Netflix has released the first official teaser trailer for its upcoming Sandman spin-off series Dead Boy Detectives.
Revealed as part of Netflix’s Geeked Week, the first Dead Boy Detectives teaser re-introduces television audiences to Edwin Payne and Charles Rowland — two dead boys who decided to stay on Earth as ghosts and become supernatural detectives. The energetic preview highlights Charles and Edwin’s spectral abilities, and hints at some of the cases they will have to solve. Along the way, they’ll get some help from Crystal Palace, a medium.
Check out the teaser trailer for Dead Boy Detectives below:
The full synopsis for Dead Boy Detectives reads as follows: “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.”
Dead Boy Detectives’ journey to the small screen
Charles Rowland and Edwin Payne first appeared in 1991’s Sandman #25 by Neil Gaiman, Matt Wagner, and Malcolm Jones III. The Dead Boy Detectives became staples of DC‘s now-defunct Vertigo Comics imprint, going on to appear in a number of other titles (including some eponymous ones).
The Dead Boy Detectives agency made its live-action debut in the third season of HBO Max’s DC series Doom Patrol in 2021. Sebastian Croft, Ty Tennant, and Madalyn Horcher portrayed Charles, Edwin, and Crystal, respectively. That same year, HBO Max — now simply known as Max — ordered a pilot for a spin-off series starring the Dead Boy Detectives. The three main roles were soon recast.
Max ordered Dead Boy Detectives to series in 2022. Earlier this year, however, the show moved to Netflix as a result of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s takeover of DC Studios. Gaiman — who is attached as an executive producer — soon confirmed that Dead Boy Detectives would be set within Netflix’s Sandman universe. The streaming giant’s adaptation of The Sandman itself debuted last year, with a second season currently in the works.
Steve Yockey and Beth Schwartz serve as co-showrunners on Dead Boy Detectives. The show’s first season consists of eight episodes. In addition to Rexstrew, Revri, Nelson, and Kitamura, the cast includes Jenn Lyon, Briana Cuoco, Ruth Connell, Lukas Gage, and David Iacono. Connell reprises her role as Night Nurse from Doom Patrol.
Dead Boy Detectives will stream on Netflix, though currently lacks a premiere date.
