The problem with Netflix shows is that there are just so many, even good ones can fall through the cracks. It’s simply impossible to keep track of or watch everything. You just have to find the ones that speak to you. So, if you’re into sci-fi oddities, tall skinny young men, My Chemical Romance, and Neil Gaiman, your day—and show—has finally arrived.
Netflix just revealed the first trailer for Dead Boy Detectives, a new show based on Neil Gaiman characters that debuted in The Sandman and have since appeared across his works. Played by George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri, they’re ghosts who have rejected the afterlife in favor of an existence helping other ghosts solve their deaths. But, tiptoeing on that line between life and death doesn’t make them any friends who are dead. Thankfully, they do make some who are living.
The trailer starts relatively normal and then continues to get weirder and weirder in a very fun way. Check it out.
Showrun by Steve Yockey (The Flight Attendant, Supernatural) and Beth Schwartz (Sweet Tooth, Arrow), Dead Boy Detectives is part of Netflix’s “Sandman Universe,” meaning the characters could, potentially, show up in other Gaiman fare, such as The Sandman. But for now, you have to assume it’s up to audiences to see if they’re into this new show, which looks decidedly more light and fun than that one.
And yet, there does seem to be a certain darkness here. A certain acknowledgment of fear and death that could link the worlds. If Dead Boy Detectives somehow brings all those different feelings, emotions, and tones together, maybe it becomes one of those rare Netflix breakouts. Or maybe it gains its own small, passionate fanbase and goes away quietly. We’ll find out which story it is on April 25.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
