​The Dark Crystal Prequel Will Hit Netflix This August

We're all feeling the void after everyone's favourite fantasy series, Game of Thrones, concluded earlier this week.

No more theorising who will sit on the Iron Throne. No more spotting plastic water bottles behind someone's foot in scenes. No more anything.

But we need to be pragmatic. Rather than wallowing in our sadness or signing petitions for a season eight rewrite in the vain hope it might bring the show back, we need to look forward.

Well, we might have just the thing, thanks to a new fantasy series coming your way this summer. And, better still, this one involves puppets.

We are, of course, talking about the forthcoming prequel series to Jim Hensen's 1982 adventure flick The Dark Crystal, which will premiere on Netflix on 30 August.

Louis Leterrier, director of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, also confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that the new 10-part series will be dropping in a few short months.

Like the original film, the series will be set in the world of Thra.

However, the story itself will be entirely new, following three Gelflings - Rian, Brea and Deet - voiced by Taron Egerton, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Nathalie Emmanuel.

The Gelfings discover the secret behind the Skeksis' power, and set out on an epic adventure to try and start a rebellion and in turn save their world.

Leterrier, whose credits include Now You See Me, Clash of the Titans, and The Incredible Hulk, told Entertainment Weekly he was determined to make the TV show honour the '82 film as much as possible, and would use classic puppetry rather than CGI for the characters.

Universal Pictures

"I was not fighting against anyone, I was fighting against common sense and practicality," he said.

"It's so, so complicated to build a puppet, hire puppeteers, all that stuff. We chose the long, hardest road and we're very thankful [we did]. It looks absolutely stunning."

The star-studded cast also includes Caitriona Balfe, Helena Bonham Carter, Natalie Dormer, Eddie Izzard, Toby Jones, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mark Strong, Alicia Vikander, Mark Hamill, Jason Isaacs, Keegan-Michael Key, Simon Pegg and Andy Samberg.

Donna Kimball, a veteran of the Jim Henson Company, will play Aughra - who was voiced by Frank Oz in the film, while several other puppeteers will also voice other characters.

Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film, Netflix

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman