Neil Gaiman’s Hit Netflix Series Canceled After One Season

Despite positive reviews and connections to the popular Sandman series, Netflix has decided to cancel Dead Boy Detectives after just one season. The supernatural comedy-mystery series, which follows two deceased detectives solving mysteries among the living, was originally ordered as a pilot for Max in 2021 but was later acquired by Netflix in 2023.

Despite its troubled production history, Dead Boy Detectives received strong reviews from both critics and audiences. The show’s performance on Rotten Tomatoes, with scores of 90% and 92%, would imply that it was a potential success for Netflix. However, while the ratings were high, the viewership didn’t match (per Variety), which may have led to its cancellation.

The series featured many characters from the Sandman universe, including Death and Despair, suggesting that Netflix may have been planning to expand the Gaiman-based universe. This could have been a great way to compete with the growing trend of creating franchises that exist in the same world. We’ve seen House of Dragons continue the Game of Thrones universe, and even Universal tried to make a Dark Universe. However, the cancellation of Dead Boy Detectives shows that these plans may have been scrapped.

This is a huge hit to the fans who enjoyed the show, and based on the ratings, it may be more of a marketing issue than a reception issue. Netflix is no stranger to getting rid of shows that do well for those who watch because those cancellations often get blamed on viewership. However, it’s easy to see that Netflix doesn’t do a great job marketing the shows that do well unless you’re actively searching for them.

If you don’t go to the top 10s, you won’t see anything about other popular shows like Dead Boy Detectives. This kind of thing hurts the streaming industry, as a show can’t get a chance to flourish if it does everything well but can’t get in front of the intended audience.

It is unfortunate to see such a well-beloved show get canceled, especially from such a prolific author. However, this could always be just a speed bump in creating a universe for Netflix. Some of the characters from the canceled series will appear in future Sandman seasons, and Netflix might revisit the Gaiman universe in the future. If Netflix had big plans, they likely wouldn’t drop the franchise at just one cancellation. We may see more around this universe in the future.