offindingtherightbalanceofdarkandlightfor
a showthatwouldbesuitablefora family
audiencewhilekeepingthesharpclawsofthe
original.Allwhilesimultaneouslytryingto
wranglea vastextendeduniverseintoa clear
10-hourplot.
“Whatwearedoingis onthelevelofGame
OfThronesintermsofdramaticcomplexity,”
saysMatthews.ForhimandAddiss,thisis their
firstbigproject.Grillo-Marxuachwasa writer
andproduceronLost,MediumandThe 100.
“Oneofthethingsthat’sgreataboutbuilding
somethingbasedona belovedpropertythat’s
over 30 yearsoldis thatsomuchhasbuiltup
aroundit,”hecontinues,referringtothemany
novels,bothgraphicandtraditional,thathave
expandedtheDarkCrystalworld.“Wesaid,
‘Whatwehavehereis a beautifulgardenthat
needsa littlecaretaking.Weneedtofinda path
throughthatgarden.’
Theyporedthroughalltheavailablematerial
tohelpexpandexistingcharacters,chieflythe
Skeksis,andaddednewonesoftheirown
creation. What they ended up with was a prequel
setmanyyearsbeforeTheDarkCrystal. The
SkeksisruleThra,buttheydosoapparently
fairlybenignly,leavingtheGelflingslargelyalone
inreturnforpaymenttofundtheirlavishlifestyle.
TheGelflingarethriving,withsevendifferent
tribes,spreadacrossmountains,woodsanddeep
undergroundcaverns.TheSkeksisderivetheir
powerfromtheDarkCrystalbutitseffectiveness
is fading.Almostbyaccident,oneoftheskeksis
discoversthatthecrystalcanbeusedto—trigger
warningforthosestillsufferingPodling-based
trauma—extractlifeessencefromGelfling,
killingthembutprovidinga potionthatfunctions
likesteroidsforSkeksis,makingthemstronger
andmorepowerful.ThreeunconnectedGelfling
fromdifferenttribesgetwindoftheSkeksis’evil
planandvowtostopthem.
ThecorecharactersarethethreeGelfling
—Rian(voicedbyTaronEgerton),a Skeksis-
palaceguard;Brea(AnyaTaylor-Joy),a bookish
princess;andDeet(NathalieEmmanuel),
a Gelflingfromanundergroundtribewhohas
neverseentherestoftheworld—butaround
them is a cast of possibly hundreds. How manyofthemwillhauntyourdreamsforthe rest of
your life is not at this point known.FINDINGA HERO
OneofAgeOfResistance’s sets,anexquisitely
detailedwoodlandvillage,is solargethatyoucan
standinthemiddleofit,lookinanydirection
andseenothingbutmoreset.Thesetshavetobe
hugetoaccommodatemultiplepuppeteers,with
multipleplacesforthemtostandwithout
intrudingintothescene.Someofthosepuppets
aretallerthanyouraveragehuman(youwouldn’t
wanttogetina fightwitha Skeksis).Louis
Leterrierhasspentmonthssprintingoverevery
inchofthesesets.Heis notonlydirectorofall 10
episodes,butalsohisowncameraoperator.
WhenLeterriercametoDarkCrystal, he
hadneverdoneanythingcomparable.He’d
workedextensivelywithspecialeffects—notably
onClashOfTheTitansandTheIncredibleHulk
—butneverwithpuppets.Herejectstheidea
thatthiswasa leftfieldchoiceforhim.
“It doesn’t tie to anything I’ve done ❯