New prequel series Dune: Prophecy may hold the Sisterhood (AKA the sect that would become the Bene Gesserit) at its center, but there are plenty of other players on the chess board too.
One of these is Emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong) and his wife Empress Natalya, played by Jodhi May. Ruling the Imperium, Javicco is trying to hold together a fragile peace in the universe while other, greater forces are at work in the shadows. Natalya has her own ideas, too – but Javicco isn't particularly interested in listening to them.
"It is interesting to see this dysfunctional marriage and dysfunctional family, or at least, you know, a very unconventional one, and the way that it's fragmented and fractured," May tells 12DOVE. "There are aspects, I think, of Tony Soprano somewhere in there that will be interesting to see come to the surface."
It's not just a marriage with bumps in the road, either. There's also the issue of Javicco and Natalya's daughter Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina), who has ambitions to join the Sisterhood, and whose arranged marriage doesn't quite go to plan… "I like the fact that she examines this mother-daughter relationship that is full of conflict and a mother who is not necessarily always particularly maternal," May adds. "It's an alternative representation of motherhood, but there's an emotional violence in there."
Dune: Prophecy premieres on HBO and Max on November 17 and releases the following day on Sky and NOW in the UK. For more, check out our Dune: Prophecy release schedule and our Dune: Prophecy review.
