Emily Watson talks the differences between Star Wars and the world of Dune

Emily Watson as Valya Harkonnen in Dune: Prophecy

(Image credit: HBO)

Dune: Prophecy star Emily Watson is a Star Wars fan, but she doesn’t think the upcoming prequel series compares to George Lucas’s sci-fi franchise.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love Star Wars. I’m a huge Star Wars fan. But we’re in a universe where there isn’t ‘right’ anymore. There aren’t goodies and baddies. Everything is relative,” Watson tells GamesRadar+ during an exclusive interview at New York City Comic Con. “You and everybody are morally flawed, for some very deeply and some lesser, but moral relativism and compromise and human flaws are very much what drive the story forward.”

The actor previously told Total Film that Dune: Prophecy is a “very interesting palette because it’s not childish… it’s not like Star Wars. It has a moral complexity, which is interesting.” In the Star Wars universe, good and evil are painted very, very clearly by way of the Imperial Empire vs. the Rebel Alliance, whereas morale is much murkier in Frank Herbert’s Dune-iverse.

The series dives into the life of Valya Harkonnen (Watson), Mother Superior of the Sisterhood, who is the most consequential architect of the matriarchal order that will eventually come to be known as the Bene Gesserit. Jessica Barden plays young Valya Harkonnen, with the series taking place over two different timelines. The spin-off show is set 10,000 years before the birth of Paul Atreides.

“We say the show is B.C.: Before Chalamet,” Watson jokes.

Dune: Prophecy is set to hit Max on November 17.