LIVING THE DREAM

THE SANDMAN RETURNS FOR A SECOND, AND FINAL, SEASON. SFX TAKES A TRIP TO THE LAND OF NOD

- DARREN SCOTT

SFX HAS ARRIVED AT HELL. It’s probably not the first time in our 30-year history - and likely won’t be the last - but thankfully this trip is temporary and actually housed within Shepperton Studios in London.

It’s February 2024 and we've been invited to a banquet - but this isn’t any ordinary meal, this is a gathering of representatives from several different realms, all of whom are vying for ownership of Hell once Lucifer abdicates. We'll just graze, thanks.

This is season two of The Sandman, which returns to Netflix in July for 12 episodes, including a standalone outing for Death. It’s also the final season, as Dream's story is wrapped up in a slightly different way.

“We're remixing a lot of it,” showrunner and writer Allan Heinberg tells SFX. “There are a lot of standalone stories because we're an ongoing series; it's all focused on Dream's character primarily. So we will weave in and out of flashbacks that allow us to get to know the characters.

“All of the self-contained moments are incorporated into the narrative as flashbacks. For example, ‘The Song Of Orpheus’, which is a standalone Sandman special, that’s all now a flashback in episode five rather than its own episode. Thermidor, which we've included - a flashback to the French Revolution with Joanna Constantine - is an example of that.

“Since we're moving forward with Dream's life, anytime we look backward, it’s as a flashback in order to give the present some context and meaning.”

SPLIT SCREEN

Today’s entertainment - for both us and the representatives of the realms in the banquet hall - is a magic show performed by Cain and Abel with sidekick Goldie the Gargoyle.

As you might expect, the box-sawing trick doesn’t exactly go in Abel’s favour.