Netflix has canceled The Sandman

Netflix announced today that The Sandman will conclude with its upcoming second season. In a statement about the show coming to an end, Sandman showrunner Allan Heinberg said that the 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.”

As Variety notes, Netflix took its time before renewing The Sandman after its first season and did not announce a specific number of episodes it ordered. Netflix also made a point of referring to the renewal as “a continuation of The Sandman world,” which at the time included the Dead Boy Detectives adaptation that was canceled last August after a single season. That all makes Heinberg’s statement sound plausible, but the timing of Netflix’s move to cancel The Sandman links it to the multiple allegations of sexual assault that Gaiman is currently facing. In response to the allegations, Gaiman wrote in a blog post earlier this month, “I’m far from a perfect person, but I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever.”