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Netflix has offered up the first peeks at its upcoming Dead Boy Detectives series.
The show, based on the Vertigo comics by Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner, stars George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri as Edwin Payne and Charles Rowland, best friends — and ghosts — who help solve paranormal cases in the mortal realm.
At Netflix, Dead Boy Detectives will be part of the Sandman universe (the characters were introduced in Gaiman’s Sandman comics in the early 1990s) — but the series took a winding road to get there. It was initially developed for Max as part of the streamer’s former plans for its DC Universe, with Edwin and Charles making an appearance (although played by different actors) in season three of Doom Patrol.
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Max (then HBO Max) ordered it to series in April 2022, but after Warner Bros. Discovery decided to reset the DC universe under James Gunn and Peter Safran, they decided Dead Boy Detectives wouldn’t fit with their plans. Producer Warner Bros. TV shopped the series and found a home for it at Netflix, where it will live alongside The Sandman.
The show’s 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 and Charles Rowland, ‘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.”
The cast also features Jenn Lyon, Briana Cuoco, Ruth Connell, Lukas Gage and David Iacono.
Steve Yockey (The Flight Attendant) developed the series. He and Beth Schwartz are the showrunners and executive produce with Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Jeremy Carver, Leigh London Redman and Gaiman. Lee Toland Krieger directed and served as EP on the first episode.
A premiere date for Dead Boy Detectives hasn’t been set. Watch the teaser below.
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