A Netflix Original Series
The Netflix world of Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman” expands and welcomes the DEAD BOY DETECTIVES to help solve those mysteries of the afterlife and save lost souls trapped between here and somewhere else.
The much revered “Arrow-verse” may be a long-gone trend that marked an era in television entertainment. The primetime universe that gave us, a decade of an extended DC superhero live-action universe that began with Arrow, was deemed a “case closed” when The Flash starring Grant Gustin concluded its final lap with Season 9. That didn’t necessarily mean that super-producer Greg Berlanti was through with adapting from the well of the caped and the cowled. Berlanti’s creative deal with Warner Bros. may have soured some, especially after the sale of The CW, unceremoniously ending DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Batwoman, but that hasn’t marked the end.
The success of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman yielded a critical darling for Netflix. The streaming service has already green-lit a second season of the hit series but didn’t stop there. Seizing on the moment, Gaiman’s intricate world of the master of dreams, became the next avenue by which Berlanti would return to the DC universe. Premiering in April, spinning out of the world of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman and created by Steve Yockey (HBO’s The Flight Attendant) Netflix welcomes Dead Boy Detectives. The original series is in the style of fantastical horror, mixing humor and heart in much the same fashion as the supernaturally popular Buffy, The Vampire Slayer.
It stars George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri as ghosts and best mates, who lean on each other in the afterlife and serve a great purpose. The two teenagers take on cases for lost souls who are trapped on the mortal plane and help them crossover to their final fate. When they meet, Crystal Palace, played by Kassius Nelson, a clairvoyant who the pair help free from the curse of a demon that has stolen her memories. It isn’t long before the duo becomes a trio and follows a mystery of a missing girl who leads to a small port town and far more fearsome adversaries. With each case closed, the Dead Boy Detectives draw closer to learning more secrets of life and death, and many mysteries await!
Between Heaven and Hell
Neil Gaiman has a masterful wit and a knack for delivering characters that have a delicious amount of depth worth cultivating. The writer also has a gift for world-building and has his creative tendrils deeply rooted in the supernatural, especially as it connects to cultural and ritual mythologies. The realms exhibited in “The Sandman” feel real, familiar latched into legend. The same is true for the extended universe audiences are about to enter watching Dead Boy Detectives. The tone may be different, but the series rides parallel to its predecessor, all the while embracing a much more lively and humorous tone.
It’s much more the warped amusement park ride than a horrific freak show stoked in brimstone.
The cast is also affectionate playful and very much invested in the adventure. George Rexstrew as the Britishly-uptight Edwin can become trite after some time (but is adorably vulnerable), and the other characters especially Jayden Revri as Charles (the team’s muscle), and Kassius Nelson’s Crystal Palace do bring out the most emotion out of this haunted fellow. The chemistry is locked in and lovingly played, and makes for the most colorful bunch since the animated antics of the Scooby Gang, or their contemporaries in “Buffy”.
Dead Boy Detectives is intrinsically weird and wonderfully wild and will have you hooked from the first episode on. It excellently quenches our thirst as many anxiously await a second season of The Sandman, but once the case has been solved — at least for this inaugural season of Dead Boy Detectives — you’ll be hanging on for their further adventures.
Get your #FansEyeView of the trailer for Dead Boy Detectives here:
DEAD BOY DETECTIVES | premieres Thursday, April 25 on Netflix.