The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is an American dark fantasy/adventure web television series produced by Netflix and The Jim Henson Company. The series is a prequel to the 1982 Jim Henson film The Dark Crystal that explores the world of Thra created for the original film. It premiered its first season on August 30, 2019.

Synopsis
As the Gelfling race on the planet Thra wakes up to the fact that their customarily worshiped overlords, the Skeksis, are exploitative, taxing essence-suckers who are destroying their world, three Gelflings—Rian, Brea and Deet—inspire a rebellion after discovering a horrifying secret behind the Skeksis' power that threatens their entire planet.

Main voice cast

 * Taron Egerton as Rian: A Gelfling crystal castle guard of the Stonewood Clan
 * Anya Taylor-Joy as Brea: The youngest Gelfling princess of the Vapra Clan
 * Nathalie Emmanuel as Deet: Born Deethra; Gelfling animal caretaker of the Grottan Clan
 * Donna Kimball as Aughra: The Keeper of Secrets, the embodiment of the planet Thra and an astronomer

Gelfling

 * Eddie Izzard as Cadia: A member of the Sifa Clan
 * Helena Bonham Carter as Maudra Mayrin/The All-Maudra: Leader of the Vapra Clan, the queen and mother of Seladon, Tavra and Brea
 * Caitriona Balfe as Tavra: A warrior of the Vapra Clan and one of Brea's sisters
 * Harris Dickinson as Gurjin: A member of the Drenchen Clan and Rian's best friend
 * Shazad Latif as Kylan: A song teller of the Spriton Clan
 * Toby Jones as The Librarian: A member of the Vapra Clan who works in the library of the Vapra Citadel
 * Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Seladon: Eldest of the princess sisters of the Vapra Clan and one of Brea's sisters. She becomes Maudra after her mothers death
 * Lena Headey as Maudra Fara/The Rock Singer: Leader of the Stonewood Clan
 * Alicia Vikander as Mira: A member of the Vapra Clan, a crystal castle guard and Rian's girlfriend
 * Hannah John-Kamen as Naia: A member of the Drenchen Clan and Gurjin's twin sister
 * Natalie Dormer as Onica: A member of the Sifa Clan
 * Mark Strong as Ordon: A member of the Stonewood Clan, captain of the crystal castle guard, and Rian's father
 * Theo James as Rek'yr: A member of the Dousan Clan
 * James Dreyfus as Lath'N: A member of the Grottan Clan and one of Deet's fathers.
 * Charlie Condou as Mitjan: A member of the Grottan Clan and one of Deet's fathers.
 * Louise Gold as Maudra Argot/The Shadow Bender: Leader of the Grottan Clan
 * Kemi-Bo Jacobs as Maudra Seethi/The Skin Painter: Leader of the Dousan Clan
 * Nina Sosanya as Maudra Mera: Leader of the Spriton Clan
 * Nimmy March as Maudra Laesid: Leader of the Drenchen Clan
 * Beccy Henderson as Maudra Ethri: Leader of the Sifa Clan
 * Henderson also voices Bobb'N: Deet's brother and member of the Grottan Clan.

Skeksis

 * Jason Isaacs as skekSo/The Emperor: The arrogant, greedy, iron-fisted and cold leader of the Skeksis.
 * Simon Pegg as skekSil/The Chamberlain: The Emperor's chief advisor and second-in-line for the throne, a skilled and undermining trickster who plans to become the new Emperor.
 * Benedict Wong as skekVar/The General: An aggressive and brutal Skeksis who is the most loyal to the Emperor.
 * Mark Hamill as skekTek/The Scientist: The Skeksis's chief of science who abuses the Dark Crystal for barbaric work.
 * Ralph Ineson as skekMal/The Hunter: The wildest and most bloodthirsty of the Skeksis.
 * Andy Samberg as skekGra/The Heretic: A grumpy and crazy, but good-hearted Skeksis. Formerly known as the Conqueror, he opposed his fellow Skeksis' decisions and lives with his Mystic counterpart in the Crystal Sea desert.
 * Keegan-Michael Key as skekZok/The Ritual-Master: The pompous and gruff high priest of the Ceremony of the Sun.
 * Awkwafina as skekLach/The Collector: A disease-infected Skeksis who collects tributes from the Gelfling clans.
 * Harvey Fierstein as skekAyuk/The Gourmand: The greedy and gluttonous organizer of the Skeksis banquets.
 * Alice Dinnean as skekEkt/The Ornamentalist: The vain designer of the Skeksis garments.
 * Neil Sterenberg as skekOk/The Scroll-Keeper: The Crystal Castle's historian who delights in lying to get his way

urRu/Mystics

 * Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as urVa/The Archer: A heroic, benevolent, honourable and loyal Mystic who's the counterpart of skekMal/The Hunter
 * Bill Hader as urGoh/The Wanderer: The Mystic counterpart to skekGra/The Heretic who lives with his counterpart in the Crystal Sea desert

Others

 * Dave Goelz as Baffi: An eyepatch-wearing Fizzgig owned by Maudra Fara
 * Theo Ogundipe as Vliste-Staba: The Sanctuary Tree
 * Sigourney Weaver as The Myth Speaker: The series' narrator
 * Victor Yerrid as Hup: A Podling who is a friend of Deet

Puppeteers

 * Warrick Brownlow-Pike as Skeksis skekSil/The Chamberlain, Lath'N, Maudra Laesid, Podling Servant #1, Red-Haired Paladin
 * Dave Chapman as Gelflings Gurjin, Ordon and Skeksis skekSo/The Emperor
 * Kevin Clash as Aughra, Skeksis skekVar/The General, skekMal/The Hunter, The Gelfling Librarian
 * Daniel Dewhirst as the Garthim
 * Alice Dinnean as Gelflings Brea, Maudra Fara, Bobb'N, Skeksis skekEkt/The Ornamentalist
 * Damian Farrell as The Skeksis Heretic, Lore
 * Louise Gold as Gelflings Onica, Maudra Argot, Maudra Ethri, Maudra Mayrin, Skeksis skekAyuk/The Gourmand, Podling Servant #2
 * Beccy Henderson as Gelflings Deet and Naia
 * Helena Smee as Gelflings Seladon, Mira and Skeksis skekLach/The Collector
 * Katherine Smee as Aughra, Gelfling Deet, Skeksis skekVar/The General, skekSil/The Chamberlain, Podling Hup
 * Neil Sterenberg as Gelflings Rian, Tavra and Skeksis skekOk/The Scroll Keeper
 * Olly Taylor as Gelflings Rek'yr, Cadia, Skeksis skekTek/The Scientist, Mystic urVa/The Archer
 * Victor Yerrid as Podling Hup, Mitjan, Skeksis skekZok/The Ritual Master, Gelfling Kylan

Pre-production
Initially conceived as a feature-length sequel to The Dark Crystal entitled The Power of the Dark Crystal, the project was for years in a state of development hell. In 2012, director Louis Leterrier expressed an interest in joining Jim Henson Productions in their project shortly after the release of Clash of the Titans, hoping to interest large studios, but was repeatedly turned down as, according to him, they were only interested in Transformers, and many executives had never heard of The Dark Crystal. It was during this impasse that Leterrier decided to shoot a prequel series rather than a film sequel because of the richness of material available in Jim Henson and Frank Oz's notes on the events leading up to the original film. Lisa Henson identified the "Wall of Destiny" from the original film as a "jumping point": "What was that culture? What was lost? What was that beautiful Gelfling civilization?" Jeff Addiss, Will Matthews and Javier Grillo Marxuach, all fans of The Dark Crystal, were subsequently hired as writers. The project was eventually sold to Netflix after Leterrier found a studio executive who shared the team's enthusiasm for the original film.

Development
In May 2017, it was announced that The Jim Henson Company, in association with Netflix, would produce a prequel to the film The Dark Crystal. The series, written by Jeffrey Addiss, Will Matthews, and Javier Grillo-Marxuach, began filming in the United Kingdom in November 2017 with Louis Leterrier serving as director.

At New York Comic Con in 2018, Leterrier insisted that the series would depend on puppetry and not CGI, except for the use of green screens to remove puppeteers. On December 17, 2018, the 36th anniversary of the original film's release, the voice cast was revealed, as well as some images of the main Gelfling characters. On May 30, 2019, Netflix released a teaser trailer and poster for the series, announcing its official release date on August 30, 2019. Additional voice actors were announced on June 26, including Awkwafina, Lena Headey, Hannah John-Kamen, Sigourney Weaver and Benedict Wong. It was released August 30, 2019.

Design
The puppets were fabricated in early 2017 in Jim Henson's Creature Shop in Los Angeles, then exported to Langley Studios in London, with The Muppets veteran Dave Goelz and The Dark Crystal's concept artist Brian Froud participating in performing and designing the characters. Aside from Froud's new sketches, the original film's tie-in book, The World of the Dark Crystal, was used as a reference point. Other sources of inspiration in building the world of Thra included Game of Thrones and Avatar: The Last Airbender.

According to Toby Froud, the first season of the show makes use of 20 principal puppets, with an additional 90 for secondary roles. Unlike the original film, the Gelfling puppets require only two puppeteers, as opposed to four in The Dark Crystal, thus permitting greater freedom of movement. Also, while the animatronic components of the original film's Gelfling puppets were controlled via cables, the mechanical parts of the new Gelflings were remotely operated via a modified Wii controller.

Marketing
On May 30, 2019, the first teaser trailer for the series was released and received a generally favorable response with Tasha Robinson, writing for The Verge, writing 'what's most compelling about this trailer, though, is the stunning fidelity to the original film'.

Critical response
The series has gained universal acclaim. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series has a 90% "certified fresh" rating with an average score of 8.55/10, based on 48 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "An epic fantasy adventure that will please old and new fans alike, Age of Resistance expertly builds on the lore of The Dark Crystal, crafting compelling new mythos without losing sight of the humanity at the story's heart." On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

In a positive review for RogerEbert.com, critic Matt Fagerholm referred to the series as "quite simply, one of the all-time great fantasy epics, as well as the masterwork of puppetry most closely aligned with Jim Henson’s humanistic philosophy since his son Brian helmed 1992’s holiday perennial, The Muppet Christmas Carol." Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture similarly praised the series, saying: "Age of Resistance is like an immense, ten-hour magic show, engrossing down to the very last wondrous detail. This is an altogether staggering artistic achievement, and a joyful continuation of the Henson tradition."

In a mostly positive review, Keith Phipps of TV Guide stated that "Age of Resistance is, in many respects, an extraordinary accomplishment. Which isn't to say it doesn't run into some problems along the way." In a more mixed review for The Daily Telegraph, Ed Power wrote, "There are real pleasures to be had watching beautiful puppets running, kissing and poking each others' eyes out. But the Dark Crystal is in such a hurry to create a splash it plunges off the deep end too soon."

Video game
During a Nintendo Direct at E3 2019, it was announced that a video game based on the Netflix series, called The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics, was in development by BonusXP and En Masse Entertainment. The game is set to release sometime in 2019 for Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, and macOS.