Now That Princess Donut Has Been Cast We Need These 10 Stars in Dungeon Crawler Carl
The news that casting has begun for the Dungeon Crawler Carl streaming series on Peacock is exciting. It is even more exciting since the first person cast was the voice actor for Princess Donut, Carl’s ally and royal cat companion. This casting was perfect because audiobook narrator Jeff Hays signed on to voice Princess Donut. Considering the fact that fans consider his audio narration even better than reading the books, this remains a masterful decision. For those who haven’t read the books, Princess Donut is a pampered show cat and, with her former owner’s ex-boyfriend, Carl, ends up a survivor in an alien apocalypse where everyone must battle through levels on an intergalactic reality TV show to survive and possibly save the Earth.
With Hays ready to voice Princess Donut, there are plenty of other characters to cast for the show’s first season, and we have the perfect options for each of the biggest roles.
10) Agatha – Helena Bonham Carter
In the first Dungeon Crawler Carl book, Agatha is the most mysterious character in the game. In the book, she is introduced as an apparent homeless woman who sets a fire to the Meadow Lark Elder Care Facility right before the game starts, saving the lives of all the elderly people and staff who are rushed out before the buildings in the world all collapse. However, there is more to Agatha than it seems, as she pushes her shopping cart with mysterious items in it that humans shouldn’t have.
Agatha is always agitated and angry and gives Carl a hard time when he tries to push her for more information. This would be a great role for Helena Bonham Carter, who could fit Agatha perfectly. Whether it is her performances as Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter movies, her role as a killer in Sweeney Todd, or several other roles, she has proven that she can play the unhinged fringe character masterfully, and she could fit into the world of Dungeon Crawler Carl without missing a beat.
9) Chris – Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
When Carl meets the residents of the Meadow Lark Elder Care Facility, he comes across the brothers Chris and Brandon Andrews. Chris is someone who doesn’t speak much, with his brother referring to him as the “Silent Bob” of the duo, someone who can speak but only does when he has something important to say. In fact, he said very little in the first Dungeon Crawler Carl book, but as the series progresses, he becomes a powerful crawler as they work their way through the floors.
Most fans know Yahya Abdul-Mateen II from his role as Simon Williams in the Disney+ MCU series Wonder Man, but his career has been very impressive outside of that Marvel role. He was also one of the leads in the Michael Bay movie Ambulance, played the villain Black Manta in the Aquaman movies, and had the lead role in the 2021 Candyman remake. He is becoming a top talent in Hollywood, and he could fit the role of this silent warrior well.
8) Brandon – Brian Tyree Henry
Brandon is Chris’s brother and the one who does a lot more talking of the two former maintenance workers from the Meadow Lark Elder Care Facility. He and his brother were working the night that Agatha set fire to the facility, and they saved as many residents as they could before being forced to help protect them when they ended up in the dungeon and found themselves taking part in the games.
Unlike Chris, who is quiet and serious, Brandon is usually cheerful and quite talkative, and he is the first friendly Crawler that Carl meets in the game. Brian Tyree Henry could be a perfect fit for the role, and he looks the part as described in the book, and could fit perfectly beside Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as brothers. Henry also has experience in franchise roles, appearing in the MonsterVerse movies, starring as Phastos in the MCU’s Eternals, voicing characters in the Spider-Verse movies, and his breakout role on the TV show Atlanta.
7) Zev – Felicia Day
The new physical releases of the Dungeon Crawler Carl book series have a big blurb on the cover from actress Felicia Day. There is also a character in the series that could be perfect for Day to play, although it would be in a voice role. This is the character of Zev, a low-ranked employee in the Borant Corporation Communications Department where she is tasked with working with Princess Donut as an “Outreach Associate.” Their relationship is also one of the best parts of the series.
The aliens had been on Earth for several years preparing things for the games to start, and Zev had fallen in love with television shows over that time. Princess Donut also spent a lot of time watching television when left home alone with the TV left running, and the two bonded over their love of pop culture and TV shows. Now, Zev is a blue fish-like creature, so this would just need someone to deliver the voice performance, and Day could be a perfect fit in this role.
6) The Maestro – Jason Mantzoukas
The Maestro is one of the antagonists in Dungeon Crawler Carl. He debuts as a talk show host of a show that is clearly taking aim at toxic masculinity and bro culture. Maestro is a prince in his society and uses this show to promote the violence of the games, and he has an audience that cheers when bad things happen to good people. His entire first appearance was also to set up Carl and Princess Donut to suffer humiliation when faced with a pair of Crawlers whose lives were ruined by Carl earlier in the game.
The role needs to be played by someone who could pass off as an arrogant and often clueless bully. Jason Mantzoukas has proven over his career that he can take on roles like this and deliver performances that really lay into the arrogance and clueless nature of a high-class bully. His performances in everything from the Percy Jackson series on Disney+ to his appearances on Brooklyn Nine-Nine set him up perfectly for a role like this.
5) Frank & Maggie – Jeffrey Dean Morgan & Lauren Cohan
Frank (a former ICE agent) and Maggie (a former police detective) ended up in the dungeon just in time to start taking part in the game. Instead of finding allies and working together to win the game, they decided to start murdering other Crawlers instead, stealing their loot after doing so. This almost caught Carl and Princess Donut by surprise when they enacted a surprise attack in a safe room. The good news is that this is not allowed in a safe room, but the bad news is that Carl set up a trap for them when leaving that backfired when it led to the death of the wrong person.
This could be a chance to have a fun Walking Dead reunion for the Dungeon Crawler Carl series because Jeffrey Dean Morgan would be a perfect Frank Q and Lauren Cohan could make a brilliantly subversive Maggie My. The two want revenge against Carl and Princess Donut, and Cohan could be great as the relentless killer hunting them down, while Morgan could fit in well with the defeated ex-husband who just wants to move on.
4) Odette – Gina Torres
Odette is a talk show host who connects with Carl and Princess Donut after she has them on her show and realizes they are massive fan favorites. She then offers them advice while she can, and also reveals that she was the mentor for Mordecai, who is now serving as the mentor for Carl and Princess Donut. When she first appears, it is a horrific depiction, but this was all shown to be a television costume, and she actually looked somewhat normal.
Gina Torres could be perfect in this role as the respected and beloved television talk show host. She has played the respectable figures that Odette clearly fits in, as with her roles on Suits and Pearson, and she has developed a strong geek culture presence thanks to her roles on Firefly and Serenity. This could be a role that Torres could easily slide into without much problem at all.
3) AI Voice – Seth MacFarlane
The first idea is for Jeff Hays to voice the AI with an obvious foot fetish, but with Hays taking on the role of Princess Donut, there is possibly an even better name to take on the role of the AI voice. Seth MacFarlane is already a master at impressions, and since the AI has a lot of fun mocking different aspects of Earth culture, there isn’t a better person in Hollywood to take on the sarcastic and insulting persona of the AI leading Carl through the dungeon.
Of course, MacFarlane is best known as the creator of Family Guy, and he voices several characters on that show as well as his other animated series like American Dad and movies like Ted. There is also the fact that MacFarlane has a relationship with Peacock thanks to the Ted prequel series airing on that streaming service, and he might be one of the easiest choices for the show if he wants the role.
2) Mordecai – Alan Tudyk
Alan Tudyk is one of the most popular actors working in geek culture today. From his roles in TV shows like Resident Alien to his fan-favorite role on Firefly, he has developed a huge level of geek cred, and he could be a massively popular addition to the show. Mordecai is a Level 50 Non-Combatant NPC who serves as Carl and Princess Donut’s dedicated manager throughout the game. He is a former Crawler himself, and this is supposed to be his final tour of duty before he is freed to return to a normal life again.
Mordecai is not a human, and he was originally part of an avian race before changing into different creatures in each game he has worked in. This means this would be a voice role, but Tudyk is one of the best in the industry in that role as well. He has voiced everything from K-2SO in Rogue One and Automaton 4 in Superman to Dr. Phosphorus in Creature Commandos and Optimus Prime in Transformers: EarthSpark.
1) Carl – Jensen Ackles
The most important role to cast in Dungeon Crawler Carl is that of Carl himself. Carl is a former coast guardsman who realized his girlfriend was cheating on him and was about to leave her when the games began, and he ended up in the dungeons with his ex’s cat, Princess Donut. This casting will be scrutinized in many ways, because Carl is a 27-year-old who spends most of the game in a pair of boxer shorts with little red hearts on them and barefoot.
Yes, Jensen Ackles is 48, but he can play younger, and Carl doesn’t have to be 27 in the Peacock series. Ackles could make a perfect Carl, especially with his past roles like Dean Winchester, showing he can already pull off the exasperated reluctant hero well. Ackles has a lot of geek cred and could pull in fans who might have never read the Dungeon Crawler Carl books, giving the show a wide audience and helping make it one of the best reasons to subscribe to Peacock.
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