New York Comic Con is never short on surprises, but this year’s convention may have set a record for the number of people screaming the name Carl. We haven’t heard this much since the last Andrew Lincoln cosplay meet-up. That’s mostly due to Dungeon Crawler Carl, the bestselling sci-fi fantasy series by author Matt Dinniman. An independently published LitRPG novel about a man and his ex-girlfriend’s prizewinning cat surviving an alien game show has become a publishing phenomenon, with eight books and a television adaptation in the works. With the series nearing its end, readers are curious to find out what happens to Carl, Princess Donut, and the rest of the crawlers. Fortunately, Dinniman had a few surprises up his sleeve for New York Comic Con, including introducing a mysterious new character and bringing back an old friend.
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At New York Comic Con, Dinniman participated in an Audible presentation with audiobook narrator Jeff Hays, who did a live reading from the upcoming ninth book. The reading introduced Tabiti, the 12,953,455th crawler, level one ‘human’ of the Subjugator class. Tabiti may not be what she appears. She looks like a young girl, though her true identity is unknown. Tabiti isn’t alone. She’s got Ferdinand, aka Gravy Boat, the neighborhood cat that Princess Donut was after when the alien invasion began. Donut’s search for her cat boyfriend is what got her and Carl outside before the destruction of Earth’s buildings, which saved their lives. Ferdinand later appeared as Queen Imogen’s familiar in The Butcher’s Masquerade and eventually became a co-warlord alongside Juice Box during the Faction Wars in This Inevitable Ruin. He’s still got plenty of attitude, but the endearing alley cat is already back in Donut’s corner in the passage.
🚨 Major spoiler alert ahead 🚨 Matt & Jeff introduce a new crawler with a sneak peek of book 9. NYCC got to hear the voice for the very first time. #dungeoncrawlercarl
Spoiler warning: Major spoilers for A Parade of Horribles follow. Tabiti’s identity may be linked to a mystery from book eight. At the end of A Parade of Horribles, Carl observes an unnamed young girl standing by Lucia Mar and clutching her leg. There is also a missing crawler number in between Penelope and Scolopendra. It is possible the girl is Tabiti. Another theory is that she is Cascadia, the former dungeon announcer whom the increasingly erratic dungeon AI may have turned into a crawler. The events of Book 8 have turned Scolopendra, the massive god-like creature that serves as the dungeon’s final boss, into a crawler. The potion that turned Scolopendra into a crawler also made her fall madly in love with Carl, so we won’t be seeing her leaving his side anytime soon, making her a fascinating addition to Princess Donut’s Royal Court.
Dinniman has said Book 9, The Beautiful Place, will finish the main story in two volumes. While there is no official release date for the new book yet, the Dungeon Crawler Carl universe is already coming to television. Peacock has ordered a TV adaptation straight-to-series. Thor: Ragnarok scribe Chris Yost and Shadow and Bone showrunner Eric Heisserer will co-showrun. Seth MacFarlane is producing the efforts. Hays was already set to voice Princess Donut, a casting decision Dinniman said it was never in question. The search for a live-action Carl rolls on. The NYCC reveal means the massive ensemble is going to need to cast one more.
Who do you think Tabiti will turn out to be? Got a fancast for the tv show? Let us know in the comments below.
The Dungeon Crawler Carl TV Show Needs to Get These 3 Things Absolutely Right to Be Successful
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