All great epics have curious beginnings. And none has a more shadowy beginning than Frank Herbert’s Dune, the seminal sci-fi epic that imagines a universe-spanning human empire fueled by mind-altering hallucinogenics known as the “spice melange.” The origins of the Imperium and all the self-serving organizations surrounding it have been alluded to in Herbert’s books but had never been truly explored on the screen — until now.
“Expect a real look at the Bene Gesserit and a look behind the mystique.”
Dune: Prophecy, the upcoming prequel series set 10,000 years before the events of Dune, focuses on the origins of the Bene Gesserit, the order of women with superhuman abilities and a special interest in eugenics. The series follows two leaders of the Sisterhood, Valya (Emily Watson) and Tula Harkonnen (Olivia Williams) as they shape the Bene Gesserit to become the shadowy puppeteers behind the Imperium. Watson and Williams appeared alongside showrunner Alison Schapker and a handful of other cast members at this year’s New York Comic-Con to debut a new trailer for the show, as well as a release date: November 17, 2024.
Watch the new trailer below.
At the panel, Schapker, who developed the series with Diane Ademu-John and with the blessing of Dune co-writer Jon Spaihts, teased: “Expect a real look at the Bene Gesserit and a look behind the mystique. We certainly don't want to take away their mystique, but we do want to go behind closed doors and see how they operate.”
She added that the series explores “how power operates in the light and how power operates in the shadows. It can highlight some questions about power we have today.”
In the cryptic trailer, the Bene Gesserit (who are never actually called the Bene Gesserit) go by the name the Sisterhood and seem to operate purely as a school for gifted young women. But it’s under Valya’s ambitions, and apparent fear of some unspoken prophecy, that the Sisterhood starts to reach for more political power by introducing selective breeding among the royal houses. That sets the stage for the eventual birth of Paul Atreides, who is the result of thousands of years of meticulous match-making by the Bene Gesserit. The trailer also mentions the Atreides and Harkonnen houses, teasing the bloody feud that will lead to Paul’s ascension to become the Kwisatz Haderach, the superbeing the Bene Gesserit have been trying to create.
Dune: Prophecy looks to be full of political intrigue and vague prophecies — aka the perfect recipe for people who were really into the parts of Dune where it became Game of Thrones in space. The better comparison here might be House of the Dragon, which similarly takes place thousands of years before its predecessor. Could Dune: Prophecy replicate the success of HBO’s other genre prequel series? We may need the spice to truly see if that’ll come to be.
