DC’s Dead Boy Detectives Moves From HBO Max to Netflix

One of DC’s newest television installments has found a new home. On Friday, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Dead Boy Detectives will be moving over to Netflix for its first season, as opposed to its originally-planned home of HBO Max. According to the report, the move was made for multiple reasons — for starters, the show did not fit into the crop of new interconnected HBO Max original series that will be part of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios plans. HBO Max also reportedly would not have been able to market the show until 2024.

While this move is definitely surprising, it does make sense on a narrative level as well. The Sandman, which the Dead Boy Detectives comics spin out of, already has a home at Netflix, and was renewed for new installments late last year.

What is Dead Boy Detectives about?

Dead Boy Detectives offers a fresh take on a ghost story that explores loss, grief, and death through the lens of Edwin Payne (newcomer George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (The Lodge‘s Jayden Revri), two dead British teenagers, and their very alive friend, Crystal Palace (Last Night in Soho‘s Kassius Nelson). Additional series stars include Briana Cuoco (The Flight Attendant, Harley Quinn) as Jenny the Butcher, Yuyu Kitamura (The Expatriates) as Niko, and Jenn Lyon (Claws, Justified) as Esther. Ruth Connell (Supernatural) also reprises her role as as the Night Nurse from the “Dead Patrol” episode of Doom Patrol.

“We are excited to be expanding further into the DC Universe with Steve, Jeremy and the Berlanti team with this thrilling new spin on a detective series,” Sarah Aubrey, Head of Original Content, HBO Max, said in a statement. “We were fascinated by the world of the Dead Boy Detectives that Steve and Jeremy first introduced in Doom Patrol, and cannot wait to follow the supernatural sleuths in the lurid mysteries to come.”

Who is producing Dead Boy Detectives?

The series is showrun by Doom Patrol and The Flight Attendant‘s Steve Yockey, who also wrote the pilot episode, and Arrow‘s Beth Schwartz. The pilot is directed by Superman & Lois‘ Lee Toland Krieger. Yockey, Jeremy Carver (Doom Patrol, Supernatural), Greg Berlanti (You, The Flash), and Sarah Schechter (The Flight Attendant, You) are executive producers on the series. The series is produced by Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. 

“I’ve been obsessed with this comic for a long time, so it’s a true passion project,” Yockey echoed. “And Jeremy, Berlanti Productions, DC, WBTV, HBO Max – they’re all encouraging me to run with every wild, bizarre, and unsettling choice. The result is going to be really dark fun.”

Will you be tuning in to Dead Boy Detectives? What do you think of this move to Netflix? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!