Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal returns as Netflix series “Age of Resistance”

Jim Henson fans, rejoice! The Dark Crystal is getting a 10-part prequel on Netflix with the full backing of the Jim Henson Company.

I needed some good news today, and here it is. Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal is getting a TV reboot. It’s 2017, and Netflix is bringing Skeksis back.

I stole that line from Ben Schuman, a friend from college. Thank you, Ben.

When my brother and I were kids, we watched two movies over and over: Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. These are not happy, safe movies. We are not talking The Muppets Take Manhattan, here. These are the heirs to Grimms’ fairy tales, not their cleaned-up Disney versions. In Labyrinth, a girl wishes her brother away to the goblin realm, and then follows him there to risk everything to get him back. In the Dark Crystal, two small, gentle creatures brave post-apocalyptic dangers on a quest to stop evil beings from ending their world altogether.

I’ve watched both movies again, over the years, and they hold up. They’re still so beautiful, and they really reflect the compassion and amazing talent of Jim Henson and his collaborators. After Henson died, we thought all that was over, and we treasured what we had.

But Jim Henson Studios are still around and going strong these days. Their mission is to keep Jim Henson’s beautiful vision alive. And apparently they saw just the right chance in bringing The Dark Crystal prequel to Netflix.

The age of resistance

The 10-part series will take place before The Dark Crystal movie, and will be called The Age of Resistance. That’s a popular theme these days. There aren’t many details yet, but here is the official teaser from Netflix:

Here’s the official synopsis from Netflix, via i09:

"When three Gelfling discover the horrifying secret behind the Skeksis’ power, they set out on an epic journey to ignite the fires of rebellion and save their world."

Deadline reports that the movie will feature “state-of-the-art creatures created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop and Brian Froud, the original feature’s conceptual designer.” Froud is also the original concept designer for Labyrinth, so it’s bound to be very bit as terrifyingly beautiful as the original. Also, Netflix produces quality work, so I have pretty high hopes for this reboot.

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No word yet on when The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance premiers on Netflix. Judging by the teaser, it looks like they’re just in the design phase. Check back with Culturess for updates!