House of the Dragon has been a boon for HBO Max, but it’s not the only prequel series to an established story that the streamer has in the works. There’s also Dune: The Sisterhood, a prequel to Frank Herbert’s Dune. Set 10,000 years before the events of the original tale of House Atreides’ struggles on Arrakis, Dune: The Sisterhood will depict the formation of the Bene Gesserit, a secret sect of gifted women who pull the strings of the galaxy behind the scenes.
In both the original 1965 novel and the 2021 movie by director Denis Villeneuve, the Bene Gesserit manipulate the genetics of the galaxy’s great houses in order to bring about the birth of the Kwisatz Haderach, aka Paul Atreides, space messiah. However, The Sisterhood is set quite a while before that, and details about its plot remain hidden.
Dune: The Sisterhood will be led by the Harkonnen Sisters
However, we know a bit more about the cast as of today. Deadline reports that Emily Watson (Chernobyl) and Shirley Henderson (Harry Potter, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker) will lead the cast of The Sisterhood. They will play Valya Harkonnen and Tula Harkonnen, respectively. Those names should ring bells for any Dune fan; while we may not know much about Valya and Tula, their distant descendent Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is the main antagonist of the first Dune movie.
The Harkonnen Sisters are a powerful pair who have risen through the ranks of the Sisterhood, the secret organization which preceded the Bene Gesserit. Over the course of the show, it’s expected that we’ll see this mysterious Sisterhood shift into the more recognizable Bene Gesserit that we know from Dune.
Dune: The Sisterhood is being produced by HBO Max and Legendary Television, with Dune director Denis Villeneuve attached as an executive producer. Diane Ademu-John (Empire) and Alison Schapker (Lost, Alias) will serve as showrunners on the series. Both Kevin J. Anderson and Frank Herbert’s son Brian Herbert, who have written every new Dune book since Frank Herbert died, are also producers.
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h/t The A.V. Club