‘The Sandman, Season 2' review: The man of your dreams will have you nodding off
The prolific 64-year-old author, screenwriter and producer could do no wrong. And then, in the summer of 2024, sexual assault and misconduct allegations against Gaiman by multiple women emerged.
It got worse for him in January of this year when New York Magazine ran a cover story detailing the accusations and featuring interviews with four of his accusers. The article was published online on Vulture.
Gaiman, who denies the allegations, has been banished to the realm of the cancelled. One after another, literary, film, TV and theatre projects have fallen like dominoes.
Publisher Dark Horse Comics announced it would no longer work with him and cancelled publication of his Anansi Boys series
Publisher Dark Horse Comics announced it would no longer work with him and cancelled publication of his Anansi Boys series and its collected volume.
Prime Video's Anansi Boys miniseries completed production some time ago, yet there's no sign of a release date. One of its stars, Delroy Lindo, said recently he's doubtful it will ever see the light of day.
Netflix's series Dead Boy Detectives was axed last autumn after just one season. A musical stage version of Gaiman's children's novel Coraline, which was made into a successful animated film in 2011, was scrapped. The producers stated the allegations made it 'impossible to continue'.
The planned final season of Prime Video's Good Omens, based on the novel by Gaiman and the late Terry Pratchett, has been reduced to a single 90-minute episode with no involvement from Gaiman.
Production on Disney's film of Gaiman's novel The Graveyard Book has paused. It's not clear if this is down to the allegations. Disney has made no comment.
The last Gaiman project still standing – but not for much longer – is Season 2 of comic book adaptation The Sandman (Netflix, from Thursday, July 3), arriving three long years after the first.
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To the surprise of fans of the series, Netflix announced in January that this would be the final season. Six episodes are available now and the remaining five drop later in the month.
When Gaiman's name appears in the credits, it's hard to ignore the elephant stamping loudly at the back of the room
Showrunner Allan Heinberg insists the decision was made back in 2022, long before the allegations against Gaiman, as it was felt there wasn't enough material in the comics about the title character, aka Dream, aka Morpheus, to sustain any more.
Whatever about that, when Gaiman's name appears in the credits, it's hard to ignore the elephant stamping loudly at the back of the room.
It's unlikely, however, to bother the hardcore fans of the comic books, at whom the series is clearly aimed. They were overjoyed to see the beloved 80s and 90s cult favourite finally brought to the screen after decades of failed attempts. They'll be in nerd heaven all over again.
The rest of us, meanwhile, are in hell. Literally. It kicks off with Dream (Tom Sturridge) busily rebuilding his realm. He's summoned to a meeting with fellow members of the Endless: Destiny (Adrian Lester), Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), Desire (Mason Alexander Park), Despair (Donna Preston) and Delirium (Esmé Creed-Miles).
What the meeting was about, I couldn't quite fathom (the series doesn't make many concessions to clarity), but Dream abruptly heads to hell to rescue his beloved, Nada (Deborah Oyelade), the Queen of the First People, who he condemned to the fiery place 10,000 years earlier for reasons we have neither the space nor the energy to go into.
When he gets there, he discovers Lucifer Morningstar (Gwendoline Christie) has had enough of being hell's ruler. She's quit, released all the inhabitants and dupes Dream into taking the key and becoming hell's custodian.
It's his problem now and he'll have to face the numerous demons and deities who want to take control of the realm.
Like its predecessor, Season 2 is ponderously paced, full of portentous waffle and mostly takes itself desperately seriously.
Dream is such a passive hero, you might find yourself nodding off. You stick to your realm and I'll stick to mine.
Rating: Two stars
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