At New York Comic Con, Dune: Prophecy showrunner Alison Schapker answers whether viewers need to watch the Dune movies before the television series. The upcoming miniseries takes place 10,000 years before the rise of Paul Atreides, predating Denis Villeneuve’s movies. Dune: Prophecy features the leading cast of Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, Travis Fimmel, Jodhi May, Mark Strong, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Josh Heuston, Jade Anouka, and Aoife Hinds.

In an interview with Collider at NYCC, Schapker explained whether audiences needed to watch Dune and Dune: Part Two before watching Prophecy. The showrunner stated that the series should still be legible to those who have never read any Dune books or seen the movies, saying “you can come in through these characters and discover the world.” She did note that “Dune is so dense” and the Prophecy team still wanted to create “a rich, exciting, dense experience” for audiences familiar with the universe. Check out the full quote from Schapker below:

” Dune is so dense, it’s so well thought out, it’s so vivid, and it wouldn’t be Dune unless we embrace that aspect of it. It goes back to what the cast is saying, when you try and ground everything through character, I do believe it becomes more understandable. We really try to have multiple levels in the show, so if you’ve never seen the movies, or if you haven’t read the books, you can come in through these characters and discover the world. But for those who have, we want to have a rich, exciting, dense experience. That was really a needle we tried to thread quite consciously.”

What This Means For Dune: Prophecy

Dune: Prophecy Could Expand Its Audience

This is good news for Dune: Prophecy‘s potential viewership prospects. While fans of the Dune movies will be one major crowd attracted to the Max series, being an independent series will make Prophecy more successful to a wider audience. The prequel series is also not Villeneuve’s project, so it will be good to exist fairly independently of his films. His movies are well-regarded, so following up on those directly would only complicate the storytelling process.

Shapker is right that the world of Dune is incredibly rich, but that profundity also means that the world is extremely complex. The Bene Gesserit is one element of this intricate world of Arrakis and beyond. An origin story of this group will assist in breaking down one key entity of the Dune universe, as the sisterhood played a role in Paul’s ascension many millennia later. To “ground everything through character” in the story will also be a great way for the lore to expand without overwhelming the viewer.

Why This Is A Good Decision For Dune: Prophecy

Dune Is Complex Enough As It Is

While time will tell how successfully the show manages this independence, I think it’s wise to separate it from the movies. As it stands, there is a lot to keep track of plot-wise in the Dune movies. Expecting the viewer to have seen and absorbed all that high sci-fi content while still staying grounded in a prequel origin story may have been a big ask. Instead, Dune: Prophecy can help itself and the movies by being an accessible gateway into the franchise.