Although women played an important role in 2021's sci-fi epic Dune, in this year's sequel Dune: Part Two they take center stage, with the second half of director Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of Frank Herbert's groundbreaking sci-fi novel placing a greater focus on the female characters. Whilst the first movie arguably has only one three-dimensional female figure in Rebecca Ferguson's Lady Jessica, this time things are different. Take Zendaya's returning character Chani, who has gone from barely any screen time to arguably being the beating heart of the whole story. In fact, director Villeneuve described her as his "secret weapon" when it came to making this chapter, seeing Chani as the key to unlocking this tale and honoring Herbert's original intentions.
However, whilst there are plenty of women on-screen, that's not really what matters. Crucially they are all well-developed and complicated, are the ones driving the story forward, and each character is different from the other. For Zendaya herself, that's what is important when it comes to female representation on-screen.
