Seth MacFarlane’s Upcoming Fantasy Series Is Already Making a Big Mistake

Seth MacFarlane is one of the biggest names in animation meant for adults, which is why many fans are so shocked that his upcoming series Dungeon Crawler Carl will be live-action. The Dungeon Crawler Carl novels by Matt Dinniman have exploded in popularity over the last few years, and an adaptation will come with a huge built-in audience eager to see this outrageous sci-fi fantasy brought to life. The show’s over-the-top premise and shock value humor make it a natural fit for animation, and when MacFarlane’s name was attached to the project, many fans assumed it would go that way. Now, there’s no telling how the story will translate into live-action — or what it will lose in the process.

Dungeon Crawler Carl debuted in October of 2020 when Dinniman self-published the first volume as an ebook and paperback. It gained traction quickly, and reports of a possible adaptation first broke in August of 2024. MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door Production was attached to the project from the start, and just last month the company finally sealed a deal with Peacock. The series will be written by Christopher Yost, and both MacFarlane and Dinniman are onboard as executive producers.

Can ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ Be Done in Live-Action?

Most of the biggest sci-fi and fantasy shows on TV these days are live-action, and there’s no question that the genre can thrive in this medium. However, Dungeon Crawler Carl can’t simply be filmed at a castle in Ireland with the dragons added later in post-production, or shot on a soundstage that rumbles when the spacecraft makes maneuvers. The series is pretty high-concept — the interior of the planet is completely overtaken by an advanced artificial intelligence which transforms it into a fantasy-style dungeon for an intergalactic reality show competition.

There are parts of this story that will look amazing in live-action, but the amount of CGI and special effects required for just about every scene will mean spreading this production pretty thin. The main characters here are Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, who is given sentience and the ability to talk shortly after the game begins. She alone will drive up the cost of the show, and it’s not as if Donut’s screen time can be minimized to save money — she’s kind of the star here.

Many fans online actually assumed this series would be animated from the beginning, and were surprised when it was announced as live-action. The doubt was so widespread that Dinniman was even asked about this issue in an interview with Variety. The author said “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.”

Dinniman also brought up MacFarlane and Fuzzy Door’s work on other live-action shows as evidence that they can pull this off. It’s easy to imagine how the Ted franchise might prepare the studio to handle Princess Donut, and The Orville definitely shows their sci-fi chops. Still, that has to be weighed against years of visual spectacle on Family Guy, American Dad, and other animated shows from this studio. Those shows don’t hesitate to take their characters into space, redesign their bodies, or throw them into all-out fights against a giant chicken. That kind of flippant visual gag is what Dungeon Crawler Carl runs on.

‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’s Compounding Live-Action Limitations

Image via Ace Books

Perhaps the most daunting part of Dungeon Crawler Carl going live-action is that it will only get harder as the series goes on. Without spoiling too much, the “dungeon” and the world around it will only get stranger and require more visual effects as time goes on. Inserting a one-time spectacle is one thing, but within a few seasons many of the main characters will have taken fantasy races, requiring CGI and makeup at all times. They’ll be facing monsters, aliens, and literal gods in fantastical settings that will need to be rendered in CGI whenever they’re on-screen.

Fans online have argued that animation would be cheaper, meaning the show would be more likely to move forward and adapt all of Dinniman’s books without being canceled. However, it’s not just a monetary issue — at a certain point, when most of the things on screen are CGI, shows and movies become harder to watch and stay invested in. We’ve seen some massive flops when CGI is pushed past its capabilities — fans online have raised many comparisons to Ready Player One, for example. There are successes as well, but those have been rare and expensive to make.

If Dungeon Crawler Carl does keep getting renewals to adapt more of Dinniman’s series, it will likely need to make some changes and cuts to the story to stay in budget. That’s the scenario fans really want to avoid. Many online fear that their personal favorite character or set piece will be dropped or changed to save money. Of course, the same could theoretically be true in an animated adaptation.

Whatever Yost, MacFarlane, and the rest of the team bring to the screen, Dinniman’s books will still be there with the full original story, and all the outlandish sights that don’t make it to TV. There are currently eight books in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, available now in print, digital, and audiobook formats. Dinniman intends to conclude the series with two more novels. Peacock has officially ordered the TV adaptation, which is currently in pre-production with no hint of a release date yet.