Technology
Dead Boy Detectives: release date, plot, cast and trailer
If you’re missing Sandman, a new dark universe series created by Neil Gaiman just dropped on Netflix. Dead Boy Detectives tells the story of two minds – Edwin Payne and Charles Rowland – who founded an agency that specializes in solving puzzles that are out of this world.
The ghosts of the teenage boys first appear in Season of Mists, the fourth installment of the Sandman series. Edwin and Charles returned in Gaiman’s comic book The Children’s Crusade, in which they founded an amateur detective agency. They also appeared in The Books of Magic short story and had their own comic miniseries, Sandman Presents: Dead Boy Detectives by Ed Brubaker and Bryan Talbot.
Here’s everything you need to know about Netflix’s adaptation of this story.
To learn more about Sandman, check out our overview of the show’s second season.
When is Dead Boy Detectives released?
The series is now available to stream on Netflix.
Dead Boy Detectives consists of 8 episodes.
What is the plot of Dead Boy Detectives?
In 1916, Edwin Payne was a boarding school student at St. Hilarion. After a ritual of black magic performed by other students, his soul was dragged to hell and tormented by a demon. However, Edwin finally managed to escape.
In 1990 he met Charles Rowland, another student at St Hilarion’s school, who died after being tortured by bullies. The boys chose to remain on Earth as ghosts rather than enter the afterlife. They also decided to create a detective agency to solve crimes of supernatural origin.
As the show’s official description reads:
Dead Boy Detectives is a fresh take on a ghost story that explores loss, grief and death through the lens of Edwin Payne and Charles Rowland… and their living friend, Crystal Palace. It’s a lot like a vintage detective series, only darker and on acid.
Interestingly enough, Edwin and Charles already appeared in the third season of the HBO series Doom Patrol. They were played by Ty Tennant and Sebastian Croft. However, the Netflix series will not reference that version of the adventures of the Dead Boy Detectives.
Who is in the cast of Dead Boy Detectives?
The world of Sandman is filled with strange and terrifying creatures, and the spin-off is no different. Below you can see who portrays ghosts, witches and other strange characters.
- George Rexstrew – Edwin Paine, a student at St. Hilarion’s boarding school for boys, whose soul was dragged to hell
- Jayden Revri – Charles Rowland, another student at St. Hilarion’s, who died in 1990
- Kassius Nelson – Crystal Palace, a paranormal medium suffering from amnesia
- Yuyu Kitamura – Niko Sasaki, a Japanese student who can see ghosts
- Jen Lyon – Esther Finch, the immortal witch who seeks revenge on the Dead Boy Detectives
- Briana Cuoco – Jenny Green, the owner of Tongue & Tail butcher shop
- Ruth Connell – the Night Sister, the agent of Death who guides the lost souls of children to a suitable afterlife
- Michael beach – Tragic Mick, owner of a magic shop
- Luke Gage – Thomas the Cat King, a shapeshifter with nine lives
- Joshua Colley – Monty, Esther’s famous crow, transformed into a handsome boy
- David Jacobo – David the Demon, Crystal’s ex-boyfriend, who can possess people
- Kirby Howell Baptist – Death of the endless
- Lindsey Gort – Maxine
- Caitlin Reilly – Lily
- Max Jenkins – Kingham
Steve Yockey (The Flight Attendant, Supernatural) and Beth Schwartz (Sweet Tooth, Arrow) serve as showrunners for the series.
Watch the Dead Boy Detectives trailer
In the show’s first trailer, Edwin and Charles deal with all kinds of monstrosities:
This short excerpt from the series introduces a bizarre creature:
