The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is a new Netflix original series. It premieres on the streaming service on Friday, August 30. The series is a prequel to the 1982 movie The Dark Crystal.
Age of Resistance is set much before the events of the 1982 movie. It was directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. Meanwhile, the Netflix series is produced by The Jim Henson Company, which is now run by Lisa and Brian Henson.
The 10-episode series reintroduces viewers to the world of Thra. It is a mythical landscape ruled by the Skeksis, for hundreds of years. They are nightmare-inducing, reptilian-birdlike creatures. They use the dark crystal to keep themselves young and in power forever. Meanwhile, the calm, local Gelflings uncover the Skeksis conspiracy of using the all-powerful Dark Crystal to suck life essence from the Gelflings. Therefore, they set out to incite a rebellion to save their world.
THE CAST
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance has an impressive ensemble cast. Many of them are Game of Thrones veterans— beginning with Sigourney Weaver as the series’ narrator with Taron Egerton, Lena Headey, Nathalie Emmanuel, Anya Taylor-Joy, Caitriona Balfe, Helena Bonham Carter, and Harvey Fierstein.
The additional cast includes Mark Hamill, Ralph Ineson, Jason Isaacs, Keegan-Michael Key, Simon Pegg, Andy Samberg, and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson. Furthermore, it also has Alice Dinneen, Natalie Dormer, Awkwafina, Toby Jones, Hannah John-Kamen, Theo James, Harris Dickinson and Benedict Wong.
In addition to that, Donna Kimball returns as the voice of Aughra, a godlike being who appeared in the original movie.
THE ORIGINAL FILM
The original film dealt with one Gelfling, Jen, who must restore balance to their world by returning a lost piece of the dark crystal.
Besides, since the technology was limited, the original Dark Crystal relied on basic effects and elaborate set design to make the rich fantasy worlds come to life. To this day, the original film remains one of the highest-grossing puppet animated films of all time.