The Sandman universe is about to begin on Netflix with the upcoming release of its first spinoff, Dead Boys Detectives, this month. The series’ stars are now busy promoting the show, and they recently discussed how a cat helped set up the production tone.
In an interview with ComicBook, George Rexstrew, who plays Edwin Paine, revealed the scenes he filmed on his first day on the set of Dead Boy Detectives. At the time, they made three sequences: throwing Jayden Revri’s (Charles Rowland) stunt double, Josh, through a mirror, a walk and talk with Revri and Kassius Nelson (Crystal Palace) on ice, and working with a cat named Sebastian.
But don’t belittle this cat. Sebastian is a trained feline who, as Rexstrew put it, is a "better actor than them."
However, despite the feline's cuteness, the actors must not pet it after being told not to “stroke the cat.”
“It's like, ‘How?! This thing, it's right in front of me, staring at me,’” Revri said.
Though they are not allowed to touch Sebastian, Rexstrew revealed that it helped shape the production of the show filming, "that kind of set the tone really for the whole shoot,” he added.
Things started getting weirder as they began filming “gnarly” scenes the way through. Yuyu Kitamura (Niko) described every scene and episode they did daily as “out of this world” that she couldn’t even imagine.
“And so, getting to be on set and standing in the room with our cast in our costume, it's so out of body in a sense,” she continued.
To give viewers an idea of what they’re about to see in Dead Boys Detective, Nelson revealed that there would be blood and that the characters would be seen doing “something really weird” that no one would ever do in real life.
“So yeah, I agree. Any kind of day on set was a bit interesting,” Nelson teased.
Is Dead Boy Detectives Connected to The Sandman?
Set in the same universe as The Sandman and based on the characters created for DC by Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner, Dead Boy Detectives is connected to the story of the King of Dreams, Morpheus.
Its trailer shows the appearance of Death from The Sandman series, with Kirby Howell-Baptiste reprising her role.
But despite the connection between the two shows, the spinoff’s showrunners cleared that fans don’t have to see The Sandman or read the comics to appreciate the show.
Dead Boy Detective follows the story of Edwin and Charles. They are 'the brains' and 'the brawn' of the Dead Boy Detectives agency they have built.
However, despite being born decades apart, they meet each other after their deaths and become the best of friends and ghosts who solve supernatural mysteries.
The two do everything to stick together to finish their unfinished businesses, even if they have to avoid evil witches, hell, and Death to stay in the mortal realm.
With Crystal and her friend Niko's help, they’re about to solve the most mystifying paranormal cases in the real world.
Dead Boys Detectives will be released on Netflix on April 25, 2024, while The Sandman is now available to stream.
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