Netflix Debuts Teaser For 'Sandman'-Related Series 'Dead Boy Detectives'

The share at Geeked Week confirmed the series’s move from Max

Netflix is looking to be the only place to find live action DC series outside of Max, at least as Superman & Lois comes to an end on The CW next year. And at that, it’s Vertigo imprint. What better exemplifies this than the debut of the teaser for Dead Boy Detectives, which happened during the streamer’s Geeked Week event Saturday.

With a first season running eight episodes, the series’s official description reads “Do you have a pesky ghost haunting you? Has a demon stolen your core memories? You may want to ring the Dead Boy Detectives. Meet Edwin Payne (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri), ‘the brains’ and ‘the brawn’ behind the Dead Boy Detectives agency. Teenagers born decades apart who find each other only in death, Edwin and Charles are best friends and ghosts… who solve mysteries. They will do anything to stick together – including escaping evil witches, Hell and Death herself. With the help of a clairvoyant named Crystal (Kassius Nelson) and her friend Niko (Yuyu Kitamura), they are able to crack some of the mortal realm’s most mystifying paranormal cases.” It’s also been described as “a fresh take on a ghost story that explores loss, grief and death through the lens of Edwin Payne and Charles Rowland … and their very alive friend, Crystal Palace. It’s a lot like a vintage detective series — only darker and on acid.” The eight episode titles are already known. Following the simply-titled “Pilot”, there are “The Case of the Creeping Forest”, “The Case of the Dandelion Shrine”, “The Case of Devlin House”, “The Case of the Lighthouse Leapers”, “The Case of the Two Dead Dragons”, “The Case of the Very Long Stairway”, and “The Case of the Hungry Snake”.

Yes, it is a DC series, whose characters were created by Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner. It was even originally ordered for (HBO) Max juuuuust as the Discovery regime for Warner Bros. was coming in in April 2022, in fact at the end of that first week. However, because it’s too far outside the realm of the DC Universe being built by new DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran, it was given the opportunity to be shopped around. Their finding Netflix was first reported mere weeks after the “Gods & Monsters” debut chapter of the new universe was unveiled.

As the Neil Gaiman creatorship might imply, the Dead Boy Detectives were first introduced in an issue of The Sandman comic book, a property adapted for a highly successful Netflix series awaiting a second season. It was issue #25, midway through the Season of Mists story arc, where Charles must stay alone at St. Hilarion’s School while all the other kids leave for the holidays. He soon finds out many of the school’s old inhabitants are returning from Hell, including Edwin, a former student. It was all part of Lucifer’s plan to get back at Dream. Gaiman liked the characters enough that he brought them back for a Vertigo Comics crossover event, and would receive their own spin-off comic from Toby Litt and Mark Buckingham.

Netflix has confirmed that the TV series are also set in the same universe despite the differing original destination. In its supporting cast, there are reportedly furthered DC connections with Ruth Connell reportedly reprising her role as Night Nurse from Doom Patrol, alongside Jenn Lyon, Briana Cuoco, Lukas Gage, and David Iacono. The duo also showed up on Doom Patrol, but were played by different actors.

Steve Yockey, developer of Max’s The Flight Attendant, developed the series for television and serves as co-showrunner and executive producer alongside Beth Schwartz, Gaiman, Greg Berlanti, Jeremy Carver, Sarah Schechter, and Leigh London Redman. The first episode is directed and executive produced by Lee Toland Krieger. Berlanti Productions produces in association with Warner Bros. Television, where Berlanti Productions is still under an overall deal. So yeah I guess I missed a spot when I said Superman & Lois ending ended his DC era though theoretically the timeline could still line up.

Sources: Variety Tudum What’s On Netflix The Hollywood Reporter