Netflix’s Dead Boy Detectives is imminent, and as we wait for this TV adaptation of one of Neil Gaiman’s quirkier comics offerings, we’ve started gaining insights into the kind of show DBD is going to be. We can expect humor and supernatural weirdness, but also a poignant look at some important topics.
Dead Boy Detectives stars George Rexstrew as Edwin Payne and Jayden Revri as Charles Rowland, two teenage boys who’ve become ghost detectives (and best friends) in the afterlife after each died before his time. Together, with the help of a young, American psychic named Crystal Palace (Kassius Nelson), they solve supernatural crimes that may or may not bleed over into the world of the living.
Recently, TMS attended a screening of the first episode of Dead Boy Detectives and chat with co-showrunner Beth Schwartz (Sweet Tooth, Arrow) and we discussed, among other things, the ways in which the show examines injustice against marginalized people.
Without getting into spoiler territory, there were two topics that came up that I was pleasantly surprised by. First, there’s the issue of “who matters” when they goes missing. Who’s worth going to the trouble of looking for, and whom does society prioritize? Secondly, the pilot touches on issues around consent. Specifically, the fact that consent can be revoked at any time.
“The whole show is basically based around two teenage boys and how they ended up dying,” Schwartz says, reminding us of the serious trauma at the heart of this story. “The show is funny and weird, but really this is a show about two boys who died way too young and both, you’ll see, their deaths were very terrible.”
Not that the show is dour. It’s very much a supernatural teen dramedy in the vein of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, another Greg Berlanti joint. Schwartz explains, “A lot of these serious issues and matters we’ll discuss in the season, but it’s surrounded by this crazy [stuff]. Which I feel like only genre shows are able to do. So, it’s about these teenagers figuring out who they are, and their identities, and how the world works … but as ghosts. They’re learning in their afterlives.”
In addition to the issues above, there’s also the journey of one of the main characters who has a queer identity, and has had to deal with certain ramifications because of it.
“That is basically season one,” Schwartz says. “And I think it’s a beautiful story. It’s about friendship, and not knowing who you are. Especially as someone who grew up in a time where you can’t even talk about your feelings. It was just a different time.”
The friendships on the show, not just between the titular “Dead Boys,” but between them and two living girls, are at the heart of the series, and Schwartz appreciates the fact that these four characters from different time periods and life experiences, can help each other learn and grow.
“That’s what I love about this show is that they’re learning about themselves in a way that they wouldn’t have been able to in their own time period, and with this group of friends,” she says. In addition to Edwin, the “oldest” ghost, there’s “Charles, who went to the same school, but died in the 80s, and Crystal who’s modern and Niko is modern. All these different people with different experiences, and they all become the best of friends. Through each case, they learn different things as well.”
The main characters are indeed wonderfully complex, and the actors are incredibly charming to watch. “As much as it’s weird, crazy, fun, exciting, it also has these moments of real friendship and real growth,” Schwartz enthuses. “I just hope everyone loves these characters as much as we do.”
Dead Boy Detectives arrives April 25 on Netflix.
(featured image: Ed Araquel/Netflix)
