After the huge success of ‘Dune: Part One‘, Warner Bros has been hard at work to expand the universe of Paul Atreides. Besides the upcoming sequel to the 2021 film, a prequel series titled ‘Dune: The Sisterhood’ is also in development at HBO Max. The latest addition to the much-awaited series is none other than ‘Game of Thrones’ star Indira Varma.
While Indira Varma has been in a lot of Hollywood productions, one of her most noted appearances was as Ellaria Sand in ‘Game of Thrones‘. She was the lover to Pedro Pascal’s Oberyn Martell and also the mother to his bastard daughters, the Sand Snakes. Her portrayal of the vengeful and ruthless Ellaria was well-appreciated by the audience. Now, the British actress is gearing up to impress in ‘Dune: The Sisterhood’ as Empress Natalya.
Empress Natalya is described to be “a formidable royal who united thousands of worlds in her marriage to Emperor Corrino”. She will join the previously announced Emily Watson (Chernobyl) and Shirley Henderson (Harry Potter), who will portray the formidable Harkonnen Sisters, who rose to power in the Sisterhood, a secret organization of women. It is this sisterhood that will go on to become the Bene Gesserit that we see in the movie.
The series will take place 10,000 years before the ascension of Timothee Chalamet’s Paul Atreides. It would follow the story of the Harkonnen Sisters, as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind & establish the fabled sect: the Bene Gesserit. Though the powerful Bene Gesserit was introduced in the movie, it is the series that will explore them in detail for the non-readers of the books.
Director Denis Villeneuve will be executive producing the series for HBO Max and Legendary Television, the TV arm of Legendary which is behind the current film franchise. The show is currently in development and no release date or year has been announced yet. Indira, on the other hand, will next be seen beside Tom Cruise in ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ and in the Apple TV+ drama series ‘Extrapolations’.