Dead Boy Detectives has arrived on Netflix, and Edwin and Charles are on the case! But will this new series be satisfying for fans of The Sandman? Are there any explicit ties to Morpheus’s realm—especially the upcoming season 2?
Sandman fans will be thrilled at the answer.
Right off the bat, Dead Boy Detectives establishes that it takes place in the Sandman universe. The show begins with Edwin (George Rexstrew) and Charles (Jayden Revri) chasing down a WWI-era ghost who needs some help moving on to the afterlife. Once they help him clear his head, they run and hide. Why? Because if Death finds them, she’ll split them up and end their friendship.
As Edwin and Charles hide on a window ledge, we see a familiar face inside their office: Kirby Howell-Baptiste, who plays Death. Death is a member of the Endless, or the personifications of the forces that rule the universe, and Death herself is a kind and comforting presence for souls whose time has come.
Plus, she’s straight out of The Sandman season 1.
There’s another big cameo later in Dead Boy Detectives, which we won’t spoil here, plus plenty of Easter eggs for Neil Gaiman fans. But suffice it to say that the series definitely ties into The Sandman.
In fact, Gaiman himself confirmed it at a virtual fan even that took place the day before the season dropped. Gaiman explained that while he and the showrunners originally thought they’d have to remove any Sandman references to avoid licensing issues, once Netflix bought the show, the streamer asked them to “plug it into” the Sandman universe.
But could the tie-in go the other way? Could we see the Dead Boy Detectives in The Sandman season 2, which is currently in production?
The Sandman season 2 has potential for a Dead Boy Detectives Crossover
Before the comic book series The Children’s Crusade and their guest appearance on Doom Patrol, the Dead Boy Detectives got their start in The Sandman issue #25. That issue was eventually collected in the graphic novel Season of Mists—and Season of Mists is one of the Sandman volumes that’s currently being adapted into The Sandman season 2.
So could we see Edwin and Charles in The Sandman? It wouldn’t make sense to adapt their origin story, since that’s already covered in Dead Boy Detectives, but we could get a nod to the series or some cameos. Whatever ends up happening, the potential for a crossover is definitely there.
(featured image: Netflix)
