More changes are afoot at the revamped DC Studios. As part of the ongoing strategy shift at the Warner Bros. unit now led by James Gunn and Peter Safran, the upcoming supernatural mystery series “Dead Boy Detectives” is moving from HBO Max, where it was originally set up, to Netflix, where it joins “The Sandman,” another show based on a comic series by writer Neil Gaiman. The news was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
“Dead Boy Detectives” is an eight-episode series executive-produced by Greg Berlanti, who oversees the now winding-down Arrowverse TV franchise, with “The Flight Attendant” EP Steve Yockey and “Arrow” writer Beth Schwartz serving as showrunners. The pilot was directed by Lee Toland Krieger (“Shadow and Bone”). It stars George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri as Edwin Payne and Charles Rowland, dead British teenagers who, rather than continuing on to the afterlife, choose to stay behind on Earth and solve supernatural crimes with their alive friend Crystal Palace (Kassius Nelson). HBO Max describes it as “a lot like a vintage detective series – only darker and on acid.”
“Dead Boy Detectives” place in the DC TV extended universe is complicated. It was originally intended to be part of Berlanti’s suite of HBO Max DC shows that included “Doom Patrol” and “Titans” – Edwin and Charles actually appeared in a Season 3 episode of “Doom Patrol,” played by different actors, and the show’s cast includes Ruth Connell reprising her role as “Doom Patrol” character Night Nurse – but those shows have all been canceled as Gunn and Safran plot their own HBO Max superhero franchise of interconnected shows. According to THR’s sources, “Dead Boy Detectives” has been sold to Netflix because it doesn’t fit with Gunn and Safran’s overall DC plan.
But the Dead Boy Detectives characters actually originated in Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman” comic series. And Netflix has the series adaptation of “The Sandman,” which debuted last year. So in that way it makes sense that “Dead Boy Detectives” would go to Netflix. It remains to be seen if the Dead Boy Detectives can get integrated into “The Sandman,” since “The Sandman” isn’t part of Berlanti’s empire, but rather Neil Gaiman’s (Gaiman also executive produces Amazon’s “Good Omens” and “Anansi Boys”). But “The Sandman” and “Dead Boy Detectives” are both produced by Warner Bros., where Berlanti has an overall deal, so it might not be an impossible thing for the studio to work out going forward.
According to THR, Berlanti will not be involved in DC projects going forward. His long-in-the-works, constantly changing Green Lantern series is being redeveloped by Gunn and Safran. The CW’s “Superman & Lois” and the upcoming “Gotham Knights” may be his final DC projects, along with “Dead Boy Detectives.”
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