'Dead Boy Detectives': 'The Sandman'-Related Release & Info

Welcome to a special corner of Neil Gaiman‘s The Sandman Universe. Also, surprise! Netflix is about to gift viewers with a treat while they await more of the flagship series, which is currently working on new stories of the Endless. In the meantime, the streamer will present two young investigators who become partners at solving supernatural crimes, despite being dead and after being born decades apart. They’re ghosts who are the only guys to call in for the job after human hunches cannot suffice, especially when things get paranormal. And that means that they encounter many hazards, including witches and the depths of Hell, while helping mortals put their realm back at ease.

Are you in? Let’s talk about what we can expect from Netflix’s Dead Boy Detectives.

Plot

Viewers of The Sandman are currently waiting to see whether that show’s second season will address Season Of Mists, otherwise known as the fourth graphic novel volume of The Sandman comic books. That volume includes a tale about characters within a British boarding school, and the purpose of the ghost story relates to Lucifer’s (portrayed by Gwendoline Christie in the Netflix series) ongoing beef with Dream (Tom Sturridge). Eventually, Gaiman decided to resurrect these characters for a further adventure because he couldn’t help himself, as Netflix details with these quotes:

“Who amongst us can honestly say that if we were hanging around the Earth as a ghost we wouldn’t want to start a detective agency?” asks Gaiman. “I think what fans responded to the most was their good-heartedness and dedication.”

From there, a Vertigo spinoff comic happened, and in 2024, the interwoven nature of these two comics, along with the fact that we will be waiting until 2025 for The Sandman to return, provides the perfect window for Dead Boy Detectives to step into the spotlight as ghosts who are solving the paranormal mysteries that confound human investigators. Co-creator Steve Steve Yockey compared the two TV series: “If The Sandman is this really lush, rich supernatural drama, then Dead Boy Detectives is the Hardy Boys on acid… Hopefully just as addictive, but through a severely cracked lens.”

Will there be any crossover action on The Dead Boy Detectives? Given that both series hail from Netflix, chances were already good that this would happen. The streamer has also revealed that at least one member of the Endless will surface in the new series’ first season. Who shall it be? My hope is for it to be Death, and that also seems like a natural transition to make (including a logical, literal shift) between the shows.

Here’s the lowdown from the show’s description:

Meet Edwin Payne (Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (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 (Nelson) and her friend Niko (Kitamura), they are able to crack some of the mortal realm’s most mystifying paranormal cases.

Cast

George Rexstrew (as Edwin Payne) and Fate: The Winx Saga‘s Jayden Revere (as Charles Rowland) pick up the roles of the heading ghostly detectives. A Series of Unfortunate Events‘ Kassius Nelson will portray Crystal Palace, the pair’s psychic medium who signs up for the Dead Boy Detective Agency. Lukas Gage portrays the shapeshifting Cat King (for real), and the cast also includes Briana Cuoco, Ruth Connell, Joshua Colley, and David Iacono.