Time to pack away your childhood nightmares of Skeksis once again. Netflix has officially canceled The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. The series was a prequel to Jim Henson’s classic film The Dark Crystal that was met with plenty of cultural clout when it launched, but it evidently didn’t garner enough viewership to warrant its budget.
Lisa Henson, the executive producer for the series and daughter of Jim Henson, confirmed the cancellation, saying, “We can confirm that there will not be an additional season of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. We know fans are eager to learn how this chapter of The Dark Crystal saga concludes and we’ll look for ways to tell that story in the future.”
The Jim Henson Company could theoretically shop the series around now that Netflix has dropped it (contractual agreements not withstanding), but it could be a hard sell given the big-name cast, fantasy premise, and truly ambitious combination of puppeteering and CGI effects involved in it. It may help that the show just won a Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Programming, but aside from Disney, not many streamers have the deep pockets for a riskier venture like this one.
Netflix, of course, does not release viewership numbers aside from its top 10 movies, so it’s hard to tell just why The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance was canceled. But it most likely failed to meet its cost-benefit analysis that guides all its programming. The show was met with good reviews when it landed, and the series, which told the story of how the Crystal of Truth was damaged and darkness was beginning to spread over the land of Thra, was received well by fans. It even landed a turn-based strategy RPG game. There’s a franchise to build out here, for sure, but it won’t be done at Netflix, if at all.
