Now that its Sandman series was cancelled, Netflix might be able to fill its comic book void with this iconic sci-fi fantasy series. From 2022 to 2025, The Sandman wowed audiences on Netflix, adapting Neil Gaiman's beloved comic story of the same name. This mature comic book drama offered subscribers a unique experience in the genre, tackling mature themes like loss, love, grief, and death.
After the end of Season 2, Sandman was sunsetted on Netflix, leaving a gaping hole in its streaming library. A solution may be sitting right under the platform's nose, however, in the acclaimed Saga comic series. Saga could potentially capture some of, if not all of, the magic of the Sandman series and bring another oft-celebrated comic world to life on the small screen.
Saga is a long-running comic series from creator Brian K. Vaughan. The series, which debuted in 2012, tells the story of husband and wife Alana and Marko, a pair of aliens from warring extraterrestrial races. In an attempt to keep their young daughter safe, they spend their lives on the run from either side of the space-faring conflict.
Why Saga Is the Perfect Sandman Replacement
One of the biggest things fans loved about Netflix's The Sandman series was the grandeur of its story throughout its two seasons. While being fairly character-focused, the hit comic book drama managed to tell a story where the very things that make up reality were boiled down into interesting personalities for fans to interact with.
This sense of scale could be easily mimicked in a potential Saga adaptation. While the subject matter of Saga is wholly different from Sandman's, each tells epic grand stories that fans gravitate to.
Saga pitches itself as "Star Wars meets Game of Thrones" (via Geeks of Doom), tackling a gripping intergalactic conflict in which each warring faction is the hero of its own story.
While Saga operates on this star-hopping register, it is still, like Sandman, entirely character-driven. The characters of Saga make or break the series, with its focus on this central love story between husband-and-wife duo Alana and Marko.
This deeply human story of being with the one you love, no matter what, lays a related foundation for Saga, allowing it to explore some of its more abstract, intergalactic concepts.
This will be quite familiar to fans of The Sandman, which accomplished something similar by profoundly attaching human subject matter to the out-there world of dreams and spirits.
Another thing the two series have in common is their widespread acclaim on the page. Neil Gaiman's original Sandman run is one of the most celebrated comic series of all time, while Vaughn's Saga is one of the biggest success stories in independent comics.
If Netflix handled Saga with the care it did with Sandman, it would almost surely be special.
What Is Holding a Saga Series Back?
If only it were just as easy as Netflix simply rubber-stamping a Saga adaptation. These comic-to-screen adaptations can be complicated affairs, sometimes taking years to get off the ground.
Series creator Brian K Vaughn commented on making a Saga movie or TV show, telling Screen Rant in August 2025, "Saga was made to be a comic... We’d consider an adaptation only if someone truly 'cracked it:'"
Brian K. Vaughan: "We get offers all the time, but 'Saga' was made to be a comic. I’ve adapted others’ work and had mine adapted—there are always compromises. Comics give us total creative freedom. We’d consider an adaptation only if someone truly 'cracked it,' but we’re not in a rush."
Screen Rant: "Do you still see comics as the final form?"
Brian K. Vaughan: "Absolutely. Comics aren’t a stepping stone—they’re the destination. I love film and TV, but comics are often the superior medium. That’s why 'Saga' exists as it does."
Saga is 100% Vaughn's vision, so finding someone who shares the franchise's vision for a potential adaptation could be tough.
One name that has come up in this conversation is The Boys and Supernatural creator Eric Kripke. Kripke has been outspoken in his love of the Saga world, saying that he is "obsessed" with Vaughn's comics and telling the comic creator to "call [him]" (via GamesRadar+).
Of course, saying you want to make something and actually making it are two different things, but it is at least a start.
One aspect that could pose a challenge for a potential Saga TV show is the franchise's otherworldly, intergalactic setting and characters. This story would warrant the proper investment by whoever was bringing it to life, meaning Netflix would have to pay a hefty sum to get the franchise looking authentic to its source material.
Fans' three biggest comparison points for Vaughn's comic book series are Star Wars, Game of Thrones, and The Lord of the Rings, all franchises that have invested a significant amount of money to achieve their current visual style.
Of course, Netflix is known to spend when it feels the need to (just look at how much the streamer is pouring into Stranger Things' final season), but getting this kind of commitment is happening less and less in our current economic reality.
How Could a Saga TV Show Work?
One of the most appealing aspects of Saga is how well-suited its story structure feels for a potential TV adaptation. Each chapter of Saga is assigned a number, with every six making up a volume (or arc), and every three volumes make up a book of the greater overall narrative.
This could serve as an easy template for the show's episodic structure, with each chapter comprising an episode or two, and every season telling perhaps what would amount to a volume in the comics world.
It's a format that has worked for years in the world of manga and Japanese anime, where seasons are sometimes divided amongst specific arcs, and it could work perfectly for something like Saga.
This would potentially see Season 1 tackle Alana and Marko's early goings as their daughter, Hazel, is born, and they head out on the run. Season 1 would then end as the pair of star-crossed lovers finally get off their home planet of Cleave before crossing paths with Marko's overbearing parents. Things could continue from there with major story beats like the death of The Brand, The War For Phang, and the emergence of the Endwife, all highlighting future seasons beyond that.
With 12 complete volumes released to this point, there is plenty of story potential a Saga adaptation could tap into for years to come.
