The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance

Did You Know?

• All episode titles are quotes from the original 1982 film.
• A video game based on the series, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics, was released on February 4, 2020.

Cast

Additional voices were provided by Warrick Brownlow-Pike, Dave Chapman, Stewart Clarke, Kevin Clash, Alice Dinnean, Barbara Drennan, Damian Farrell, Louise Gold, Beccy Henderson, Isabella Laughland, Omar Malik, Sarah Beck Mather, Jack Myers, Mark Restuccia, Irfan Samji, Helena Smee, Katherine Smee, Neil Sterenberg, Olly Taylor, and Victor Yerrid. Additional puppeteers included Don Austen, Sue Beattie, Mikey Brett, Sarah Burgess, Carl Chadd, Sheila Clark, Marcus Clarke, Richard Coombs, Ronnie Le Drew, Phil Eason, Phil Fletcher, Lesa Gillespie, Andy Heath, Sarah-Jane Honeywell, Steven Kynman, Steve Nallon, Angie Passmore, Colin Purves, Andrew Spooner, Victoria Willing, and Michael Winsor, among others.

Production

The project was initially conceived as a feature-length sequel titled The Power of the Dark Crystal and spent years in development hell. In 2012, director Louis Leterrier expressed interest in joining Jim Henson Productions after the release of Clash of the Titans, but large studios repeatedly turned him down, as they were only interested in Transformers and many executives had never heard of The Dark Crystal. Leterrier then decided to shoot a prequel series instead of a film sequel, drawing on the richness of Jim Henson and Frank Oz's notes about events leading up to the original film. Lisa Henson identified the Wall of Destiny from the original film as a jumping point, asking what that culture was, what was lost, and what that beautiful Gelfling civilization was. Jeff Addiss, Will Matthews, and Javier Grillo Marxuach, all fans of The Dark Crystal, were hired as writers. The project was sold to Netflix after Leterrier found a studio executive who shared the team's enthusiasm. A short test film featuring a puppet Skeksis and a CGI Gelfling was produced in 2016 to test potential improvements, convincing the Henson Company and Netflix that the series needed puppet characters. In May 2017, it was announced that The Jim Henson Company, in association with Netflix, would produce the prequel. Filming began in the United Kingdom in November 2017 with Leterrier as director, and Addiss and Matthews as showrunners.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an 89% rating with an average score of 8.6/10 based on 79 reviews, with the critical consensus calling it an epic fantasy adventure that builds on the lore of The Dark Crystal. On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100 based on 20 critics. Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture described it as an immense, ten-hour magic show and a joyful continuation of the Henson tradition. Keith Phipps of TV Guide called it an extraordinary accomplishment but noted it runs into some problems. Ed Power of The Daily Telegraph wrote that there are real pleasures in watching beautiful puppets but that the series plunges off the deep end too soon.

Future

On September 2, 2019, IndieWire reported that Addiss and Matthews were interested in and prepared for a possible second season, with Matthews stating that if they were lucky enough to get more seasons the story would go on and be more hopeful than one might think, and Addiss noting they had a concrete document for season two. However, on September 20, 2020, it was announced that the series would not be renewed. Lisa Henson stated that they knew fans were eager to learn how the chapter concludes and would look for ways to tell that story in the future. On February 10, 2022, Halle Stanford, TV Head of The Jim Henson Company, said they were nimble, resilient, and ready to jump the minute anyone would like to jump back into Thra.