One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Or, in this case, one streaming service’s trash. To be more specific, the upcoming show Dead Boy Detectives, based on the DC Comics characters of the same name, is getting a new home on Netflix after originally being developed for HBO Max. The characters originally appeared on Doom Patrol, and the plan was to give them a spin-off. That’s still happening, it’s just going to happen at a new place, far removed from the rest of the DC Universe, and that seems to be the point.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, Dead Boy Detectives was shopped around to various suitors, and ultimately, Netflix came out on top with the winning bid. Of note, Netflix is already home to The Sandman, which is also based in the world of DC Comics. Both comics come from the mind of Neil Gaiman, so there is a bit of a pattern emerging here. As for why Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company that owns HBO Max, let this one go? It’s somewhat complicated while, at the same time, kind of simple.
For one, DC studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran recently shared their new plans for the shared DC Universe. One of those shows is Creature Commandos, which looks to be of interest to horror fans who may not regularly pay attention to superhero stuff. More to the point, the universe will be unified across movies, TV, and even video games. Dead Boy Detectives reportedly didn’t fit into those plans. So, it was sold to the highest bidder. Beyond that, Warner Bros. Discovery is trying to get its financials in order and has, as of late, been more interested in maximizing the bottom line by selling movies and TV shows elsewhere.
Steve Yockey (The Flight Attendant) is serving as showrunner along with Beth Schwartz (Arrow). Yockey wrote the pilot episode. The first season was originally reported to consist of eight episodes, with Greg Berlanti (The Flash) and Sarah Schechter (You) executive producing. In the original press release, the series was described as follows:
“It’s 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.”
Dead Boy Detectives does not yet have a release date set.
