The ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ Series Has One Major Advantage Over Other Fantasy and Sci-Fi Adaptations

The hottest book series in the world is already making its way to television, as Peacock and Seth MacFarlane have teamed up for the live-action adaptation of Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl. The series of novels has become a legitimate phenomenon over the past few years, selling millions of copies across its eight books and quickly branching into the worlds of comic books and tabletop gaming. Nothing has more hype or anticipation than the TV series, though, and fans are already breathing sighs of relief that Dungeon Crawler Carl has a big advantage that other popular book-to-TV adaptations didn’t.

Despite the original Dungeon Crawler Carl being published just a few years ago, the entire saga is already almost complete. The eighth novel, A Parade of Horribles, was released back in April, setting up the story for what will surely be an epic conclusion. Dinniman has confirmed that he has already been writing the chapter in the series, which will be split into two books and bring the story to a close. In other words, nearly all of Dungeon Crawler Carl is out there right now, and the ending is just around the corner. Most adaptations of long-running book series don’t get the same benefit.

‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ Won’t Suffer the ‘Game of Thrones’ Fate

Image via Renegade Game Studios / Luciano Fleitas

Game of Thrones will, unfortunately, go down as perhaps one of the biggest fumbles to conclude an iconic TV series. The series spent six seasons as perhaps the greatest spectacle in the history of television, but the adaptation ran into big problems when it caught up to author George R.R. Martin‘s written work. After the show had worked through the already published Song of Ice and Fire books, it quickly started spiraling downhill, and the majority of fans remain disappointed in how it came to a close.

To this day, Martin still has yet to publish the next book in the series, The Winds of Winter, and many fans wonder if it will ever see the light of day. Game of Thrones is just one example of a TV adaptation arriving before the conclusion of its source material, but it is easily the most notorious of the bunch. Dungeon Crawler Carl, on the other hand, won’t suffer the same set of circumstances.

While the wait for The Winds of Winter continues, the Dungeon Crawler Carl finale is fast-approaching. There isn’t a release date for the two-part conclusion just yet, but Dinniman has been very open about his progress. He’s been working on it for some time and, given the rapid release schedule of the previous entries, it wouldn’t be surprising for the first part to arrive sometime in 2027. Regardless of the exact release date, MacFarlane and the rest of the creative team behind the TV show will have the entire story at their disposal very early on in the production process. Even if the new book isn’t here in time for them to begin production on Season 1, it will arrive long before they even get close to the show’s eventual endgame.

Plotting the Finish From the Start

In addition to simply being able to craft the ending as its original creator intended, MacFarlane & Company also have the advantage of being able to set up for some of the series’ biggest moments very early on.

Even if the final book isn’t out when the show begins shooting, Dungeon Crawler Carl is already eight books deep. We know who all the characters are and who many of them will eventually become. There are some big reveals and moments later in the series that cause some bits from the first and second book to become incredibly important — much more important than they initially seemed. Armed with the knowledge of eight entire books (and likely more), the creative team around the show can more carefully plot each season.

There are still plenty of hurdles involved with bringing Dungeon Crawler Carl into the live-action TV space, but perhaps the biggest potential challenge won’t be an issue for this series. The creative team knows exactly where this story is going to go, and there won’t be a decades-long wait to see if it ever gets an ending.

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Chris Yost

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