Netflix’s Dead Boy Detectives Trailer Confirms Sandman Connection

Netflix has released the first trailer for Dead Boy Detectives, a new series from Warner Bros. Television that was originally being developed for Max, but ultimately has landed at Netflix and is being framed as part of the Sandman universe.” That tracks with the characters’ comic book backstory, but fans didn’t know whether, or to what extent, that would be acknowledged in-story or in the marketing for the show. The premise is fairly simple: a pair of young detectives a la the Hardy Boys or something similar, have cheated death, and now have the capacity to interact with the living and the dead, allowing them a chance to help the dead find a conclusion to their mysteries. 

That’s an idea that has been iterated on successfully on TV before, with shows like Pushing Daisies and iZombie riffing on it, and even CBS’s Ghosts tackling elements of it, although obviously not in quite as serious a way. The series also brings in Supernatural veteran Ruth O’Connell, proving that she’ll never be more than a degree of separation or two away from John Constantine.

You can see it below.

You can also read the official synopsis for the series below.

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.

As part of The Sandman Universe for Netflix and based on the beloved comic series from Neil Gaiman, DEAD BOY DETECTIVES was developed for television by Steve Yockey, who serves as co-showrunner alongside Beth Schwartz and is brought to you by Greg Berlanti. Jeremy Carver and Sarah Schechter also serve as executive producers. The series also stars Jenn Lyon, Briana Cuoco, Lukas Gage, David Iacono and Ruth Connell.

Dead Boy Detectives will debut on Netflix on April 25.