HBO Max orders Dead Boy Detectives pilot, but a series isn't guaranteed

WarnerMedia has ordered a pilot episode of Dead Boy Detectives based on the DC Comics characters created by popular author Neil Gaiman. As the name suggests, the story revolves around two dead individuals who hang around Earth investigating crimes rather than moving on to the afterlife.

News about the pilot order first surfaced at Variety, which reported that the episode will be executive produced and written by Steve Yockey and Warner Bros. Television will serve as the studio behind the project. At this time, the report claims, the pilot doesn't yet have a director.

Deadline then published a report backing up the claims. The DC Comics series features the characters Charles Rowland who enjoys various supernatural powers like teleportation in his non-living state; he's joined by Edwin Paine who has the same ghostly abilities.

Assuming the report is correct, Rowland may be played by actor Sebastian Croft and Paine may be played by Ty Tennant, though neither are alleged to be attached to the pilot at this time. Likewise, the reports claim that production on the episode will start in November.

The reports claim that WarnerMedia has ordered only a pilot episode at this time, which means it is possible the series won't get a full season order. If a full season is ordered, it seems Dead Boy Detectives will be exclusive to the HBO Max streaming platform.