After years of attempts (and decades of fervent fan wishes), "The Sandman" has finally made it to the small screen. Based on Neil Gaiman's 75-volume DC Comics series, this fantasy saga depicts a world in which the "Endless," anthropomorphic versions of human phenomena such as dreams, death, and desire, are on a mission to keep the world in balance (while also coming into conflict with other humans and nonhuman entities

The first season is the first season.

Now that the first season has hit #1 on Netflix and millions of fans have watched Dream's journey to regain his powers after being imprisoned for over a century, they are eager to learn more about when the next episode will be available for streaming. Fortunately, the show's creative team (including Gaiman himself and showrunner Alan Heinberg) is already considering the possibility of a "Sandman" TV universe.

The first season on Netflix spans the first two volumes of the comic series timeline. It includes the answer to the fate of Rose Walker, the new vortex that Unity Kincaid sacrificed himself to become, followed by Dream's declaration of a new era now that he has made contact with humanity. He also confronts Desire, who apparently caused the whole vortex saga as their latest plan against the Dream's king while the Dream is imprisoned.

The big cliffhanger comes in the show's final scene in Hell, which reveals that Lucifer is still angry after Dream defeated her in episode 3. She now has a plan to defeat Dream and use Hell's army to invade the Dreaming, the Awakened World, and "one day even Silver City." Lucifer promises to "absolutely enrage God and bring Morpheus to his knees," and the season ends.

Netflix has yet to announce an official renewal, as the show has been on the air for less than a week, but the show's creative team is already working on new episodes; in an interview with Den of Geek (opens in new tab), executive producer David S. Goyer revealed that writing for Season 2 is already underway. Once the go-ahead is given, filming will begin immediately.

The creative team is also looking ahead to the full duration of the show, and Gaiman told Bustle (open in new tab) that production of season one included shooting some scenes that would be needed in the distant future.

"The footage we shot in season one is what we will need when we get to season five. It's there and it's preserved," Gayman told the outlet. We know how we're going to do the whole story of The Sandman, including the final 'Sandman Overture'".

As for when we can expect new episodes, the series' vast scope, which balances VFX and practical effects to create stunning scenes, means that production will take time. The first season began filming in October 2020 and was just released on Netflix in August 2022. Even with a speedier schedule, it will likely wait until at least early 2024.

In Season 1 of "The Sandman," two arcs propelled the sprawling plot: the Dream's journey to reclaim the symbol of power and its mission to contain the Vortex/Rose. This fantasy is similar to an anthology show like "Doctor Who," with one protagonist and his companions/assistants going from place to place and having mini-adventures that lead to battles with the main antagonist. The overall villain of season 1 was the Corinthian, but by the finale, he was settled with him, as well as the Burgess and Rose families.

The most likely candidates for who will return next season are the residents of Endless and Dreaming. Tom Sturridge (Dream), Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Death), Mason Alexander Park (Desire), Vivian Acheampong (Lucienne), Patton Oswalt (Matthew the Raven) and Gwendolyn Christie (Lucifer).

As for supporting characters among the living, some of the characters from Season 1 will be mentioned or reappear throughout the comic series. Between reappearances and flashbacks, like Charles Dance (Roderick Burgess), David Shulis (John Dee), Jenna Coleman (Johanna Constantine), Lazane Jammal (Leita Hall), and Vanes Samnay (Rose Walker), Someone with a big arc could make an appearance.

The epic final scene of Season 1 has set the stage for Lucifer Morningstar to be the overall Big Bad of Season 2. This will bring the "Season of Fog" storyline from the comics to TV, in which Lucifer leaves Dream to deal with the consequences of his unexpected choice. The story of Dream and his old love interest Nada is also a large part of the book, and Heinberg admitted in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine (opens in new tab) that season two will include the story of how they fell in love and her descent into hell.

Dream and Nada's relationship was already teased in the fourth episode of season one, where Nada (Deborah Oyelade) was introduced as the woman who recognized Dream (played otherwise by Ernest Kingsley Jr.) in Hell and called him "Caickle." Dream later explained to Matthew the Raven that they had once been in love and that she was in Hell because she had "defied" him.

We are also guaranteed to meet the rest of the Endless throughout the series. In addition to Dream, Death, and Desire, who appeared in Season 1 (and a bit of Despair), there is Destiny, Delirium, and Destruction (spoiler alert: Destruction is the missing prodigal mentioned in Season 1). It is almost certain that Destiny and Delirium will appear somewhere in Season 2, as the Endless Family gathering will be the genesis of the "Season of Fog" events.

Both Geyman and Heinberg have made their intentions for the series clear, saying in several interviews that they have plans for multiple seasons and even a spin-off. During the show's London premiere, Heinberg told NME (opens in new tab), "I have as many as they will let me. If we get enough viewers, we can keep it going for quite a while. I want to do all of them, and I want to make spin-off miniseries. I want to keep it going as long as they'll let me."

Heinberg also told Rolling Stone that if the show is successful enough to get multiple seasons, he can tell more stories about the supporting characters, citing Johanna Constantine (Jenna Coleman) as an interesting character

"If it succeeds If we do, we can talk about doing all kinds of things. If we can do more with the anthology on its own, it will take longer than if we stay in the Dream line." And I would like to do more of the current Johanna Constantine. The Corinthian could come back. Because he's not really in the comics much, except for cameos, until later on. So it all depends on what people respond to, how many viewers we have, and how successful we are as a season one show. If it has an audience, it could last quite a while."

Dream himself, Tom Sturridge, also opened up about what he is looking forward to exploring in the second half of the series, saying he wants to explore the Endless family's complex family ties.

"It would be exciting to have all the Endres in the same room." . and to see how that family of extraordinary beings interacts with each other."