Now that Warner Bros. is the proud proprietor of a thriving “Dune” franchise, they’ve begun the method of brand name enlargement by way of the HBO collection “Dune: Prophecy.” Set 10,000 years earlier than the occasions of Denis Villeneuve’s theatrically launched sensations “Dune” and “Dune: Half Two,” the present is about a while after Brian Herbert’s “Nice Colleges of Dune” novels and offers with the origins of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood. It is acquired an excellent forged led by Emily Watson and Olivia Williams, boasts some tremendously spectacular manufacturing/costume design, and is uninteresting as dishwater.
Apologies to those that love prequels and origin tales, however they’re by rule abominations of storytelling, and there are valuable few exceptions. Patton Oswalt has a stand-up bit titled “At Midnight I Will Kill George Lucas with a Shovel” that explains hilariously, profanely why that is true, however, principally, all prequels are fill-in-the-blanks endeavors that dramatize stuff we already know. Sure, there are sometimes odd twists and turns throughout the backstory to which we weren’t beforehand privy, however these incidents are nothing greater than glorified trivia. This method to pulp narrative has develop into so mind-numbingly widespread that it is solely a matter of time earlier than we get an entire film centered on the jeweler who offered Martha Wayne her pearl necklace.
Harkonnens. You are right here for Harkonnens and why they appear so gosh darn totally different in “Dune: Prophecy” than their kinfolk 10,000 years sooner or later. Would the easy reply of “evolution” slake your thirst for information? I suppose not. This is how the Harkonnens grew to become the pasty, hairless, pains-in-the-patooty that they’re in Villeneuve’s films.
The Harkonnens of Dune: Prophecy aren’t from Giedi Prime
As embodied by Emily Watson and Olivia Williams in “Dune: Prophecy,” Mom Superior Valya Harkonnen and Reverend Mom Tula Harkonnen are notable for his or her caucasian pores and skin coloration and hair. They could not look extra in contrast to the severely pale and shorn Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), Glossu Raban (Dave Bautista), and Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler). Why is that this?
The Harkonnens of “Dune: Prophecy” hail from the planet Lankiveil, a chilly planet that’s way more hospitable than the volcanic, industrialized Giedi Prime, which orbits a black solar. That type of darkish, harsh local weather will do a quantity in your pigmentation and temperament. As for why Home Harkonnen bopped over to Giedi Prime from Lenkieveil, this is perhaps depicted in “Dune: Prophecy” in some unspecified time in the future, however, man, 10,000 years is a lengthy stretch (the collection really depicts occasions additional again in time). This feels just like the type of societal displacement that occurs over eons and a number of conflicts. So in case you’re into watching fictional historical past unfold over (possibly) a number of seasons of tv, I’ve a sense your cup of tea will slowly, glacially runneth over. The remainder of us will cool our heels and watch for Villeneuve’s third movie due someday (hopefully) in 2026.
