DEAD BOY DETECTIVES. (L to R) Kassius Nelson as Crystal Palace, Yuyu Kitamura as Niko Sasaki and George Rexstrew as Edwin Payne in episode 4 of DEAD BOY DETECTIVES. Cr. Ed Araquel/Netflix © 2023
The wait is finally over Dead Boy Detectives is here! The paranormal series, set within Netflix’s ‘Sandman Universe,’ has gotten off to a great start with fantastic reviews from critics and casual viewers, but is that enough to merit another season? Let’s investigate.
Created by Neil Gaiman, the Dead Boy Detectives have their origin within the Sandman comics, making their first appearance in Sandman issue #25. Over the years, the duo have had adventures in comic books written by various authors. The TV show is not a one-to-one adaptation of any of the comics, unlike The Sandman series, which is incredibly faithful to its source material. Developed by Steve Yockey (The Flight Attendant) and Beth Schwartz (Arrow), the 8-episode series stars George Rexstrew, Jayden Revri, Kassius Nelson, Briana Cuoco, Ruth Connell, Yuyu Kitamura and Jenn Lyon.
Dead Boy Detectives follows deceased duo Edwin Paine (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri), best friends born decades apart who find each other as ghosts. Rather than entering the afterlife, the two decide to escape the grasp of death and instead remain in the mortal world, solving myriad paranormal mysteries through their Dead Boy Detectives agency. Their cases involve everything from possessed people and evil witches to haunted houses. And in many of their cases, they’re joined by clairvoyant friend Crystal Palace (Kassius Nelson) and Niko (Yuyu Kitamura). The series is a dazzling, irreverent, comedic adventure. Check out the trailer:
Dead Boy Detectives Season 2 Renewal Status
Currently, Netflix has not renewed Dead Boy Detectives for season 2. Given how the show ends on a cliffhanger, seeing (spoiler) Niko seemingly alive and well after ‘dying’ whilst holding the trinket handed to her by Tragic Mick (Michael Beach), it’s all set up for a second season. Plus, Netflix has shown plenty of intent to extend the Sandman Universe after renewing the mother show for more episodes. This bodes well for Dead Boy Detectives.
One show we’re looking to for performance benchmarking is Lockwood & Co., which was famously canceled midway through 2023, ending after only a single season. We’ll need to see Dead Boy Detectives surpass the performance of that show at the very least at a shot of getting a renewal.
As a reminder of its performance, here’s how it broke down:
| Week Period | Hours Viewed | Rank | Week in Top 10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 22nd, 2023 to January 29th, 2023 | 25,120,000 | 6 | 1 |
| January 29th, 2023 to February 5th, 2023 | 39,420,000 (+57%) | 1 | 2 |
| February 5th, 2023 to February 12th, 2023 | 15,370,000 (-61%) | 7 | 3 |
Zooming out and looking at completed viewing equivalents, (or views, as Netflix calls it), we’ll need to see it get above 30 million within 28 days to be within a shot of getting renewed.
Of course, it took Netflix several months to renew The Sandman for additional episodes. If Dead Boy Detectives follows a similar path, we may wait a while for an announcement. Please keep checking back; we’ll update this post with any updates about the status of season 2 and break down the stats here and within our Netflix top 10 reports.
In the meantime, The Sandman season 2 is set to premiere sometime in 2025. We may see even see the Dead Boys appear in the new batch of episodes.
What to expect from Dead Boy Detectives season 2
We don’t know which stories Dead Boy Detectives season 2 would cover. With that said, co-showrunner Beth Schwartz has revealed that the team has plans to take the story further — not only for season 2, but for season 3 and beyond as well.
“If we get a season two, we have plans coming off the end of season one,” she told SFX Magazine. “We also have some ideas for season three. We’re ready. We’ve got the ideas. We’ve got the stuff. I don’t want to say too much, just because a lot of it comes off the finale.”
Turns out, Schwartz and Yockey are more than happy to keep the series running for as long as Netflix allows them to:
“Steve and I have talked about the very, very end of this series, but this is the kind of show that really could go on forever because the cases are so much fun and they get wilder and crazier as we go. Our characters, there’s no limit to where we can take them and where they can grow. So we’ll be on for as long as Netflix has us.”
Picture: Netflix
Moreover, if one thing is for sure, the team is keen to keep crossovers with The Sandman coming. In season 1, we got brief cameos from two of the Endless: Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) and Despair (Donna Preston). Looking ahead to a hypothetical season 2, showrunner Steve Yockey believes there’s ample opportunity for more cameos. “I think as long as there is an emotional and narrative reason to have them, yes,” Yockey told Screen Rant, adding that any crossover has to be meaningful to the story. “But I don’t think we’re just going to be pulling people willy-nilly just to get the kind of pop.”
Note: Contains contributions from Kasey Moore.
All 8 episodes in Dead Boy Detectives season 1 are now streaming on Netflix.
Do you want to see Dead Boy Detectives come back for a season 2? Let us know in the comments down below.