Dune: Prophecy – The Underrated HBO Sci-Fi Series You Missed
There’s one HBO sci-fi series that can be watched in six hours, and I bet you haven’t seen it. HBO is the network responsible for many of the best TV shows of all time, but the HBO Max streaming platform also has some shows that have flown under the cultural radar.
Good science fiction is easy to find on TV, but great sci-fi requires an uncommon level of ingenuity. Some of the best titles this year include Andor and Apple TV+’s Murderbot and Foundation, and recent years have seen shows like The Expanse find success.
Dune: Prophecy Is An Underseen Sci-Fi Series Connected To A Great Franchise
Custom Image by Simone Ashmoore
Dune: Prophecy is an excellently-made show that I’m surprised didn’t receive more attention. I understand that it falls into the category of spinoff oversaturation, but it’s still a Dune sci-fi series with HBO-quality production value and an excellent ensemble led by Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, and more.
I accept that this show had flaws and wasn’t the space Game of Thrones Warner Bros. likely hoped for, but it’s still an excellent series with compelling characters and engaging narrative twists. For those who are invested in the expanded Dune lore, there’s also plenty of fascinating material to theory-craft about.
For those who do love the movies, Dune: Prophecy is focused on the early days of the Bene Gesserit, but the show features many of the same elements and themes of Frank Herbert’s original novel. The source material for the show is a novel called Sisterhood of Dune, which was co-written by Herbert’s son.
To me, Dune: Prophecy has all the ingredients that sci-fi fans might be looking for. It’s being developed by the greatest TV network of all time, is connected to one of the most successful movie franchises in recent years, and has one of the strongest casts on television.
Dune: Prophecy Can Be Enjoyed Without Seeing The Dune Movies
Valya, along with Princess Ynez and Keiran Atreides, escape to Arrakis in Dune: Prophecy Season 1 Ep 6
Image via Max
While I would highly recommend watching the Dune films by Denis Villeneuve, or even better, reading Frank Herbert’s Dune, this series can be watched without either. Herbert’s novel is one of the most prolific works of science fiction ever written, and the movies are excellent adaptations. The TV series was made to be consistent in style with those films.
Dune: Prophecyis a prequel, with a story set thousands of years before the movies. The show features plenty of exposition, with episode 1 quickly catching audiences up with how the world works and what the various factions are. Beyond that, the characters and plot aren’t particularly challenging to follow.
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