Netflix’s ‘The Sandman’ Is Already Talking Spin-Off For One Specific Character

The Sandman continues to perform well on Netflix among both critics and audiences, and its top 10 placement seems to indicate a lot of people are watching. I said yesterday that a second season seems like it’s almost a given with this kind of performance, even for the unpredictable Netflix, but now we could be talking one level beyond that.

One common thought being passed around, and one amplified by Neil Gaiman himself, is that The Sandman might do well with a spin-off for one specific character.

That would be Johanna Constantine, played by Doctor Who veteran Jenna Coleman, who appears in a few episodes of the show, but is the featured player in episode 3, and is a standout member of the stacked cast. And even Neil Gaiman, who was hesitant about any Sandman adaptation for decades until this one, is supportive of the idea, when it was posed to him by a fan:

There seems to be some confusion among some viewers about who Johanna Constantine actually is, with some saying she’s a “recast, gender-flipped version” of the more well-known John Constantine, but that’s not true, she’s actually his ancestor. The show does make this a little more confusing, however, when they give her things like part of John’s Astra storyline.

Elsewhere in the DC Universe, Matt Ryan has been playing John Constantine for years now, first in his own show, then in the wider Arrowverse, including a long stint on Legends of Tomorrow. He will even survive the pending death of the Arrowverse, as he’s voicing Constantine in Harley Quinn season 3.

It remains somewhat murky if a Johanna Constantine spin-off would be possible with whatever deal Netflix has with WB to make Sandman in the first place. Obviously Sandman hasn’t even been renewed for season 2 yet, so this feels like it might be getting a bit ahead of things, but if Netflix does want to build on what appears to be a successful, well-liked hit, maybe expanding the “Sandman Universe” is something they’re going to pursue.

I am wondering if Netflix’s desire to invest heavily in Sandman may be tempered by the fact that this is a WB production, as Netflix has generally shied away from big projects it does not fully own. That said, a hit is a hit, and they may not want to squander that, even if this is something that’s technically on loan from WB and DC. We’ll see what that means for season 2 and any potential spin-offs to come. For now, we’ll just wait and see how season 1 does over the course of its first month.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.