Dungeon Crawler Carl is on a meteoric rise from self-published ebook to one of the fantasy genre's biggest titles across all mediums, and it's taking its team along for the ride. For months now, every update from the sale of the TV rights to the TV adaptation getting greenlit has been met with the same comments from fans — audiobook narrator Jeff Hays must have a role.
This weekend, our pleas were finally answered at San Diego Comic-Con. Hays joined author Matt Dinniman for a panel hosted by Penguin Random House, where they announced that Hays will voice Princess Donut in the upcoming TV adaptation of Dungeon Crawler Carl. It's one of the most popular roles for Hays to keep in the TV adaptation, and it's a great sign that this show will give fans what they want.
Dinniman self-published the first Dungeon Crawler Carl book in 2020 on Amazon's Kindle platform, and since then it has catapulted up best-seller lists, social media feeds, and landed squarely on Hollywood's radar. The popularity of audiobooks in general has been rising for years now, but for Dungeon Crawler Carl, it was arguably a more important factor than with other series. Hays' range as a voice actor and his all-out performance is an integral part of the series for many readers, and an adaptation without him would feel incomplete. On top of that, fans want to see Hays rewarded and compensated for bringing these characters to life, especially knowing that other actors will likely draw from his audio performances when preparing for the TV show.
Princess Donut is the perfect character for Hays
Fans been hoping that Hays will be cast as someone in the Dungeon Crawler Carl adaptation, but a quick skim through comment sections online will show that Princess Donut was not everyone's first choice. Many hoped Hays would play the voice of the System AI — the gameshow host-style announcer who narrates the game, introduces new concepts, and sometimes seems more sentient than it should be. Another popular pick is Mordecai — a former crawler now working within the dungeon and guiding Carl and Donut in the early part of their adventure.
None of these are bad ideas, but there's no doubt that Hays was meant to play "GC, BWR, NW Princess Donut the Queen Anne Chonk." For one thing, it gives Hays his rightful place as part of the main duo in the series, without requiring him to be a six-foot-tall wall of muscle as Carl. Casting a man as this stuck-up female cat sets the tone for this series right from the start, and it ensures that one of the most integral voices in the story remains consistent across mediums.
Hays could have filled plenty of other roles if the series was getting an animated adaptation, as many fans hoped. The series is going to require some serious special effects to bring to life, and even then, it might be easier to suspend our disbelief if it was rendered in two dimensions rather than the mix of CGI that this show will require. However, once Peacock opted for a live-action show, Donut became the best role for Hays without question.
Hays is the first cast member announced for the Dungeon Crawler Carl TV adaptation, which is still in the early stages of development with no release date yet. That leaves plenty of other important roles to be filled before the series takes shape. In the meantime, eight installments of the series are available now in print, digital, and audiobook formats. A second full-cast audio drama called the "Audio Immersion Tunnel" is also available from Soundbooth Theater, and Dinniman is currently writing the ninth novel in the series.
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