Now nearly 35 years since its buzzard-monster puppets first began scaring children, the world of The Dark Crystal and its terrible bird-beasts is once again returning to screens. Netflix has just announced that they’re teaming with The Jim Henson Company to launch The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, a prequel series that will give another generation some beak-faced shit-heads to have persistent nightmares over.
Now You See Me and Brothers Grimsby director Louis Leterrier is for some reason the one executive producing and directing what will be a ten-episode run. Henson’s oft-horrifying puppets will once again serve as actors, and fantasy illustrator Brian Froud is providing chilling concept designs—just as he did for the original. Per the official synopsis, here’s the plot: “When three Gelfling discover the horrifying [of course] secret behind the Skeksis’ power, they set out on an epic journey to ignite the fires of rebellion and save their world.”
This will be the third time development has started in earnest on bringing a Dark Crystal follow-up to screens. Back in 2006, Samurai Jack creator Genndy Tartakovsky started pre-production work on a sequel film; in 2010, it was announced that directors the Spierig Brothers had taken over the project. Neither effort made it to point where we could tell if we were still sort of attracted to the Gelflings.
