‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ Fans Rejoice Because a Live-Action Series Is Officially on the Way

It’s official — a live-action series of the viral book phenomenon that is Dungeon Crawler Carl is coming.

The LitRPG series, with its 8th book set for release in 2026, has garnered legions of fans and sold over 6 million copies. Not bad for a series that started for free on the web.

Fans are more than ready to see this series on the small screen, though opinions differ on how it should be done. For now, here’s what you should know.

What Is Dungeon Crawler Carl?

If you’ve missed out on the Dungeon Crawler Carl experience thus far, don’t worry, you aren’t the only one. However, it’s time to get up to speed.

The series, written by Matt Dinniman, began as a free web serial. Soon, readers came in droves, drawn in by the LitRPG, sci-fi, and fantasy aspects, as well as the humor. (LitRPG stands for Literary Roleplaying Game, so think Dungeons & Dragons or video games, but in book form, with characters gaining power-ups as they go along or discovering loot crates.)

Word of mouth started to spread, and a viral sensation was born. Not long after that, major publishing houses caught wind of Dungeon Crawler Carl, and a bidding war ended with a lucrative publishing deal.

So, what is the story about? One random night, the world ends. An alien invasion has arrived to strip the Earth of all its minerals; however, there is a process by which the planet’s residents can reclaim their home. Unfortunately, the invasion wiped out most of humanity, but a few people remain, including Carl, a 27-year-old former Coast Guard member. Along with him for the ride is his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut.

If they want their planet back, Carl and the rest of the survivors must compete in a dungeon crawl and make it to the 18th dungeon, which is where the LitRPG elements come into play. This competition is streamed across the universe as a game show called Dungeon Crawler World. As they make their way through the crawl, Carl and Princess Donut meet others, have boss fights, and deal with an ever-erratic AI, among other things. Eventually, Princess Donut gains the ability to talk and use magic.

What About the TV Show?

As for the TV show, fans were expecting an animated series, so while they’re excited about the live-action version, they are also wary. Some fear overdone CGI in creating Princess Donut, the aliens, or the dungeon-crawl setting.

However, the series will be coming from Seth MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door company, and MacFarlane (probably best known for Family Guy) has created other live-action shows set in non-realistic worlds, including the sci-fi comedy The Orville and Ted, about a sentient teddy bear.  

Author Matt Dinniman celebrated the announcement of the Peacock series and also reassured fans while speaking with Variety that, “[We’re] not going to do it if it’s gonna look like absolute s***. And they will do CGI testing on Princess Donut and stuff like that. And that’s all I can say, I think. It’s all gonna hinge on what it looks like.”

Everything is still in the early stages, so there’s no word on when Peacock will release the Dungeon Crawler Carl series or even who will play the titular character, so fans will want to keep an eye out for further updates.

(feature image: Dungeon Crawler Carl)

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