Dune’s ‘Game Of Thrones In Space’ Spinoff Is A Harsh Reminder About George RR Martin

Shows like The Sopranos and The Wire earned HBO a reputation as the home of risky, fiercely original prestige television. But over the past couple of years, HBO has been less interested in originality and more interested in expanding existing I.P.s and cinematic universes onto the small screen. They’ve brought Pennywise into our homes in It: Welcome to Derry, they’ve adapted The Last of Us games for TV, and they’ve rejuvenated James Gunn’s DC Universe with the incredible series premiere of Lanterns. Plus, this Christmas, they’re starting an ambitious seven-season adaptation of the entire Harry Potter series (yes, the same Harry Potter series that already got a perfect adaptation on the big screen).

Some of these corporate-mandated HBO spinoffs have been great — Lanterns is one of the best new shows of the year — but some of them have been massively disappointing. Dune: Prophecy promised to bring the grand scale and rich themes of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movies to the small screen. The series does have some pretty impressive visuals, but it’s set 10,000 years before Villeneuve’s movies, so it couldn’t be further removed from all the stuff we actually care about.

Whereas Villeneuve’s Dune two-parter felt like a cinematic epic, with the scope of Lawrence of Arabia, Dune: Prophecy feels more like Game of Thrones. It’s all about the power struggle between a sprawling cast of characters, and the political machinations and betrayals that keep them all at odds with each other. But that’s not really a fair comparison, because Dune came first.

Dune: Prophecy Isn’t ‘Game Of Thrones In Space,’ Game Of Thrones Is ‘Dune With Swords’

When Villeneuve’s Dune movies came out, and followed a chosen-one hero across a desert planet ruled by “The Emperor,” some viewers were quick to point out that all those things were borrowed from Star Wars. But Dune came first. Frank Herbert published the original novel in 1965, and it was one of several influences that George Lucas incorporated into the creation of Star Wars. Tatooine was based on Arrakis; Emperor Palpatine was based on Emperor Shaddam IV — Star Wars even has a few references to “spice.”

The same thing happened when Dune: Prophecy came out. The series was quickly dubbed “Game of Thrones in space,” but Dune came before Game of Thrones, so it would be more accurate to say that Game of Thrones is “Dune with swords.” Dune was undoubtedly a huge influence on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books; Game of Thrones borrowed a lot from Dune over the years.

Dune: Prophecy Doesn’t Live Up To The Movies Or Books (Or Game Of Thrones)

Dune: Prophecy was a huge let-down on all counts. It didn’t live up to the cinematic grandiosity of Villeneuve’s movies, it didn’t live up to the poignant philosophy of Herbert’s books (or even the post-Herbert Great Schools of Dune trilogy that the series was based on), and it didn’t live up to Game of Thrones — even the weaker seasons. I really wanted to like Dune: Prophecy, and I kept an open mind throughout its run (I really enjoyed the Romeo and Juliet-style episode about star-crossed lovers from Houses Atreides and Harkonnen), but this show was a complete failure across the board.

The writers of Dune: Prophecy did that annoying thing that a lot of TV writers do now, where they have the characters say how they’re feeling out loud, and restate those feelings over and over again, so that anyone who’s looking at their phone still has a chance to follow the story. But Herbert never catered to that kind of ignorance; Villeneuve never catered to that ignorance — and it’s indicative of everything wrong with Dune: Prophecy. Dune: Prophecy has been renewed for a second season, but I probably won’t bother tuning in.

Dune: Prophecy

7/10

Release Date

November 17, 2024

Showrunner

Alison Schapker

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  Emily Watson

  Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen

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  Reverend Mother Tula Harkonnen