Dune Prequel Series Adds Shazam! Star in Key Role

The highly-anticipated sequel, Dune: Part Two, is currently in production but it's not the only Dune project fans have to look forward to. HBO Max's new prequel series Dune: The Sisterhood began filming in November and had an immediate shakeup when series creator Diane Ademu-John stepped down as co-showrunner on the series. Alison Schapker of Lost and Alias will now serve as sole showrunner. The series is set to star Emily Watson, Shirley Henderson, Indira Varma, Travis Fimmel, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Faoileann Cunningham, Aoife Hinds, and Chloe Lea. Today, Deadline reported that three new cast members are joining the series, including Shazam! and Cruella star Mark Strong. 

Strong is joined by Jade Anouka (His Dark Materials, Small Axe) and Chris Mason (Broadchurch, Dirty John) in Dune: The Sisterhood. According to the report, Strong will play Emperor Javicco Corrino, "a man from a great line of war-time Emperors, who is called upon to govern the Imperium and manage a fragile peace" while Anouka portrays Sister Theodosia, "a talented and ambitious acolyte at the Sisterhood who harbors a dangerous secret about her past," and Mason plays Keiran Atreides, "a Swordmaster to a Great House whose ambition to live up to his family name is disrupted when he forms an unexpected connection to a member of the royal family."

Is Watching Dune Required Before Dune: The Sisterhood?

While fans will probably want to watch Denis Villeneuve's Oscar-winning Dune before the new series, you do not technically have to since the show is a prequel.

"Well, I think you should because they are great," HBO head of originals, Sarah Aubrey revealed in a recent interview with Variety. "But Dune: The Sisterhood is a prequel set thousands of years before Denis Villeneuve's Dune films."

"That effort is alive and well," screenwriter John Spaihts previously said during an interview with The Playlist about expanding Dune beyond the movies. "I ended up getting moved off of it to work, not just on Dune: Part Two, but to investigate other cinematic prospects in the Dune universe, which we are still talking about and which, again, I'm not allowed to say very much about. But it is a very rich world in which to play, and I think it is ripe with opportunities for storytelling in every direction. They're well down the road, but I honestly don't know the details of the timing." 

Dune: The Sisterhood does not yet have a release date, but Dune: Part Two opens in theaters on November 3rd, 2023.