'The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance' Ignites Nostalgia For Sad Muppets - Fatherly

One reason why there’s so much nostalgia for the 1980s is that the movies and TV from that decade were deeply weird. For every crowd-pleasing slamdunk like E.T.: The Extraterrestrial there was something insane like The Dark Crystal. Directed by both Jim Henson and Frank Oz, The Dark Crystal was the Baywatch-nights version of the kid-friendly muppets Oz and Henson were famous for. This was a world that was for kids, but just barely.

And now, The Dark Crystal is back as a Netflix series called The Dark Crystal: The Age of Resistance. Following the stories of three Gelflings trying to rid their world of dark powers, the new series is actually a prequel to the original 1982 film, which means it will show how and why this mythological world got overtaken by the vulture-like Skeksis

Here’s the official description from Netflix:

“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 the record, though the series is produced by The Jim Henson Company, Frank Oz is not explicitly connected to the series.

All ten episodes of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance drop on August 30 on Netflix.