Netflix has unveiled new information about the upcoming second season of their adaptation of The Sandman, which will also serve as its final season. The news comes courtesy of an Entertainment Weekly interview with showrunner Allan Heinberg (Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal), who addressed questions about how the Netflix series has  — and hasn’t — been affected by the sexual misconduct allegations levied against the graphic novel’s creator, Neil Gaiman (Good Omens, Coraline), who also helped produce the 2022 Netflix show.

Since Netflix announced that Season Two of The Sandman would conclude its story, which explores the familial drama between a septet of supernatural beings known as the Endless, many assumed that the decision was correlated with Gaiman’s alleged transgressions against at least four women which came to light last year. Such a conclusion was not without precedent; the creators of Good Omens, another series adapted from a novel written by Gaiman and made with his involvement, announced in October that its final season would be abbreviated to a single ninety-minute episode in the wake of the allegations.

But Heinberg says that two seasons of Sandman was always the plan, even before Season One premiered. “It was a decision we made three years ago,” he told Entertainment Weekly, recalling that the show’s creative team went through “lots of different versions” for Season Two before electing to use the character of Morpheus (Tom Sturridge), the personification of dreams, as an anchor to guide which parts of the graphic novel they would adapt.

Heinberg adds that the announcement of Season Two had “unfortunate timing,” but that production was nearly finished when the allegations against Gaiman first broke. “These are your delivery dates and you just keep going,” he remarks to Entertainment Weekly. “So it’s been in the periphery of my experience and the background of my experience, but it hasn’t been part of the world of the making of the show, if that makes sense. Every production is its own little island.”

As for the show itself, ET also shared a look at two members of the Endless making their debut in Season 2: Puck, played by Jack Gleeson (Game of Thrones, Sex Education), and Destruction, played by Barry Sloane (House of the Dragon, Shameless).

Volume One of The Sandman’s final season will premiere on July 3rd, while Volume Two will release on July 24th. Season One is now available to stream on Netflix.