Neil Gaiman's Dead Boy Detectives is getting the Netflix treatment
After The Sandman, the streaming platform expands its Neil Gaiman universe with another adaptation in April
When it comes to live-action adaptations of Neil Gaiman’s beloved comics, fans are feasting. Over on Prime Video is Good Omens, which was thankfully renewed for a third and final season. Netflix, meanwhile, is helming a Gaiman-verse of sorts by adding Dead Boy Detectives to its lineup in April, as the streaming platform revealed today while announcing its spring slate.
The fantastical horror YA series is based on DC Comics’ graphic novels of the same name. It follows, as the title suggests, dead kids who turn to crime-solving. Edwin Payne (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri) are teens who run a detective agency; the catch is that they’re ghosts trying to escape a life in Hell. So, with the help of a clairvoyant, Crystal (Kassius Nelson), they remain on Earth to unravel weird supernatural cases.
Dead Boy Detectives is part of The Sandman universe. The latter, of course, got its TV treatment in 2022, complete with a stacked cast including Tom Sturridge, Boyd Holbrook, Gwendoline Christie, David Thewlis, and Vivienne Acheampong. Season two is already in production. Also of note: be careful not to confuse this series with Max’s Doom Patrol, whose third season (airing in 2021) also featured Edwin Payne and Charles Rowland as regular characters, played by different actors. In fact, Dead Boy Detectives was originally meant for Max before it moved to Netflix last year. Streamers work in mysterious ways.
The Flight Attendant’s Steve Yockey developed the series, and he is co-showrunning it with Beth Schwartz of The CW’s Arrowverse fame. The ensemble cast also includes Briana Cuoco, Ruth Connell, Jenn Lyon, Yuyu Kitamura, Lukas Gage, and Lindsey Gort.
Dead Boy Detectives premieres on April 25 on Netflix.