Before James Gunn's DCU begins, Netflix surprised fans by announcing a new live-action show to be released soon.
While Warner Bros. is known to use Max as the core home for everything within the greater DC Universe, other streamers have also hosted various properties from the blue brand.
In 2023, Max abandoned a Batman series called Batman: Caped Crusader, selling the rights for this new Dark Knight-centric series to Amazon Prime Video.
Prime Video also released Merry Little Batman at the end of 2023, although it will not be the only streamer to make this move.
DC's Next Live-Action Show Coming to Netflix
Variety announced that Netflix will host the release of Dead Boy Detectives, a lesser-known DC property, starting on April 25.
The series was initially announced for a Max release in April 2022, but it has since switched streaming hosts.
Season 1 will consist of eight episodes, with the entire season seemingly set to hit Netflix on the same day.
In recent months, Warner Bros. has shuffled around some of its other DC programming, with multiple movies from the DCEU streaming on services other than Max.
Netflix already hosts Season 1 of The Sandman (another more obscure DC property), and Season 2 is likely to hit the service sometime in 2025.
[ HBO Max Abandons Batman Movie, Gets Picked Up By Competitor ]
Why Is Dead Boy Detectives Not Releasing on Max?
Coming as another Neil Gaiman creation, the Dead Boy Detectives are the ghosts of two young boys who stay on Earth to investigate supernatural crimes rather than go into the afterlife.
As for why they will debut on Netflix instead of Max, Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav sees the decision as one that helps the company succeed financially more than anything else.
Speaking with The Wrap in November after multiple DCEU movies moved to other streamers, Zaslav pointed out how his company "always [has]...the complete set of all those movies" while other platforms only have them temporarily. To him, the idea is to have viewers make their way over to Max to get the full DC catalog after getting a small tease elsewhere:
"Someone might have it for three months or six months. We always have those movies and we have the complete set of all those movies. And candidly, we have found that we won’t do it unless the economics are significant. But in many cases, it really helps us. People come back and then they want to see the full bouquet of DC movies and the only place to do that is with us. Or it enhances the quality of the DC library."
He also made it clear that Warner Bros is always looking at other opportunities like this one, analyzing how to "maximize the value" with each decision:
"I think we’re trying to figure out exactly how to maximize the value, and we debate it all the time."
Even while James Gunn's new DCU timeline gets settled out, bringing multiple projects into one continuity, Warner Bros. appears to have no intention of cutting ties with other streamers anytime soon.
Dead Boy Detectives will debut on Netflix on April 25.
Read the latest on other DC properties:
Netflix Announces Removal of 12 Major Superhero Movies
My Adventures With Superman Season 2 Gets Exciting Release Update (Official)
