Of Neil Gaiman’s 10-volume comic series (with many spinoffs), The Sandman, the Netflix series starring Tom Sturridge covers only two. Though it draws elements from other volumes, there’s plenty more for the streaming series to adapt and explore within the fantastical universe, and stars Kirby Howell-Baptiste, who plays Death, and Vivienne Acheampong, who plays Lucienne, are eager to get started.

In the first season, fans were introduced to an imprisoned Dream (played by Sturridge), or the Sandman and controller of dreams. Throughout the season, we met many characters on Dream’s quest across timelines and worlds in order to fix the damage that unfolded during his capture, including Acheampong’s head librarian Lucienne, and Dream’s sibling, Howell-Baptiste’s Death. Additionally, the series features Vanesu Samunyai, Patton Oswalt, Gwendoline Christie, Jenna Coleman, and more.

Recently renewed for Season 2, or rather, a continuation, Collider’s Steve Weintraub sat down with The Sandman’s Howell-Baptiste and Acheampong to discuss the highly-anticipated season. During their interview, they admit the wait for renewal was just as long for them as for fans, and that they’re excited to explore more of Gaiman’s universe. They discuss why it isn’t called ‘Season 2,’ as well as a deleted scene from CCXP, and Howell-Baptiste talks about Death joining the rest of the Sandman family. Check out all of this and more in the video above, or you can read the full transcript below.

COLLIDER: I just want to start with, like everyone else, how much I love the first season and the episodes. And I want to thank you for your hard work and [for] pulling this whole thing off. For me, as a fan, and for so many fans, we were dying waiting for the renewal. What was it like for the two of you waiting to hear something?

VIVIENNE ACHEAMPONG: Long.

KIRBY HOWELL-BAPTISTE: Long. Yeah. Because you don’t know… There’s two different worlds. There’s the fans who received us so well and were so excited, and then there’s the side of it that you are waiting to see what the other side, the business side, and how that works.

So for us, we’re so excited. For me, I would say that the show was received so well. It felt like we almost owed it to our audiences to bring them more because, as you know, there’s so much to The Sandman. So there’s so much more to explore.

ACHEAMPONG: Yeah. Exactly, yeah.

Image via Netflix

On Twitter today, when I mentioned I was going to be talking to the two of you, the thing that kept on getting brought up was Death: The High Cost of Living. Anyway, I’m just curious, if you have people come up, and asked about it.

HOWELL-BAPTISTE: Yeah. Have people asked about it? They have. I have no idea where the stories go. We have no idea where stories go next season.

ACHEAMPONG: Yeah. Genuinely, legit don’t know.

HOWELL-BAPTISTE: But I feel like whatever we do, it’s the same team. It’s Neil [Gaiman], it’s Allan [Heinberg]. We’re going to have solid stories. We’re going to explore these characters more.

ACHEAMPONG: Still very faithful to the comics.

HOWELL-BAPTISTE: Yeah. Just for us getting deeper and deeper.

When I got the press release about the renewal, was it wasn’t called Season 2. It was the continuing story of The Sandman, or something like that. Were you aware of that, that they’re not calling it Season 2?

ACHEAMPONG: We’re aware because I think that it’s such a unique thing anyway, Sandman. So to call it Season 2, I think that’s not what it is because there are just more stories to tell. As Kirby said, we literally don’t know how this is going to be.

HOWELL-BAPTISTE: Well, I would say, I think part of the hesitance probably to call it Season 2 is that one of the things about Sandman, and one of the things about Neil, is Neil loves his fans and I think there is the understanding that we told some of the stories and there’s more to tell. So it’s much more to it. And if you are a fan of the comic books, you know how many stories. It’s just that once you put that into a TV format, it’s broken up.

ACHEAMPONG: It seems quite linear, doesn’t it? Yeah.

HOWELL-BAPTISTE: But really, it’s going to be when you look at the whole thing, much like the comics. We’re having these collections that we put together.

Listen, they can call it whatever they want, I’m watching. So one of the things that really surprised me today was you showed a deleted scene from your episode.

HOWELL-BAPTISTE: Yeah.

Image via Netflix

That episode is so fantastic. But that scene is so beautiful and great, and it kills me that it’s only going to be seen in this room.

ACHEAMPONG: So beautiful, yeah.

HOWELL-BAPTISTE: I know.

For people that weren’t in the room, can you talk about what that scene was and what it meant to you?

HOWELL-BAPTISTE: Yeah. So, the scene that was shown here that was deleted – which by the way, I had kind of forgotten about because it was such a long time ago, so it was really nice for me to see it and it felt brand new again – But it was a scene where it’s a continuation of myself and Dream (Tom Sturridge) walking and talking through London and he’s going about. He’s with me on a day of work. He’s like, “Bring your kid to work day.”

In that scene, what we talk about is Death goes through her job, and she expects… What she does, obviously, gets resistance. So what she talks about is, she decided to experience what she does. So she lived for a day and then met herself. She was taking it, she had her amount of time.

And I think that scene, or that part that we have taken from the comic, is so key to who Death is. And the reason why she’s so compassionate is because she understands because she went through it. So she understands that no one is ready at the end because she herself, being Death and knowing what was going to happen, still didn’t feel ready to go.

It’s a fantastic scene. I really do hope that Neil, and people, reconsider. So I know how Hollywood works, and with actors and with scheduling and whatnot. And I’m curious, has anyone asked you to save any dates in 2023? Because maybe that would let me know when you might be filming?

ACHEAMPONG: Do you know something? We don’t know.

HOWELL-BAPTISTE: We have no idea.

ACHEAMPONG: Honestly, we don’t know. We’ve just had a conversation that there were going to be more stories, and that’s all we know. So in a way, because we’re fans, as well, if you can say that about your own work, but we are fans of Neil. We love this. This is such a beautiful project to be a part of. So we are kind of waiting and excited, as well, just like everyone else because we don’t know when we’re going back to work.

HOWELL-BAPTISTE: But I’m excited for it.

ACHEAMPONG: Yeah, really excited.

HOWELL-BAPTISTE: Sometime next year, I’m excited to work with other people. I mean, I loved working with Tom, but it’s like, it’s going to be so exciting to have the family and do them-

ACHEAMPONG: And I hope Lucienne will be there in the family moderating and just keep everyone in check.

HOWELL-BAPTISTE: Keeping everyone calm, yeah.

The Sandman Season 1 is available to stream on Netflix.