He who controls the franchises, controls the world!
(Before Chalamet).
In terms of prequel fodder, you could do worse.
Charithra Chandran, Yerin Ha, Jessica Barden, and Emma Canning in ‘Dune: Prophecy.‘Attila Szvacsek/HBO
This does not want to beDuneTV.
It wants to be a science fictionGame of Thrones.
There is still enoughDunein it to gently scratch an itch while waiting for a potential Part 3.
But whatever inherited and/or distinct elements it has is eclipsed by an overwhelming sense of premium-cable deja vu.
Its trying so hard to fill aGoT-but-in-space mandate that it often forgets to serve its I.P.
narrative duties while bending over backwards to c’mon its corporate masters.
You think desert dwellers on Arakis are thirsty?
They have nothing on this series.
technology, we get to meet the future Gesserit-in-chief.
human lie-detectors for the rich and powerful.
But Corrino needs to protect his interests on Arakis, since Fremen have been attacking his men.
Ynez must now become the blushing bride to a prince as part of this power-brokering barter.
Valya had hoped that Ynez joining the holy order would give the Sisterhood some leverage in the royal entourage.
Frank Herbert had long made the connection between spice and hallucinogens.
Apparently, theres a good deal of cocaine and other club drugs floating around theDune-iverse as well.
Then a mysterious stranger shows up at the palace.
A former soldier stationed on Arakis, he claims to have had a one-on-one encounter with a sandworm.
The experience left him… changed.
Mother Superior smells a rat.
isnt quite enough to shake the feeling youve been here before, and in better hands.
Herberts book became a key foundational text for too many otherworldly epics to count.
Fear may be the mind-killer.
Too much familiarity and caution, however, are what drive stakes into the hearts of franchises.
