NETFLIX'S 'THE SANDMAN' UNVEILS MAJOR RECASTING AHEAD OF FINAL SEASON
Netflix's The Sandman hasn't been given the giant multi-season run that fans of the graphic novels were hoping for, but at least it gets to somewhat bring its story to a close in the upcoming second and final season. With production underway, a major character in Season 2 has just been recast for the second time. Across his millennia-long journey, Morpheus (Tom Sturridge) meets various significant figures from history, including none other than William Shakespeare. In the comics, Shakespeare plays an important role in shaping Morpheus as a character, and appears in some of the best issues of disgraced author Neil Gaiman's comics. Like the rest of The Sandman comics, Netflix is rushing to cram in Shakespeare's story in the final season, as evident by the latest casting announcement.
Per Redanian Intelligence, The Sandman Season 2 has just cast its third William Shakespeare. Will Keen, best known for his roles in The Crown and His Dark Materials, will portray the eldest version of the bard in The Sandman's final season. In The Sandman comics, there aren't three separate versions of Shakespeare within the universe. However, Morpheus meets Shakespeare at distinct stages of his life. Season 1 introduced us to Samuel Blenkin's younger version of Shakespeare. Luke Allen-Gale was previously announced to play the adult version of Shakespeare in Season 2.
It appears as though Netflix is attempting to combine multiple plot threads from the remaining issues of The Sandman comics into one season. Season 1 of the live-action adaptation adapted just over 10% of the story from the comics, meaning the series has a lot of ground to cover in Season 2. The entire storyline is capped off with three issues showing Morpheus' past interactions with Shakespeare and a deal they made about the bard writing three plays for him. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the streamlined live-action series.
Why Is 'The Sandman' Ending Early?
Given the length of The Sandman's initial comic book run, as well as the various spin-offs, fans were hoping the adaptation would have had a long shelf-life on Netflix. However, following the various allegations of sexual abuse and human trafficking leveled against Gaiman and his ex-wife, Amanda Palmer, every studio quickly cut ties with the author. Various other adaptations were canceled or cut short, with Prime Video's Good Omens ending with the upcoming feature-length special episode, instead of a full third season.
In a statement following the announcement to end The Sandman after Season 2, the adaptation's showrunner, Alan Heinberg, said the decision came from a storytelling perspective. "The Sandman series has always been focused exclusively on Dream’s story, and back in 2022, when we looked at the remaining Dream material from the comics, we knew we only had enough story for one more season," it read.
Source: Redanian Intelligence
2025-03-28T00:54:53Z
