Can Peacock Do Dungeon Crawler Carl Adaptation Justice?

Dungeon Crawler Carl Adaptation

I know I’m not the only one who has read a book, loved it, and then discovered Hollywood is turning it into a movie or television series. And every time, there’s that little voice in the back of my head wondering: Are they really going to do this justice?

I think I have to go back 26 years to find the last time I thought a movie was every bit as good as the book. But before I reveal that one, let’s be honest: Hollywood hasn’t exactly done justice to some really good books.

I don’t read nearly as much as I used to. These days, I tend to gravitate toward audiobooks. And when they’re done well—especially when they use multiple voice actors—an audiobook can bring a story to life in a way that reading alone sometimes can’t.

Dungeon Crawler Carl Is Made for Audio

The Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman is one of the best audiobook experiences I’ve had. A huge part of that is Jeff Hays, whose incredible range of voices makes Carl, Donut and the rest of the cast unforgettable.

So when Peacock announced on June 18 that it was developing a live-action adaptation of the bestselling series, my first reaction was basically: Oh no.

Honestly, the words live-action adaptation almost ruin it for me.

There is simply no way I can see Peacock capturing everything that makes Dungeon Crawler Carl so good on a television or movie screen.

I realize we all have our own mental image of what Carl, Donut and the rest of the characters look and sound like. For me, that’s part of the problem. Jeff Hays has essentially created the voices in my head. Trying to replace those voices and images with actors is going to be difficult enough that I’m already skeptical about giving the adaptation a chance. Yes, I know he will voice Princess Donut for Peacock.

And maybe that’s unfair.

Eight Books and Counting

Don’t get me wrong. I’m thrilled for Dinniman. If Hollywood wants to pay him for the rights to his work, good for him. The man deserves every penny.

But the Dungeon Crawler Carl story is already eight books deep, and the series has packed an incredible amount of material into those books.

Now, I’ll admit that some of the later books haven’t held my attention quite like the early ones. A few seem to get a little long, wandering off into character-specific tangents that may or may not eventually tie back into the larger story.

That said, it’s still an incredibly engaging and entertaining series.

Right now, I’m stuck in Faction Wars, part of book seven, The Inevitable Ruin. It hasn’t been bad—I simply haven’t had the time to sit down and listen to the audiobook. At this point, I’m probably going to have to restart the entire thing for the third time just to finish it.

And that says something about the series. Even after stopping and starting it twice, I still want to go back.

The One Hollywood Got Right

Which brings me back to the movie adaptation that I think actually got it right.

In 1984, Tom Clancy published The Hunt for Red October. I didn’t read Clancy until later, but his books, along with those of Clive Cussler, were what really got me interested in reading.

I was fortunate that my parents had complete hardback collections from both authors. I spent plenty of time working my way through them.

Then, in 1990, Paramount Pictures released The Hunt for Red October, starring Sean Connery, James Earl Jones and Alec Baldwin, along with a cast full of other recognizable names.

And somehow, they pulled it off.

For me, the movie was every bit as good as the book.

In fact, it was so good that after seeing the movie, I went back and read the book about six years after Clancy originally published it.

What made that experience particularly interesting was that I could visualize those actors while I was reading. Sean Connery was Marko Ramius. James Earl Jones was Admiral James Greer. Alec Baldwin was Jack Ryan.

Hollywood had already done the imagining for me, and in this case, it worked.

The Martian by Andy Weir is another example of a movie adaptation that I thought was done extremely well. Matt Damon’s portrayal of Mark Watney fit remarkably well with the character I had created in my head while reading the book.

So What Happens to Dungeon Crawler Carl?

I genuinely hope Dungeon Crawler Carl succeeds on the big screen—or, more accurately, on the television screen.

I really do.

But I’m not convinced it can ever be as amazing as the books, particularly the audiobooks.

There is just so much happening in this series. There are references, cross-references, characters, histories, running jokes, callbacks and tangents that build on things that happened several books earlier.

Trying to condense all of that into a television adaptation is going to be a monumental task.

Maybe Peacock will surprise me.

Maybe they’ll find the right actors. Maybe they’ll capture the absurdity, humor and insanity of the dungeon. Maybe I’ll watch the first episode and realize I was completely wrong.

I hope so.

But for now, I’m perfectly happy listening to Carl and his band of misfits fight their way through the dungeon exactly the way I’ve come to know them.

Thankfully, Soundbooth Theater has already created something pretty damn special with this series.

And sometimes, the best adaptation is the one you already have playing in your headphones.