Dungeon Crawler Carl Series Adapt Taps Jeff Hays as Princess Donut

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Dungeon Crawler Carl Series Adapt Taps Jeff Hays as Princess Donut

Peacock has tapped original audiobook narrator/producer Jeff Hays as Princess Donut in Seth MacFarlane's Dungeon Crawler Carl series.

Published Thu, 23 Jul 2026 21:07:09 -0500
by Tom Chang
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Article Summary

• Peacock’s Dungeon Crawler Carl adaptation casts audiobook narrator Jeff Hays as the voice of fan-favorite Princess Donut.
• The Dungeon Crawler Carl casting news was revealed at SDCC 2026 during Penguin Random House’s Matt Dinniman panel.
• Princess Donut joins Carl in Dungeon Crawler World, the deadly alien game show at the heart of Dungeon Crawler Carl.
• Seth MacFarlane, Chris Yost, and Matt Dinniman executive produce the live-action Dungeon Crawler Carl series for Peacock.

You can never blame Seth MacFarlane for not going the extra mile in his work; case in point, he's recruited Jeff Hays, the original narrator and producer behind Dungeon Crawler Carl, the LitRPG audiobook series, to become part of the Peacock live-action series adaptation as the voice of Princess Donut. The news broke during San Diego Comic Con 2026 at Penguin Random House's "Spotlight on Matt Dinniman" panel, with Hays surprising fans during a conversation with author Matt Dinniman and TV series writer Chris Yost.

Dungeon Crawler Carl Original Narrator Jeff Hays Joins Seth MacFarlane Live-Action Series Adaptation as the Voice of Princess Donut

Princess Donut is a tiara-wearing talking cat who belonged to the titular Carl's ex-girlfriend, Beatrice. When an alien attack pushes Carl and the remaining survivors of humanity underground into a televised competition for their freedom, Carl teams up with Donut as his partner in the deadly game show called Dungeon Crawler World. Dungeon Crawler Carl is based on the New York Times #1 bestselling hit, selling over 14 million copies across all formats. On Audible, the book series narrated by Hays has clocked over 140 million listening hours.

The TV series comes courtesy of Peacock and MacFarlane's Fuzzy Door Productions, with executive producers MacFarlane, Yost, Dinniman (who posted about the news), alongside co-EPs Erica Huggins and Fuzzy Door's Rachel Hargreaves-Heald. While there aren't any other casting announcements yet, MacFarlane's co-star in Family Guy, Seth Green, expressed interest in voicing Moredecai. Dinniman has written seven books, starting with the original Dungeon Crawler Carl in 2020, followed by Carl's Doomsday Scenario (2021), The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (2021), The Gate of the Feral Gods (2021), The Butcher's Masquerade (2022), The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (2023), and The Inevitable Run (2024). His eighth work, A Parade of Horribles, was released on May 12th. Dinniman's collaboration with MacFarlane and Yost dates back to August 2024, before the recent announcement that the series would be live-action. Stay tuned to Bleeding Cool for more coverage of SDCC 2026.

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