Case closed, whether you like it or not. Variety reports that Dead Boy Detectives has been cancelled by Netflix after just one season.
Based on characters created by Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner, Dead Boy Detectives follows Edwin Payne (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri), two teen ghosts who work alongside a clairvoyant (Kassius Nelson) to solve mysteries for their supernatural clientele — until a powerful witch complicates their plans. The series takes place in the same universe as The Sandman, which was renewed for a second season. Steve Yockey developed Dead Boy Detectives and served as co-showrunner and executive producer alongside Beth Schwartz. Greg Berlanti, Jeremy Carver, Sarah Schechter, Leigh London Redman, and Gaiman also served as executive producers of the series.
Dead Boy Detectives was originally set up at Max, which ordered a pilot in 2021 before giving it a series order a year later. However, the series made the leap to Netflix in 2023, reportedly because it didn’t fit with DC Studios’ new direction once James Gunn and Peter Safran took charge. The series did relatively well in the viewership department upon its release, spending three weeks on Netflix’s Top 10 English TV chart before it fell off. Critics loved the series, which sits at 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Our own Alex Maidy was a fan, although he didn’t think it was quite on the same level as The Sandman. “While existing in the same world, they are very different series but ones that complement each other very well,” Maidy wrote. “While The Sandman evokes questions about our own existence and mortality, Dead Boy Detectives is a lot of fun with a group of characters that are enjoyable to watch. There are certainly stakes for these characters, and I would love to see them get raised in a second season, but as it is, Dead Boy Detectives is a show you can casually watch and enjoy or pay close attention to for connections to a larger universe. Whichever route you take when you put this show on your television, I am pretty confident you will enjoy it.” You can check out the rest of Maidy’s review right here.
Are there any fans of Dead Boy Detectives out there who are sad to see the series get cancelled?