The Sandman will continue its drama with another serving of episodes. What will happen in this next installment with Morpheus? That remains to be seen. We do not know when these episodes will hit Netflix but we do know that there will be new characters and cast members coming into the fold for The Sandman season two.
Netflix released a ton of information about the new faces we will need in The Sandman’s next season. We will get to see gods like Loki, Odin, and Thor, but they will certainly be different from the MCU characters we’ve grown to love.
Ruairi O’Connor will play Orpheus, the poet, musician, and oracle, who is the only child of Dream and the muse, Calliope. Orpheus is an idealistic, romantic young man – and very much his father’s son – until tragedy strikes and reveals to him the true nature of love.
Freddie Fox will take on the role of Loki, the god of chaos. Loki is a charming, seductive shapeshifter. The smartest and most dangerous person in any room, Loki is utterly irresistible and never to be trusted. That certainly sounds on brand for this famous Greek god.
Clive Russell will portray Odin, the father of Thor, and blood-brother to Loki. He is a longtime ally of Dream’s but finds himself driven to desperate extremes in his efforts to stave off Ragnarök.
Laurence O’Fuarain will play Thor, the storm god. With his hammer Mjollnir, Thor is brusque, rude, and driven entirely by his appetites – for food and drink, for battle, and for sex.
Ann Skelly will be Nuala and Douglas Booth will be Cluracan, royal emissaries from the court of Faerie. Nuala and Cluracan are siblings who are opposites in every way. Nuala is responsible, empathetic, and principled. Cluracan is an impulsive rogue who lives for pleasure. They disagree about everything, except their devotion to one another.
Jack Gleeson will play Puck, a malevolent hobgoblin who serves as the royal jester to King Auberon of Faerie. Puck is fascinated by mortals and enjoys nothing more than making sport of them for his own amusement. He’s also the inspiration for Shakespeare’s Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Indya Moore will portray Wanda, a professional driver and security agent for an exclusive travel firm. Wanda proves herself to be an indispensable guide on an Endless road trip to the waking world.
Steve Coogan will be the voice of Barnabas, the canine companion of the Endless’ prodigal brother. Barnabas is loyal and loving, but an outspoken cynic. He’s man’s best friend and man’s sharpest critic.
The Sandman season 2 will feature several iconic figures from the world of Greek mythology, from Hades and Persephone, to Orpheus and Eurydice. The new season will retell one of the most famous stories from the mythos: The Song of Orpheus.
In 2022, The Sandman season one introduced us to Morpheus (Tom Sturridge), ruler of the Dream Realm. It covered the first two volumes of Neil Gaiman’s seminal graphic novel, and a little of the third. Between Dream traveling to Hell to confront Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie) to the chaos of John Dee (David Thewlis) controlling the dreams of others and making them come true — it captivated viewers, and everyone is desperate for more. With season two officially on the way, prepare to visit more realms as the show dives further into world mythology.
After we’ve previously reported season 2 of the show is casting Norse Gods, such as Odin, Thor, and Loki for season 2; we can now confirm that more gods are coming – these also leaked over the weekend. The new episodes will feature several iconic names from Greek myth, including Hades, Persephone, and Eurydice. This is in addition to Orpheus, who we saw being played by Ruairi O’Connor when the new season started filming in June at Durdle Door.
Not familiar with these characters? Let’s explain who they are and how they tie into The Sandman universe!
These four cast members perfectly set up “The Song of Orpheus.” The introduction of Eurydice, Persephone, Hades and Orpheus will come as no surprise to readers of the comics. These characters play a big role in The Sandman Special #1, “The Song of Orpheus” (1991). The story is a retelling of the original myth, perfectly weaved into the Sandman mythos. Season 2 will cover this storyline, as well as Volume 4, “Season of Mists,” and Volume 7, “Brief Lives.”
Beware of spoilers. The Song of Orpheus covers the wedding of Dream and Calliope’s son Orpheus to his betrothed nymph Eurydice, the granddaughter of Ares. The entire Endless family are present, including Destruction and Delirium, who have not appeared in the show yet. When Eurydice is killed, a grief-stricken Orpheus becomes determined to bring her back. He seeks help from those in his family, such as Destruction and Death, and ultimately decides to travel to the Underworld to bargain for her life.
When he arrives, he begs Hades and Persephone to return his wife back to him. He convinces them through his beautiful, powerful music; but it’s not all that simple, for they have one caveat. For Eurydice to return to him, he must walk alone back to the world, trusting in the fact that she is following him. However, if he looks back, she will never return to him.
Like all other Netflix shows, The Sandman was put on pause thanks to the WGA writer’s strike, where writers sought (and achieved) a better deal for their work. This includes lessening the usage of A.I. in projects, and giving writers a much fairer pay. With the strike now over, Sandman is one step closer to returning to filming. However, with the SAG-AFTRA actor’s strike still ongoing, we may have to wait a little longer.
“We shot two weeks of it before the strikes closed it down,” Gaiman wrote his Tumblr page. “When SAG settle, I hope it will start shooting once more.”
Of course, The Sandman did two weeks of filming during the writer’s strike. Photos were released of the show filming at Durdle Door in Dorset, England. Plus, the new season further filmed in a cemetery in Poole, Dorset, featuring a new character played by Pose star Indya Moore.
New characters confirmed to appear in The Sandman season 2 include Delirium, Destiny, Destruction, Thor, Loki, Odin, Orpheus, Hades, Persephone, Eurydice, Auberon, Titania, and Wanda.
Given the delays, it’s evident that we’ll be waiting much longer for The Sandman to return to our screens. Depending on how much longer it takes for filming to resume, a release date of late 2024 to early 2025 seems like a fair estimate. In the meantime, however, Netflix’s Dead Boy Detectives will release next year. The series is set within the Sandman Universe and ties directly into the storyline “Season of Mists,” which will be covered in The Sandman season 2.
Source: Netflix, Neil Gaiman
