All eight episodes of Dead Boy Detectives are now available to stream on Netflix, and while the trailers have already revealed that Kirby Howell-Baptiste's Death will appear, the DC Comics adaptation features more than just one character from The Sandman.
Major spoilers follow.
Death only drops by for a single scene in the season premiere to bring a wayward spirit to the afterlife, while Edwin Paine (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri) stay well clear in order to avoid a similar fate. However, much later on in the penultimate episode, Edwin encounters another of Morpheus' siblings during an unexpected - and very much unwanted - trip to Hell.
While being forced to experience old torments (Edwin spent decades in the underworld after a clerical error), the increasingly despondent ghost manages to jump through a mirror (a handy trick if you happen to be dead) and winds up in the realm of Despair of The Endless (Donna Preston).
The misery-loving being had been watching (getting off on?) Edwin's torture, and urges him to get back to it immediately ("Isn't it beautiful? Can't you just taste it?")
A journey to Hell might have been a good opportunity for a Lucifer cameo, but Gwendoline Christie's take on the Fallen Angel only gets a brief mention (to be fair, the Devil probably has better things to do than chase down a single rogue spirit).
Edwin is ultimately rescued by Charles, and the pair are soon thrust back into their ongoing feud with a very powerful witch named Esther (Jenn Lyon), but that's where the direct Sandman connections end.
The review embargo lifted day-of release, which isn't always a great sign. However, the show has been a huge hit with critics, and currently sits at a very impressive 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Have you watched any of Dead Boy Detectives yet? If so, what did you think? Drop us a comment down below.
The official logline for the show reads: “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.”
Rowland and Paine actually appeared in the third season of Doom Patrol, but were played by different actors (Sebastian Croft and Ty Tennant).
Dead Boy Detectives is part of The Sandman universe and based on the beloved comic series from Neil Gaiman. Steve Yockey (The Flight Attendant, Supernatural) and Beth Schwartz (Sweet Tooth, Arrow) serve as co-showrunners, with Greg Berlanti (Riverdale, You), Jeremy Carver (Supernatural), and Sarah Schechter (Riverdale, You) as executive producers.
The series also stars Briana Cuoco, Lukas Gage, David Iacono, and Ruth Connell.