The Sandman’s David Goyer Shared Two Amazing Cameos That Were Planned For Morpheus’ Funeral, And I Really Wish They’d Happened

Warning: SPOILERS for The Sandman Season 2 are ahead!

Just in the original Sandman comics, Tom Sturridge’s Morpheus met in end in The Sandman TV series, willingly giving up his life in the episode “Long Live the King” in order to save The Dreaming and its remaining inhabitants. Then Morpheus’ funeral was held in the twisty Season 2 finale and attended by many of the characters viewers had become acquainted with over the show’s run. But as I learned from The Sandman co-creator David S. Goyer, there were two especially amazing cameos that were planned for the funeral that didn’t work out, and I really wish these could have happened in the Netflix subscription-exclusive series.

Ahead of The Sandman Season 2, Volume 2 premiering last week on the 2025 TV schedule, I had the pleasure of speaking with Goyer about his work on this final batch of episodes, amongst other topics (including what he thought of James Gunn’s Superman). Having noticed how many familiar faces were shown at the funeral, including even Arthur Darville’s Ric Madoc from the bonus story “Calliope,” I asked Goyer, who co-created The Sandman with Allan Heinberg, if there were any actors whom they tried to bring back for this event, but weren’t available. Here’s what he told me:

Few people watching The Sandman would have recognized David S. Goyer and Allan Heinberg in that crowd, but I certainly have welcomed seeing them. Like Goyer said, this would have been reminiscent of when director Alfred Hitchcock would cameo in his movies, thus serving as a knowing wink for those in the know. This reminds me of how writer Grant Morrison appeared in Titans Season 4’s big multiverse sequence with Beast Boy.

Alas, once David S. Goyer had to drop out of doing this cameo because of his work on Foundation (which can be streamed with an Apple TV+ subscription), Allan Heinberg decided not to do it either. It’s a shame, but understandable and a reminder how often scheduling conflicts can put the kibosh on a good idea. And while I certainly would have liked to learn any other names that were in the mix to appear, I don’t blame Goyer for not remembering them considering that, as he pointed out, the funeral scene was filmed a year and a half ago.

Although The Sandman’s main storyline has been completed, the show hasn’t reached its end just yet. That will happen when the bonus episode “Death: The High Cost of Living” is released this Thursday, July 31. After that, take a look at the 2025 Netflix release dates to learn what’s coming to the streaming service later this year.