For Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, the feature film Dark Crystal was a passion project. It's the tale of a world divided between good and evil creatures whose war has destroyed the environment and almost driven the humanoid Gelflings to extinction. Now Netflix has just announced a prequel series, Dark Crystal: The Resistance, which tells the backstory of the evil Skeksis' rise to power and a group of brave Gelflings who challenge their reign.

The team behind the series is promising. The Resistance is executive produced and directed by Louis Leterrier, who started his career working with Luc Besson on the Transporter movies and later helmed The Incredible Hulk and Clash of the Titans. Plus, the writing team includes fan favorite Javi Grillo-Marxuach (Middleman, The 100), which is great news. Grillo-Marxuach is known for blending humor into dark scenarios, and that will be the perfect touch for the Dark Crystal universe. Anyone who saw the original film knows it wasn't afraid to be silly despite its epic sweep.

Jim Henson Productions



Jim Henson Productions



Netflix described the show In a press release, saying, "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance returns to the world of Thra with an all new adventure. 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." For those who recall the original film, this statement actually gives us a few more hints about the plot. First, it tells us that we won't be seeing the events that led to the sundering of an ancient group of powerful creatures into the benevolent Mystics and evil Skeksis, since the Skeksis already exist. Second, the presence of a Gelfling team clarifies that The Resistance is set either before or during the Gelfling genocide. The series will probably shed light on why the Skeksis are so obsessed with "essence of Gelfling."

Netflix VP of Content Cindy Holland said the series "will combine the art of puppetry perfected by the Jim Henson Company... with a mix of cutting-edge digital imagery and visual effects." Translation: don't get too excited about the practical effects because there will definitely be VFX in there. This is a little disappointing, since the pleasure of the original Dark Crystal was seeing artist Brian Froud's vision brought to life with Henson's incredible puppets.

This series also signals that the 1980s-style fantasy revival that began with movies like Guardians of the Galaxy is still going strong. The Dark Crystal is pretty much the perfect embodiment of this era in fantasy, complete with easily identified bad guys, a straightforward quest, and lots of sparkly, saturated colors. If the ambiguous, grimdark world of Game of Thrones didn't work for you, The Dark Crystal should be a perfect antidote.

Listing image by Jim Henson Productions