HBO Max has been killing it lately with their exclusive DC Comics offerings. Whether it is Titans or Harley Quinn, the streamer has something for every DC fan. Now you can add the horror genre to that list as HBO Max has just ordered Dead Boy Detectives to series. The eight-episode horror series is based on the world of DC’s Sandman by Neil Gaiman and the Dead Boy Detectives comics.
As previously reported, Steve Yockey wrote the pilot episode, and now we know he will be serving as the series showrunner as well. Yockey will also be serving as an executive producer on the show with Jeremy Carver, Greg Berlanti, and Sarah Schechter. Berlanti Productions is producing the project with Warner Bros. Television. Lee Toland Krieger is directing the pilot episode and is serving as an executive producer on the pilot with David Madden. Krieger is best known for directing the pilot for Superman & Lois, You, and the upcoming Green Lantern HBO Max series.
Also as previously reported, the series will star George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri (The Lodge) as Dead Boy Detectives Edwin Payne and Charles Rowland respectively. The ensemble also includes Kassius Nelson (Last Night in Soho) as Crystal Palace, Briana Cuoco (The Flight Attendant, Harley Quinn) as Jenny the Butcher, Ruth Connell (Supernatural, Doom Patrol) as the Night Nurse. Connell is reprising her role from the Season 3 episode of Doom Patrol titled “Dead Patrol.” The lead characters of Edwin Payne, Charles Rowland, and Crystal Palace also made their debut in that same episode of Doom Patrol. However, they were all played by different actors. Finally, the cast is rounded out by Yuyu Kitamura (The Expatriates) as Niko and Jenn Lyon (Justified) as Esther.
When talking about the upcoming series Head of Original Content at HBO Max, Sarah Aubrey, said:
“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. 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.”
Yockey expanded on that same sentiment saying, “I’ve been obsessed with this comic for a long time, so it’s a true passion project. 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.”
There is a lot to be excited about with this series and Yockey is one of the reasons. Yockey created and is currently the showrunner of another HBO Max series The Flight Attendant which is about to enter its second season later this month. That show so far has been a great blend of humor, drama, and suspenseful mystery. That sounds like the kind of series Dead Boy Detectives will end up being. Yockey also has experience in the supernatural realm as he has written the previously mentioned Doom Patrol episode "Dead Patrol" and, in the mystery department, he had written a few episodes for MTV’s Scream: The TV Series. He also served as producer on the hit CW series Supernatural during its final few seasons.
Yockey understands how to weave a compelling multi-layered mystery. When you add people like Berlanti to this supernatural equation who have produced an endless number of hit DC series or Krieger who has experience in this complex universe, this series looks like it is going to be a ton of spooky creative fun. The Sandman universe has been one of the most beloved in all literature, let alone comics, since its introduction in 1988. It is going to be great to see this world be expanded upon on the small screen after the tease that we got in Doom Patrol.
The 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.” HBO Max has seen so many diverse and unique DC projects in its short life span and, if that description is accurate, Dead Boy Detectives will be another maddeningly inventive series to look out for on the streamer.
Now that the series has been ordered and one of the directors has been set, we should hear news of Dead Boy Detectives starting its production soon. Until then, you can catch up on all the great HBO Max DC content already available on the streamer like Doom Patrol, Harley Quinn, and Peacemaker.