Dungeon Crawler Carl has completely taken over geek culture, which is impressive considering how hard it is to sum up the premise. The early novels take every big risk imaginable in a fantasy/science fiction story, and it does not make for a concise elevator pitch. However, even if you manage to break down this set up, the story evolves quickly to focus on much greater enemies outside the dungeon. This will be essential to understand when the TV adaptation premieres on Peacock, especially for new fans who may not realize what they’re getting into. The show will have to balance the visual spectacle of the dungeon with the true story of Carl and his allies’ secretive attempts to sabotage the game from within.
Dungeon Crawler Carl has come a long way from a serialized story self-published online to a best-selling novel series. Author Matt Dinniman has risen to the occasion at every step, coaxing the narrative to grow and evolve without straying too far from the wacky premise at its core. Still, it’s been clear from the beginning that the dungeon itself is a sideshow, while humanity’s real enemies are living amongst the stars. This balances well in the novels and makes for a fun, fast-paced adventure, but it may be difficult to bring to TV.
‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ is Socially Charged
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Image via Dandy House</figure>
If you heard about Dungeon Crawler Carl via word of mouth, you probably got an elevator pitch something like this: Aliens take over earth and use advanced technology to instantly create a video game-like space inside the planet. Most humans are killed, and the survivors are encouraged to enter the dungeon to compete on an intergalactic game show called “Dungeon Crawler World.” Awoken in the middle of the night, Carl enters with no shoes, not pants, and his ex-girlfriend’s cat as his only companion. The dungeon makes his cat sentient and the two fight their way through the game in the hopes of surviving and restoring what they can of earth as they knew it.
That’s all accurate, and it prioritizes what a new fan would need to know getting into the series without spoiling anything or focusing too much on details that will become important later. However, it could also give new fans some misinterpretations about the series. For one thing, recommendations like these tend to gloss over the fact that advanced aliens have been watching earth for thousands of years, and cultivating the planet to play this game one day. They gloss over the ancient technology already present on earth before the game began, and the tension between various alien factions as well as the System A.I. itself. It’s true that these details aren’t necessary at the beginning, but they become so integral later on that it can feel disingenuous to leave them out.
Someone who actually picks up the Dungeon Crawler Carl novels will learn pretty quickly that the book isn’t really about the game show itself. Carl and his allies look at the game only as a means of surviving, and they take every opportunity to undermine it for the viewers and the aliens involved. Ultimately, Carl’s goal is to get the game shut down somehow and earn freedom for himself and the rest of the earthlings. It becomes a highly political story that some viewers might not be expecting, evoking themes of colonialism and violent uprising.
Meanwhile, the mystery of the alien technology is the central question of the series before long. To a newcomer, it’s odd that this technology which is utilized for such an absurd, specific purpose can become a mystery later on, but in the context of the books it works beautifully. The question is whether the TV adaptation will pull it off as well — hopefully without softening the story’s sharp edges in the process.
The ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ TV Show Should Broaden Our Perspective
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The best way for the TV adaptation to handle all of this confusion would be to broaden the audience’s perspective early on. The books are written in the first person, and the audience learns about the worldbuilding and the conflicts at the same rate as Carl — more or less. However, adaptations often break out of this first-person perspective early on. It’s harder to pull off in a visual medium, and it’s difficult to disperse all the exposition needed from just one set of eyes.
Ideally, Peacock’s adaptation will tease mysteries about the Borant Corporation, the various alien factions, and the System A.I. early on. If it needs to mix in scenes without Carl and Donut to do so, it will be worth it. The show has the luxury of looking ahead at what’s important and interesting in the later books, and planting those ideas earlier than they were in the books. This is how adaptations get credit for strengthening their stories along the way.
For now, Dungeon Crawler Carl lives only on the page, and its transition to TV is a mystery on its own. There are eight novels available now in print, digital, and audiobook formats, with a ninth on the way and a tenth expected to finish the saga. Peacock’s TV adaptation is in production now, but there’s no word on when it may be released.
Dungeon Crawler Carl
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