Dead Boy Detectives is an in-development HBO Max live-action TV series based on the DC/Vertigo comics of the same name created by Neil Gaiman.
An April 2022 report reveals that the show has been given an eight-episode series order from the mega streamer.
Steve Yockey (The Flight Attendant) and Beth Schwartz (Sweet Tooth) are co-showrunners and executive producers. Jeremy Carver is producing. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and David Madden and producing for Berlanti Productions.
Newcomer George Rexstrew is set to play Edwin Paine while Jayden Revri (The Lodge) will play Charles Rowland. Paine and Rowland are two boys who are murdered, almost a century apart, but nevertheless decline to go to the afterlife choosing to instead solve mysteries in the present. Kassius Nelson (Last Night in Soho) is cast as Crystal Palace, a psychic medium who provides their link to the world of the living.
The cast also includes Lukas Gage (The White Lotus) as Thomas The Cat King, Briana Cuoco (Harley Quinn) as Jenny, Jenn Lyon (Justified) as Esther, Yuyu Kitamura (The Expatriates) as Niko, Ruth Connell (Doom Patrol) as Night Nurse, Michael Beach (Dahmer: Monster) as Tragic Mick, Joshua Colley (Senior Year) as Monty, Lindsey Gort (All Rise) as Maxine, Caitlin Reilly (Hacks) as Litty and Max Jenkins as Kingham.
HBO Max offers this description of the series: "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."
The characters appeared in the third season of Doom Patrol but this series will be a fresh start, although Connell also played Night Nurse on that run.
