At a time when HBO Max appears to be cancelling…. everything in the wake of the Discovery merger with Warner Bros., the fates of many of their shows, especially the DC Comics-inspired ones, seemed to be unknown. The Batgirl movie has been scrapped, as has Strange Adventures, though the Green Lantern series is still on track. One project fans have been wondering about is Dead Boy Detectives, a series based on characters first seen in The Sandman comics who themselves had a sort of “backdoor pilot” as an episode of Doom Patrol with a different cast.
Under co-showrunners Beth Schwartz (Arrow) and Steve Yockey, the eight-episode Dead Boy Detectives series is described as “a fresh take on a ghost story that explores loss, grief, and death through the lens of Edwin Payne and Charles Rowland, two dead British teenagers, and their very alive friend, Crystal Palace. So, it’s a lot like a vintage detective series — only darker and on acid.”
Fortunately, we seem to have good news about Dead Boy Detectives — while things could always change, it appears the show is scheduled to film in Vancouver, British Columbia from November 7, 2022 – March 20, 2023. It just showed up on Vancouver production charts this week.
George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri star as Dead Boy Detectives Edwin Payne and Charles Rowland, and Kassius Nelson (Hollyoaks) stars as Crystal Palace. Additional series stars include Briana Cuoco (The Flight Attendant, Harley Quinn) as Jenny the Butcher, Ruth Connell (Supernatural) as the Night Nurse (reprising her role from the “Dead Patrol” episode of Doom Patrol), Yuyu Kitamura (The Expatriates) as Niko, and Jenn Lyon (Claws, Justified) as Esther.
With the success of The Sandman on rival streamer Netflix, it’s good to see this is still a thing that seems to be happening. Considering filming doesn’t wrap until early 2023, chances are we’ll be getting the series on whatever remains of HBO Max later that year, unless, of course, Warner Bros. Discovery decides to shop the show elsewhere.
