel informed Lyta. “That’s how tales are born.” He promised to see her in her desires. After Morpheus’ funeral, Daniel met his Countless siblings, bringing The Sandman to a hopeful conclusion.
Right here, Heinberg explains why Anderson was the best new Dream to TV Insider. As The Sandman was a part of DC, Daniel Corridor meets heroes from the Justice League and different DCU characters in future comics. There’s additionally a problem the place Dying meets Lex Luthor. Heinberg feedback on the potential of the brand new Dream, or different Sandman characters, showing in James Gunn‘s DCU beneath as nicely. Anderson will subsequent be seen at San Diego Comedian-Con 2025, which kicks off in the present day (July 24), to advertise Interview With the Vampire Season 3. A bonus episode of The Sandman about Howell-Baptiste’s Dying comes out on Thursday, July 31, on Netflix.
Within the story of The Sandman, the outdated Dream dies as a brand new Dream is reborn. On this case, Tom Sturridge’s Dream dies and is reborn as Jacob Anderson’s Dream. What do you are feeling Anderson brings to the function of Dream in comparison with Sturridge?
Allan Heinberg: I feel Jacob brings pleasure wherever he goes.
I feel the top of the sequence is a really hopeful one, and when Daniel meets his household, a really joyful one. Lucien (Vivienne Acheampong) even says, “You understand, you do have a alternative. This time round, you would possibly really take pleasure in them.” And also you really see this as an unimaginable smile on Jacob’s face. You suppose he’s going to take pleasure in it this time. He’s not going to do that the best way he did it final time. It is a completely different Dream.
Jacob is so earnest, however not naive, and open. You noticed in that scene with Lyta — [he is so] very ethical, and he brings such grace to the function, and such humanity to the function, which, as you noticed by way of the sequence, Morpheus struggled with your complete time. Humanity to Morpheus, particularly to start with, it’s a nasty phrase to him, humanity. He [just] can’t relate.
And by the top of it, it’s his humanity that finally ends up being an important factor to him. The brand new Dream must be extra human than he was, as a result of he looks like he wasn’t the Dream that we wanted. He let himself down. He let his household down. He let his son down. I feel that’s plenty of the explanation why he makes the choice he does in Episode 10, to convey Daniel into this realm.
Souad Faress as Crone, Nina Wadia as The Mom, Razane Jammal as Lyta Corridor, Dinita Gohil as The Maiden in ‘The Sandman’ Season 2 Episode 11 (Netflix)
What made you gravitate in the direction of Anderson when casting the brand new Dream?
Simply seeing the range in his work, seeing the core of his work, how clever he’s, and the way emotionally obtainable he’s.
After I met him, the problem for me was going to be the way to even describe what this function is to somebody like, “You’re an 8-month-old, however you’re a grown man. You’re not doing a Tom Sturridge imitation, however he’s inside you in a bizarre manner.” Why would anyone need to play this half? It’s very tough to even wrap your head round.
And to my reduction, Jacob mentioned, “I simply need you to know, large fan of the comics, large fan of Season 1. Tom Sturridge is unbelievable. I might like to play this half.” I didn’t even have to explain what the half was. He was like, “The truth that you’ll even suppose that I might, that I might be Daniel is the very best type of flattery.” He was throughout it.
I mainly wrote the script with Jacob in thoughts.
We bought suggestions early on that within the early draft of the define that Daniel was missing an arc. We have been form of simply seeing him react as he does within the comics. He meets individuals and he reacts, however he doesn’t have his personal arc. And I assumed he simply needs to know how he bought right here and what he’s alleged to do now. He has plenty of questions and the viewers goes to have plenty of questions too. So, to have the ability to permit Jacob to ask all these questions and actually really feel all of that confusion and attempting to combat by way of it to one thing was an enormous present. He executed it effortlessly, brilliantly, and emotionally.
But additionally I noticed a bit little bit of Tom’s reserve generally, in a manner that was precisely proper. You understand, just like the Tom model, the Morpheus model, would present up with [like with] Lyta Corridor in the best way that it was completely alleged to. And then you definitely see Daniel turn into his personal model of Dream, which I feel is miraculous. I might watch it time and again.
Netflix
Within the comics, Daniel Corridor goes on to have many additional adventures, a few of that are with some DC characters, like in Scott Snyder’s Darkish Knight: Metallic, he interacts with Batman. Do you suppose there may be a spot for him within the new DC Universe?
I don’t know. We from the outset, we began Sandman, earlier than James Gunn and Peter Safran took over, and we very clearly mentioned we’re separate. We’re not a part of the DC Universe, which allowed us to do Joanna Constantine [Jenna Coleman], as a substitute of John Constantine. It allowed us to form of play by our personal guidelines in relationship to the DCU.
I made Jed [Walker, Eddie Karanja] a fan of DC Comics in order that, , the DC superheroes might present up in in that type, like this can be a universe knowledgeable by DC Comics. If there was a creator, or if James or Peter wished there to be crossover of some sort, that might be pleasant to me. However it might be a choice of theirs slightly than a choice of ours.
I designed the top of this season with a potential Season 3 in thoughts, as a result of I like Jacob a lot that I simply wished to proceed watching him play this half ceaselessly. So, in Season 3 of my Ds, yeah, there’s every kind of stuff happening. There are every kind of crossovers happening.
We’ve gone out of our strategy to make ourselves a form of separate entity, until, on the DC Studio aspect, in the event that they wished to have Kirby [Howell-Baptiste] are available in and be a part of their universe, what a thrill that might be.
The Sandman, Season 2 Quantity 2, Obtainable Now, Netflix
— Reporting by Erin Maxwell