The Dungeon Crawler Carl TV series is targeting a 2027 filming start, with soft prep already underway. The update came at Matt Dinniman’s October 10 New York Comic Con panel, where Universal Global Television scripted series chief Kelsey Balance discussed the Peacock adaptation, according to Variety’s reporting from the event.
Scripts and production hiring are moving forward
Balance said drafts and outlines are arriving and the team has received a pitch for the overall series. The writing is still evolving while production staff are being assembled, including department heads, line producers, production designers and directors. Casting work is happening alongside those preparations.
Full prep is planned for the new year, followed by filming in 2027. Balance said the team is on track to finish all scripts before production begins. No premiere date was announced.
The studio had hoped to share more at NYCC, but some arrangements were not yet finalized. Balance said further details should follow within weeks, without naming a specific announcement date.
Carl still hasn’t been cast
Dinniman said Carl remains uncast. He wants an actor who can be goofy but also frightening when the character gets angry. No casting decisions beyond Jeff Hays as Princess Donut were announced.
Hays’ involvement was revealed at San Diego Comic-Con in July and is confirmed by Peacock. He narrates the audiobooks, where he performs Carl, Donut and the wider cast. His confirmed television role is specifically Donut’s voice.
Peacock reported in July that the audiobooks had accumulated more than 140 million listening hours on Audible. Bringing Hays back gives that audience a familiar performance as the story moves into live action, even though the actor physically playing Carl has yet to be chosen.
Dinniman wants to preserve the books’ tone
Dinniman had already discussed his priorities for the adaptation during a July 25 San Diego Comic-Con roundtable. In KPBS’s coverage of that interview, he acknowledged that scenes and storylines will have to change, while stressing that the tone and central characters need to survive the transition.
“I don’t want it to turn into some slapstick comedy,” Dinniman said. He explained that reproducing everything in each book would take multiple seasons, making cuts unavoidable. His priority is keeping Carl and Donut close to their book counterparts.
Hays also emphasized Donut’s intelligence. He wants the show to preserve her cleverness, emotional awareness and ability to think strategically, rather than reduce her to comic relief.
Who is making the Peacock series?
Chris Yost and Eric Heisserer are co-showrunners and executive producers. Yost has been attached since development began in 2024. His credits include Thor: Ragnarok and The Mandalorian, while Heisserer wrote Arrival and created Netflix’s Shadow and Bone.
Peacock’s official overview dates Dinniman’s greenlight announcement to June 18, 2026. That puts the October production update several months after the series was ordered, with the creative team now working toward the shoot.
Seth MacFarlane, Erica Huggins and Rachel Hargreaves-Heald are executive producing through Fuzzy Door. Dinniman is a co-executive producer, and Universal Global Television is the studio.
If you want to start reading before the adaptation, the first Dungeon Crawler Carl book is available on Amazon. Returning readers can revisit our Book 1 recap, which covers the full novel and contains spoilers.
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