The star-studded Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance may have garnered rave reviews when it dropped on Netflix 37 years after the original film (the RadioTimes.com critic called it “Game of Thrones on strings”) – but show co-executive producers Jeffrey Addiss, Will Matthews and Javier Grillo-Marxuach never intended to make the series at all.

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The idea to return to Thra came about only after Addiss and Matthews were keen to pitch a sequel to Labyrinth (the classic film where rocker David Bowie play the goblin king) – which eventually evolved to become the 10-part series available to stream today.

“So, we were literally sitting in a bar having some drinks and talking about how you would do Labyrinth 2, shortly after [David] Bowie passed away,” Addiss told Collider.

“So, we came up with something that we loved and thought, ‘Let’s call the Henson Company,’ and it has led to this, which is so crazy.”

Addiss added that while Labyrinth 2 was “a dream idea”, the team jumped at the chance at creating a follow-up to The Dark Crystal.

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Matthews said: “We went back to the bar, and got back to work. Jeff and I stayed up all night and worked on our pitch for a sequel feature film. And then, we went in and met Lisa Henson, and she said, ‘I’m so glad you’re here to tell me your idea for our prequel TV show.’ And we were like, ‘Yup, no problem. Got it. Here we go!'

“You just meet and talk about it and share ideas. And then, you go in for another meeting, and (director/executive producer) Louis Leterrier was at that one, and that one went well. And then, a couple of weeks later, you’re pitching the whole series to Netflix, and you’re off and running.”

While the original Dark Crystal movie gives a lot away about what befalls the Gelfling, it seems unlikely there will be a second series.

However, Leterrier is open to the idea of expanding their adventures further.

“It’s so special to us, to all of us, and to you [the fans] and to Netflix, that we took it one step at a time,” Leterrier said at a screening for the series’ first episode.

“We’re lucky enough to have everybody at Netflix trust us and give us this opportunity that we’re ending at 10 [episodes] – we cross our fingers, present it to the world and you tell us, you decide. Really, you will be the deciding factor if we wait another 40 years.”

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Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is available to stream on Netflix

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