Sandman season 2 cast expands with Norse gods, Greek heroes, and a talking dog

Sometimes dreams do come true, and for fans of Netflix’s streaming series The Sandman, adapted from the DC Comics run, that time will come when season 2 finally hits the service.

Many of the season 1 actors are expected to return, as viewers find out what happens after Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, settles into his domain after his long absence and his quest to recover his powers. Tom Sturridge is back as Dream, and so are Kirby as Death, Mason Alexander Park as Desire, Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer, and Jenna Coleman as Johanna Constantine.

Filming on the news season was suspended during Hollywood’s 2023 strikes, but resumed in November 2023, so we don’t know exactly when The Sandman season 2’s release date will be yet, but it likely isn’t too far off.

For the rest of what we know about season 2 of Netflix’s The Sandman, read on.

July 2, 2024: Netflix announced a swath of mortal and mythological casting information that gives a good indication of the scope of The Sandman season 2.

Clive Russell (Rockface), Laurence O’Fuarain (The Gentlemen), and Freddie Fox (House of the Dragon) will play the Norse gods Odin, Thor, and Loki, respectively. Jack Gleeson (Game of Thrones), Ann Skelly (The Nevers), and Douglas Booth (Jupiter Ascending) will play a trio of faerie characters; Puck, Nuala, and Cluracan.

These are characters who feature heavily in the Season of Mists arc of The Sandman, with Puck introduced during an issue in which, facilitated by Dream, William Shakespeare’s players perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Queen Titania and King Oberon’s faerie court.

Ruairi O’Connor (The Morning Show) will play the legendary bard Orpheus, child of Dream and Calliope (who we met in the surprise 11th episode of the first season), with Steve Coogan (Alan Partridge) as Barnabas the talking dog, and Indya Moore (Pose) as Wanda, a “professional driver and security agent for an exclusive travel firm,” according to Netflix’s news release. Netflix says “Wanda proves herself to be an indispensable guide on an Endless road trip to the waking world.”

“An Endless road trip to the waking world” is the plot of the Sandman story arc Brief Lives, in which Orpheus, Barnabas, and a professional driver/bodyguard named Ruby feature significantly. But Wanda — a trans woman who gets wrapped up in some messy business between a dream parasite and a witch — is one of the main players in the arc A Game of You.

So it seems that The Sandman season 2 will pick up where season 1 left off, and will either span at least three arcs of the series — Season of Mists, A Game of You, and Brief Lives — or will introduce characters to set them up for those arcs. It also seemingly will touch on some short one-issue stories from the Fables and Reflections collection. And if Wanda and Ruby’s characters have indeed been combined, it seems to indicate that A Game of You, the Sandman story that arguably looks worst in 2024, is being retooled and incorporated into the Brief Lives saga.

May 20, 2024: Netflix announced the casting of the three remaining members of the Endless, the family of powerful anthropomorphic personifications, among whom Dream is merely a middle child. These three didn’t appear in the show’s first season. Adrian Lester (Hustle) will play Destiny, Esmé Creed-Miles (The Legend of Vox Machina) will play Delirium, and Barry Sloane (Longmire) will play a character Netflix’s news release referred to as “the Prodigal.” (Readers of the Sandman comics will know.)

Nov. 29, 2023: Neil Gaiman announces production on The Sandman has resumed, following a four-month pause due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Nov. 2, 2022: Netflix announces more Sandman “stories” are on the way.