A strong fan campaign on social media wasn’t enough to make Netflix renew Dead Boy Detectives for Season 2. The streamer has reportedly canceled the supernatural series after one season, adding another show to its far-too-long list of titles axed after just one go.
Dead Boy Detectives had a bumpy road to its series premiere in April 2024. The series was originally set to be a Max original and tied to the DC universe, as it’s based on a DC comic. It received a pilot order in 2021, and then a series order in 2022, but Max opted not to carry on with the series and it was sold to Netflix in 2023. Since it has narrative ties to The Sandman (it’s based on the Neil Gaiman comic of the same name, and the main characters were first introduced in a Sandman comic), Dead Boy Detectives was billed as part of that Netflix show’s universe. The first season debuted in full on Netflix in April, with eight episodes total.
Dead Boy Detectives centers 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. It also stars Jenn Lyon, Briana Cuoco, Lukas Gage, David Iacono, and Ruth Connell.
Variety was the first to report the show’s cancellation. Fans on X (formerly known as Twitter) are displeased that Netflix canceled another series with queer characters at the center after one season like Everything Now and First Kill, though that’s not the only reason they’re upset. Another YA Netflix series from 2023 that built a noteworthy fanbase, Lockwood & Co, was also canceled after one season.
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“Part of me feels like there needs to be a streaming service dedicated to LGBT content and included as a potential add-on to the big streaming services,” one X user wrote. “Stop canceling, the gays want their content!”
Fans of the series are understandably saddened by the cancellation, especially after many spent months advocating for its renewal under the #RenewDeadBoyDetectives and #SaveDeadBoyDetectives hashtags. A Change.org petition pushing for the series to be saved has already been created in the hour since news of Netflix’s decision broke. See fan reactions to the cancellation below.
Do you think Dead Boy Detectives deserves a second chance? Let us know in the comments section.
Renew Dead Boy Detetives on Netflix – Sign the Petition! https://t.co/xv1co7ZiHE via @Change #RenewDeadBoyDetective #SaveDeadBoyDetectives #DeadBoyDetectives— Sam || Charles Rowland Era, ccs (@CASD3AN) August 30, 2024
Me to @netflix right now. #DeadBoyDetectives #RenewDeadBoyDetectives #SaveDeadBoyDetectives pic.twitter.com/qZFhBxGGLa— Harrison135 #SaveDeadBoyDetectives (@hazad135) August 30, 2024
Part of me feels like there needs to be a streaming service dedicated to LGBT content and included as a potential add on to the big streaming services stop cancelling, the gays want their content!— scott (@sctbrt) August 30, 2024
#DeadBoyDetectives sadly joins the ranks of great shows canceled after just a single season, and I think at some point we have to ask how much this trend is keeping people from trying or investing in new streaming shows at all. https://t.co/hwyIcgH73d— Lacy Baugher Milas (@LacyMB) August 30, 2024
i feel so bad for every single person who worked on dead boy detectives and put all their love into it. i hope every single member of the cast has a wonderful career from this tv show. dead boy detectives did not deserve this cancellation.— ness ꩜ (@spritesfilms) August 30, 2024
Me at Netflix headquarters demanding they renew dead boy detectives: #DeadBoyDetectives #RenewDeadBoyDetectives #SaveDeadBoyDetectives pic.twitter.com/CHbaP0fxTk— // TROP S2 ERA (@giselleb1234) August 30, 2024
NETFLIX NEEDS TO GO BANKRUPT FOR CANCELLING DEAD BOY DETECTIVES pic.twitter.com/Lb7nxSxuI2— thomas (@fnwoodall) August 30, 2024
#DeadBoyDetectivesI love this show so much. And I can’t bring it back myself but I’ll be a voice in the crowd.It deserves it’s full chance.#savedeadboydetectives #renewdeadboydetectives pic.twitter.com/Ab8aVgWQ6W— Graves Edgar Rae || COMMS OPEN (@crypitick) August 30, 2024
Netflix is on a cancellation crusade this year https://t.co/sWxIuhx0k3— Blind Wanda (@BlindWanda) August 30, 2024
@netflix ok but like why? Can u give us an itemized list of reasons WHY you would cancel this excellent critically-acclaimed show?#DeadBoyDetectives #RenewDeadBoyDetectives #savedeadboydetectives https://t.co/0rRfuBoB0I— rilo | multifandom but dbd era (@namjoobs) August 30, 2024
Netflix you don’t deserve dead boy detectives. You don’t deserve anything! #DeadBoyDetectives #SaveDeadBoyDetectives pic.twitter.com/sQbaVMZc4s— S I L V I A (@SilviaMangiapa1) August 30, 2024
The world if Netflix didn’t cancel shows that had incredible writing and explicitly queer main characters: https://t.co/MNir8q1uLb pic.twitter.com/WQZnI3kzVp— AJ’s obsessed with dead boy detectives (@AJ_something_) August 30, 2024
Netflix really said “But I created you poorly then, so I must uncreate you now.” #DeadBoyDetectives pic.twitter.com/xJaw59JFFM— Laura ❦ | DBD ERA (@jaskiergerqlt) August 30, 2024
i genuinely believed the reason we hadn’t gotten any dead boy detectives news was because they were waiting until geeked week to announce s2 but i guess not ! why wait that long to announce a cancellation— g (@ghostravine) August 30, 2024
#DeadBoyDetectives being canceled is genuinely so upsetting, not only was @RuthieConnell stunning in it but the queer storylines were so good, @dicksp8jr did a phenomenal job directing on episode 7, and everyone did such a phenomenal job on it.— Mae (@maetheheller) August 30, 2024
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