‘Dead Boy Detectives’ Team Details Making ‘The Hardy Boys on Acid’ (VIDEO)
We are living for Dead Boy Detectives.
In Netflix‘s cheeky new dramedy, the supernatural duo created by Neil Gaiman and introduced in The Sandman graphic novels jumps from page to screen (and into hearts, we’re betting), thanks to the utterly lovely chemistry between stars George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri. And to prove that Dead men do tell tales, we asked the guys to explain what’s up with their best mates from the beyond.
“My character’s called Edwin Payne, and in 1916, he died as the result of a demonic summoning ritual gone very, very wrong. And that sent him to Hell for 70 years,” offers relative newcomer Rexstrew. “He managed to escape and shortly after his escape, he went back to his old school, St. Hilorian’s, where he died and came across Charles, who was on the cusp of death. Edwin actually nursed him in his final few hours, and when Charles died, they ran off together and started a supernatural detective agency.”
As for Revri’s Charles Rowland, “he died in 1989,” continues the Fate: The Winx Saga alum. “The reason for his death was hypothermia and internal bleeding, [and] the reason of those injuries, quite brutal, but obviously it was his friends at the time… It happened because he stuck up for somebody who was from the same background as him, and yeah, he ended up dying at the school where he meets Edwin. And just like George said, the rest is kind of history, really.”
Netflix
Of course, it’s a lot easier to take on more Earthly cases at the agency if they have living, breathing backup, and that comes early on in the form of some wild co-workers, including amnesiac psychic Crystal Palace (Kassius Nelson), who can both see the guys and annoy them. Joining the Scooby gang is Yuyu Kitamora‘s Niko Sasaki, a young woman whose possession by a demonic parasite has also granted her the ability to see Charles and Edwin.
“From the moment Crystal kind of comes into the agency, I think things change between Edwin and Charles,” previews Revri. “And then obviously some of the characters we meet throughout, like you said, are wild.” Just wait until you meet Lukas Gage‘s Cat King or the witch Esther Finch (Jenn Lyon). And for Supernatural fans, we got Ruth Connell up in here causing all sorts of trouble as a bureaucrat from another realm.
Developed by Steve Yockey, who actually introduced the first iteration of these characters on an episode of Doom Patrol and co-showruns with Arrow‘s Beth Schwartz, DBD is a potent potion of comedy, horror and action, with a beating heart of LGBQT representation, not only in buttoned-up Edwin’s unrequited crush on his edgier straight pal, but also through various supporting relationships that developed throughout the season. Just don’t expect piles of gay angst or queer-baiting ploys to drive the drama. Yockey and Schwartz are instead intent on showcasing the power of love between friends, regardless who they themselves love or what they have given up to stay together.
“Basically we’re making the Hardy Boys on acid,” says Yockey. “So we can do every crazy thing in the world, but the most important thing is that these boys chose each other over going to the afterlife and potentially having a blissful forever to stay here and help other people. And I think that friendship is sort of what it’s all built around.”
Watch the full video interview above.
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