Peacock Names Chris Yost and Eric Heisserer as Co-Showrunners for 'Dungeon Crawler Carl'

Peacock has named Chris Yost and Eric Heisserer as co-showrunners for Dungeon Crawler Carl, the straight-to-series adaptation of Matt Dinniman's science fantasy LitRPG book series — meaning no pilot is shot first, and the show goes straight into full production. The platform handed down the series order in June 2026, capping a seven-year journey that began in 2019 when Dinniman self-published vignettes online as a hobby while working his day job as a sketch artist at cat shows. Deadline

Yost had previously been attached as the project's writer. His credits span Thor and its sequels, plus work as an executive consultant and writer on the first season of The Mandalorian. Heisserer created, showran and executive-produced Shadow and Bone for Netflix, wrote the Netflix film Bird Box, and earned an Academy Award nomination for the screenplay of Arrival. His original screenplay Mysteria is currently set up at Amazon. Deadline

The series comes from Seth MacFarlane's Fuzzy Door and Universal Global Television. Yost and Heisserer will executive-produce alongside Fuzzy Door's MacFarlane, Erica Huggins and Rachel Hargreaves-Heald. Matt Dinniman serves as co-executive producer on the television adaptation of his own work. Variety

In Dungeon Crawler Carl, survivors of an alien invasion that wiped out most of humanity are forced to fight for their lives on a sadistic intergalactic game show. The premise blends survival thriller with dark comedy and RPG mechanics — the "LitRPG" label refers to a genre where characters level up, earn skills and navigate game-like systems inside a narrative world. Deadline

The books behind the adaptation have reached substantial scale. The novel series comprises eight released books out of a planned ten, and has sold more than 14 million copies across all formats. On Audible, the Jeff Hays-narrated audiobook series has drawn more than 140 million listening hours. Variety

Hays, the voice narrator and producer behind the LitRPG audiobook version of Dinniman's novels, will star as Princess Donut in the series — a character well known to readers of the books. The casting bridges the audiobook and television versions of the property directly. Deadline

For fans of the books, the creative team carries recognisable credentials across blockbuster film and prestige streaming. For Peacock, the order adds a title with a built-in audience measured in the millions of copies and hundreds of millions of listening hours to its development slate.

No premiere date has been announced.