This the article contains “Netflix” spoilersDead Child Detectives.”
When Dead Boy detectives Edwin Paine and Charles Rowland are first summoned by the Cat King, the shape-shifting feline only wants revenge after they break his rules.
But after taking Edwin away to talk privately about his crime and possible punishment, the Cat King is quick to admit that he is fascinated by the handsome teenage ghost. He shows off his seductive charm, shirtless and wearing a fur robe, and then magically traps Edwin in his small town.
“Because Edwin has so many walls up, it suddenly becomes a game for him,” said Lukas Gage, the actor who plays the Cat King in the supernatural drama. “Edwin is very cautious and well organized to attract the Cat King. He wants to rough him up a little bit and watch him get a little angry and dirty.”
Based on the comic book characters created by Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner, “Dead Boy Detectives,” now streaming on Netflix, follows Edwin (George Rexstrew) and Charles (Jayden Revri), the show's supernatural mystery solvers.
Edwin and Charles' long-standing routine and dynamic are shaken after they meet Crystal (Kassius Nelson), a lively teenager with a demonic ex-boyfriend and no memories of her past.
The Cat King (Lukas Gage), left, is fascinated by Edwin (George Rexstrew) in “Dead Boy Detectives.”
(Netflix)
“We always knew that part of the Season 1 journey for our three main characters was going to be an exploration of identity,” said Steve Yockey, who developed the series.
“All of our characters are trying to figure out who they are,” added Beth Schwartz, who was co-showrunner with Yockey. “They're teenagers and they tell a coming-of-age story, but in a non-traditional way because two of our main characters are dead.”
For Charles, who died in the 1980s after being attacked by school bullies, this means confronting why he is so outwardly happy and positive all the time. Crystal, with no memories of herself, has to discover her real identity and who she wants to be after a toxic relationship.
“We wanted to attack Edwin from all sides,” Yockey said. “The Cat King is that older, experienced man who may not have the best of intentions but is also charming and seductive. Monty [a younger supernatural suitor], who you think has nefarious intentions, is actually just trying to be sincerely affectionate towards Edwin. We're just giving him all these different experiences and revealing contexts as he slowly realizes, 'Oh, wait, this is something that I am and it's okay.'”
In addition to realizing that he is attracted to men, Edwin has to analyze his feelings for his best friend throughout the season. According to Yockey, the relationship between Cat King and Edwin was of particular interest to the show's gay writers because it was a dynamic that many of them were familiar with.
“When you start coming out, you always find a more experienced gay man who is happy to take your hand and walk you into that world, and not always with the best of intentions,” Yockey said. His goal was to “capture that in a supernatural way.”
Crystal (Kassius Nelson), from left, Charles (Jayden Revri), Edwin (George Rexstrew) and Monty (Joshua Colley) in “Dead Boy Detectives.”
(Netflix)
While “Dead Boy Detectives” takes place within the broader “Sandman” universe (represented by a couple of cameos), Cat King is an original character that Yockey created for the series. A longtime fan of the “Dead Boy Detectives” comics, the showrunner of “The Flight Attendant” explained that they wanted to make the Cat King “as funny as possible.”
“And then we got Lukas and that fun became a reality,” Yockey said.
Gage, who has played a number of memorable roles on hit shows such as “The White Lotus,” “You” and “Fargo,” said he didn't have much time to really prepare for Cat King since it immediately concluded. this year’s remake of “Road House.” It wasn't until he put on the Cat King's robes and put on makeup for the costume fitting that he discovered the character.
“He has a lot of hair and I remember [thinking] There is a little bit of sensuality to this character,” Gage said. “He feels very comfortable in a robe and seducing this ghost in his lair.”
Gage admits that he was drawn to the project primarily for the opportunity to work with Yockey, although he describes himself as an animal person who loves both dogs and cats.
“I have been fascinated by cats and how they play hard to get and give you a little [of affection] and then they're like, 'Okay, I'm done with you, leave me alone,'” said Gage, who says his time as Cat King was a joy. “I've always liked playing these types of complicated characters that you don't know if you hate or like.”
Lukas Gage says the Cat King is not trustworthy, not even with himself.
(Netflix)
For Gage, part of the thrill of playing characters like the Cat King, whose backstory is a mystery, is “the creative freedom of filling in the blanks yourself.” So although he describes the Cat King as a brat, he believes it is due to past heartbreak.
The Cat King “clearly has a lot of wisdom and has been around for a long time, but there were a lot of idiosyncrasies to him,” Gage said. “He seemed so cold and heartless, but I think he came from a place of being heartbroken for hundreds of years.”
What made the Cat King particularly funny to Gage is that he is untrustworthy and a liar, even to himself. So, when creating the character, Gage was interested in exploring the Cat King's anger as well as his narcissism.
“He loves hearing the sound of his own voice,” Gage said. “She loves the look of him. Love his body. I wanted to get in touch with that and [explore] how much of that was actually a lie, how much of that was a mask, how much of that was a facade.”
For Gage, the Cat King's thirst for attention, at least, was something he could relate to as an actor.
“I can connect with that as a kid who felt like he didn't get enough attention growing up and [chose] This race where he was essentially going to make the world pay attention to him,” Gage said, laughing. The role also brought new challenges, such as acting in front of tennis balls that were stand-ins for cats that would be added digitally later. (Yockey and Schwartz said only two real cats were used during production.)
Niko (Yuyu Kitamura), left, and Crystal (Kassius Nelson) searching for the Cat King. Only two cats on the show were portrayed by real felines.
(Netflix)
And although he starts out just playing with Edwin, “There's something beautiful about this person who's been around for hundreds of years but still has the giddiness and the butterflies of being in love and falling in love again,” Gage said.
The showrunners attribute the Cat King's unique appeal to Gage's performance.
“Lukas brought this performance fully realized,” Yockey said. “He has this kind of wink to what he does, and I think it's really fun to see a character joking about sexuality on a show that can sometimes be very serious about the subject.”
“Even though this infamous character is a total predator, people come away from the show loving him because of Lukas' charm,” Schwartz said. “He brought a different side to the Cat King, where the Cat King also starts to learn something about himself.”
Gage describes the Cat King arc as going from “tired to open to possibilities.”
Gage said he also recognizes that “aspiring to be a supernatural creature is, in some ways, the cornerstone of queer culture,” having been so obsessed with “True Blood” in high school that he wanted to be a vampire. “From my experience in the queer community, we love a form of expression other than dialogue. There is something similar to dragging supernatural things.
“There's a part of my preteen emo punk [and] “Teenage me who would have devoured this show and the queerness of it all.”
