After quietly avoiding promotion of the series in the wake of a series of accusations of sexual harassment against writer and creator Neil Gaiman, Netflix has announced that its adaptation of Sandman will conclude with season two.
Variety reports that the upcoming sophomore season of the show was already potentially being floated as a conclusion to the series before Gaiman was first accused of sexual misconduct in reporting from the Tortoise Media podcast series, Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman, and Rolling Stone, in the summer of 2024.
“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,” showrunner Allan Heinberg told Variety in a statement. “We are extremely grateful to Netflix for bringing the team all back together and giving us the time and resources to make a faithful adaptation in a way that we hope will surprise and delight the comics’ loyal readers as well as fans of our show.”
Netflix had long remained vague about the future of Sandman after its debut in the summer of 2022, choosing not to announce a renewal until several months later—and even then described the renewal as a “continuation of the Sandman world” rather than specifically a second season. But the cancelation comes after a series of other adaptations of Gaiman’s work distanced themselves from the writer following renewed reports of alleged sexual misconduct published by Vulture earlier this month.
Dark Horse Comics completely cut ties with Gaiman just last week, confirming that the comics publisher would cancel its ongoing Anansi Boys series and future planned collections, as well as discontinue publishing prior work from the author, while a musical stage adaptation of Coraline set to run across the UK was scrapped entirely on Wednesday.
Previously, a Disney adaptation of Gaiman’s 2008 YA novel The Graveyard Book was put on pause at Disney last year after initial allegations were raised against Gaiman, as was the third (and already announced to be final) season of Amazon’s Good Omens. Gaiman was reportedly asked to step back from production of the third season shortly after, before it was announced that Prime Video would truncate the planned season into a single 90 minute special.
We’ll bring you more on Netflix’s plans for Sandman‘s final season—which is still set to stream at some point in 2025—as and when we learn it.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.