Lena Headey & Sigourney Weaver Join Cast of ‘The Dark Crystal’

Netflix’s The Dark Crystal just got bigger. The talented roster of cast members has gotten even better with the addition of Game of Thrones alumni Lena Headey. 

Headey isn’t the only big name to be added to the cast, though. Sigourney Weaver (Ellen Ripley from Alien) is poised to voice a character in the upcoming series. Joining them is 2018’s Crazy Rich Asians’ Awkwafina.

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance will be a prequel to Jim Henson’s 1982 movie, The Dark Crystal. The Netflix official synopsis for the movie reads: 

“The world of Thra is dying. The Crystal of Truth is at the heart of Thra, a source of untold power. But it is damaged, corrupted by the evil Skeksis, and a sickness spreads across the land. In this prequel to the fantasy classic, three young Gelfling inspire a rebellion against the cruel Emperor when they discover a horrifying secret.”

As much as it is a prequel, Age of Resistance will no doubt tell its own new story. A story set many years before the events of the first movie and achieved using traditional puppetry. The visual effects will be cutting edge and better than the first movie, as there has been technological improvements and breakthroughs since 1982. 

Creating A Worthy Sequel To ‘The Dark Crystal’

The filming for the series took a year to complete. Director Louis Leterrier, previously confirmed that CGI would not be used to create Age of Resistance. Leterrier said, “I love CGI, but we won’t be using CGI in this one. It’s puppets, man. It’s all puppets.” This would explain the amount of time it took to create the mini-series.

CEO of The Jim Henson Company and Jim Henson’s daughter, Lisa Henson, echoed the statements of Leterrier. “Every day, for one year, with puppets, filming, it was a work of love, of art, and we can’t wait to share it with you,” she said. 

Henson acknowledged that the creators had been wanting to make another one since 1982, “We’ve been wanting to make a sequel or some kind of spin-off for a really long time. It’s a dream come true to bring Dark Crystal to life with puppets, and to do ten hours of it.”

The Dark Crystal Voice Vast

With the additions of Headey, Weaver, and Awkwafina, the voice cast of the mini-series is well stacked to ensure success. But, the three A-listers are not alone in making the characters come to life. They are joined by Taron Egerton from Kingsman, Anya Taylor-Joy of The Witch, Simon Pegg, Keegan-Michael Key, Andy Samberg. 

Other cast members include Caitriona Balfe, Benedict Wong, Mark Hamill, Helena Bonham Carter, Harris Dickinson, Natalie Dormer, Eddie Izzard, Theo James, Toby Jones, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mark Strong and Alicia Vikander and many others.

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance will launch on Netflix on Aug. 30. Watch the trailer below: