Dead Boy Detectives Showrunners On Building A Story Within The Sandman Universe

Summary Dead Boy Detectives expands The Sandman universe on Netflix, featuring two deceased teenage detectives solving supernatural cases.

Co-showrunners Yockey and Schwartz discuss the show's connection to The Sandman and potential crossovers in the future.

The series balances supernatural cases with romance, portraying a bittersweet tone in the storytelling of the dead boy detectives.

Dead Boy Detectives co-showrunners Steve Yockey and Beth Schwartz tease the expansion of The Sandman universe on Netflix. The story of Edwin Paine and Charles Rowland is about to come to life as Netflix's Dead Boy Detectives will be fleshing out Neil Gaiman's The Sandman universe on the popular streaming platform. Initially conceived as a Max original, Dead Boy Detectives ended up landing on Netflix, allowing itself to now connect to The Sandman.

Starring George Rexstrew as Edwin and Jayden Revri as Charles, Dead Boy Detectives chronicles the adventures of two deceased teenagers who are doing everything in their power to avoid being collected by Death. As they have lived on as ghosts for decades, Edwin and Charles run the Dead Boy Detectives agency, as they aid the world with solving supernatural cases. The Netflix drama also stars Kassius Nelson as Crystal Palace, Yuyu Kitamura as Niko, Briana Cuoco as Jenny the Butcher, and Jenn Lyon as Esther.

Related The Sandman Season 2 Cast & Character Guide The Sandman is returning to Netflix for a season 2 and here are all the known cast members for the new season and where viewers know them from.

Screen Rant recently interviewed Yockey and Schwartz as the co-showrunners broke down Dead Boy Detectives season 1 and its place within The Sandman universe after beginning in Doom Patrol. Throughout the interview, the two Dead Boy Detectives creatives also chat about the balancing of case-of-the-weeks along with romance stories and whether or not there could be more crossovers with The Sandman TV show in a future season.

Steve Yockey & Beth Schwartz Preview Dead Boy Detectives Season 1

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Screen Rant: I have been excited for Dead Boy Detectives since they appeared in Doom Patrol, so it's great to finally have a fleshed-out version of them. For you, what was the biggest shift you had to make or what was the biggest challenge translating them to The Sandman universe where they weren't born?

Steve Yockey: I don't really think there was, I mean, obviously we had to recast because of the time that passed, and perhaps you noticed that those actors have all blown up on different things now. But we found this amazing young cast, and beyond that, there really wasn't much because the plan was always, they'll be platformed on Doom Patrol, and then we will create our own show that will sort of be its own thing. And then in moving to Netflix, we were allowed to marry into the Sandman universe in a really beautiful way. Neil and Allan [Heinberg, showrunner for The Sandman] have been so incredibly open and supportive, like, 'Please use this character!' We're like, [gasps] it's an embarrassment of riches. No challenges, each time the show moves or hits a little roadblock, it ends up better for it, so that's a nice place to be.

Moving From The Arrowverse To The Sandman Universe

Image via Netflix

Beth, you worked in the Arrowverse, which I was a fan of from day one, and I feel like Dead Boy Detectives has a little bit of zany Legends of Tomorrow energy for you. Do you feel like working in that world has helped you in building this new one?

Beth Schwartz: Yeah, the friendship group is obviously the DNA in all those shows, and I think that's why people relate to them so much besides all the fun genre aspects, but I feel like you want to hang out - just like you're with these ladies right now - I feel like you want to be a part of this group so badly, [it is] so much fun.

Potential For Future Crossovers With The Sandman

Steve, as you mentioned, we get a couple of Sandman cameos. Are you foreseeing a full-on crossover with Sandman in the future and building out the universe in that way?

Steve Yockey: I mean, what I foresee and what's going to happen are not always the same thing - although we do pretty well. I think Beth and I agree that further crossover would be really cool. But the thing is that it needs to be specific. We specifically have Death in the pilot because Death is the character that's driving our story, even when she doesn't appear. Because the boys are hiding from her. And later in the season, we have some other appearances that are timed specifically to what our characters are going through. I think as long as there is an emotional and narrative reason to have them, yes. But I don't think we're just going to be pulling people willy-nilly just to get the kind of pop. Beth Schwartz: Yeah, if it makes sense to the story. Because they are two totally different shows, so it has to make sense within our show to pull some. Steve Yockey: I do, however, think George and Jayden would probably pay money to go be on Sandman. They would pay to show up over there.

Romance For The Dead Boy Detectives

Image via Netflix

The boys are dead, but there is a lot of life amongst them and a lot of romance in our midst. Can you talk about striking that balance being supernatural cases and team romcom?

Beth Schwartz: Ooh, team romcom. I love that. Steve Yockey: Well, really depressing romcom. Beth Schwartz: We designed the show, so there's a case of the week every episode. You have that fun supernatural where they're trying to solve a mystery in the supernatural world and then the romance is just naturally built in. We have teenage characters, even though our two boys are dead, they died before they were able to grow up. So they still have that young teenage mindset where they're looking for their own identity [that] they haven't quite found yet, and they're now working with a living girl. that changes things up a lot, especially for Charles and then changes things for Edwin because then he becomes a third wheel and gets a little jealous. I feel like it is very natural the way that the romance sparks between our characters. Steve Yockey: A very touchstone for us is the word bittersweet and what's fun is that - you'll find that in all the episodes in the storytelling - happy endings still have sad parts. The sad endings still have uplifting parts. But with the romance in particular, and I've only been thinking about this recently, we didn't do it on purpose, but in a very pure functional way. None of the romances can be successful in our show, but they still try. Anyway, that's the bittersweet, that's the heartbreaking part, which I think is great.

About Dead Boy Detectives

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Do you have a pesky ghost haunting you? Has a demon stolen your core memories? You may want to ring the Dead Boy Detectives. Meet Edwin Payne (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri), “the brains” and “the brawn” behind the Dead Boy Detectives agency. Teenagers born decades apart who find each other only in death, Edwin and Charles are best friends and ghosts… who solve mysteries. They will do anything to stick together – including escaping evil witches, Hell and Death herself. With the help of a clairvoyant named Crystal (Kassius Nelson) and her friend Niko (Yuyu Kitamura), they are able to crack some of the mortal realm’s most mystifying paranormal cases.

Check back soon for our other Dead Boy Detectives interviews:

George Rexstrew (Edwin Paine) & Jayden Revri (Charles Rowland)

Kassius Nelson (Crystal Palace) & Yuyu Kitamura (Niko)

Dead Boy Detectives will be premiering its entire first season on April 25, only on Netflix.

Source: Screen Rant Plus