A new DC Universe horror series is on the way, called Dead Boy Detectives. The show is the brainchild of Steve Yockey (The Flight Attendant) and Jeremy Carver (Doom Patrol), and uses Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and Dead Boy Detectives comics as source material, according to a release by HBO Max.
The streaming service offered this synopsis of the show:
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.
Sounds like spooky fun. Yockey wrote the pilot and will serve as showrunner as well as executive producer, along with Carver, Greg Berlanti, and Sarah Schechter. The renowned fantasy author Neil Gaiman and visual artist Matt Wagner created the characters.
Yockey said he’s been enamored with the source material for a while now.
“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.”
Sarah Aubrey, head of original content at HBO Max, said the series was the perfect addition to HBO Max’s already-robust DC programming.
“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.”
There’s no release date just yet for the show.