It’s 3:30pm pacific time and I’m seated in the VIP section of Hall H at San Diego Comic Con 2019. On my left sits Halle Stanford, executive producer of Jim Henson’s™ The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Behind me sits Jeff Addiss, Will Matthews and Javier Grillo-Marxuach, three of the central writers of the new series.
How I found myself in the VIP section in Hall H is a story for another time.
To be sitting amidst some of the talent responsible for a new series that is firmly entrenched in a world that I have always held closest and dearest to my heart felt like being on another planet entirely.
I am a committed fan, more than most. My commitment had me building puppets when I was nine and ten years of age, organizing a retelling of The Dark Crystal with my friends in the late 80s.
At the tender age of 43, my journey with The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance has been the essence of dreams. I’ve followed this series since before its formal announcement in May of 2017. Like other hardcore fans of The Dark Crystal, I’ve been hoping for another story set within the mythological world of Thra since 2005, when The Jim Henson Company™ first announced a traditional sequel aptly titled ‘Power of The Dark Crystal.’ The sequel languished in development hell for over ten years before being shelved, eventually released as a comic book series.
Fourteen years later, seated in a grand hall of geeks, I could feel Jim Henson smiling down on this event and the series that’s about to premiere on August 30th, 2019. I know it’s the story he’d want to be told, the way he’d want it to be told.
After a nearly hour long panel discussion with series director Louis Leterrier, Mark Hamill, Taron Egerton and executive producer Lisa Henson, what I was most anticipating was about to begin, episode one screened in its entirety. Everyone cheered. Louis, Mark, Taron and Lisa have left the stage. The first episode is about to begin.
How exactly all of this happened I’ll never be sure of. How the powers that be at Netflix decided to green-light and produce a show made up mostly of puppets and practical sets is a miracle on par with Denis Villeneuve’s visionary Blade Runner 2049. These properties shouldn’t exist but somehow they do.
What I won’t do is spoil anything from the first episode. As the lights dimmed and the projector started, it felt like my first time with The Dark Crystal all over again. I sat in wonder as the world that lives in my heart unfolded on the screen.
When I love something, it’s never casual, it’s lasting, living and breathing, as if becoming a part of who I am. Talk to anyone who truly knows me and they will tell you that “Jaime and The Dark Crystal are interlinked.” Sometimes loving something so fiercely is difficult, especially when a new generation of filmmakers, writers and producers step into recreate that world that feels like yours. Often times, they miss the mark. There’s a greater chance for a sequel or new story to get it wrong then to get it right.
The trappings of sequels and prequels are wide, and they’re all over. Much of the failure of prequels and sequels can be traced to that ever-popular word, nostalgia. As Generation X takes their place in positions of power and authority in streaming giants and movie studios, many of them want to rekindle their childhood without a determinable purpose except….nostalgia. Lack of purpose is typically what resonates the most in projects that are rebooted. Studios tend to pivot back to established franchises for sequels, prequels, remakes and reboots because there’s a built in audience. It’s usually a safe bet. That safe bet means easy money.
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is not a safe bet. This prequel series does not come from a property that was initially profitable for the studio that distributed it, or Jim Henson, it’s inarguable father.
As I sat there staring up at the screen, seeing the world of the Dark Crystal, for the first time since its creation in 1982, all I could do was bask in its wonder. That eight year old boy that sat in a living room in Chicago completely bewitched and bewildered in the 1980s sat next to me, holding my hand, engaging the world laid before us. Everything felt new yet familiar. The universe that Brian Froud originally conceptualized guided by Jim Henson felt like it hadn’t skipped a beat, and yet this time it’s a much more colorful world, filled with elements I hadn’t dreamed of or seen before. I don’t bring in expectations to a film or a show.
My only hope is to be able to invest in the characters and find the world believable. With episode one, this happened almost instantaneously. When you’re watching something unfold on screen you can almost feel if it’s right or not. You know from about the first ten minutes if the story you’re seeing has found its footing. The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is as unique and authentic a world as it was when the original film released in 1982.
As I continue to process what I’ve seen and what more is to come, all I can think now is ‘How did they do it?’
Written by Jaime Prater (Co-host of Trial By Stone: The Dark Crystal Podcast)
Email: jaimeprater@gmail.com
Twitter: @Soundgoasunder
Listen to his two podcasts at
Perfect Organism: The Alien Saga Podcast
Shoulder of Orion: The Blade Runner Podcast
and visit the official home for the two podcasts at
www.perfectorganism.com