Everything you need to know about Dune before watching Dune Part Two | Hollywood

It’s been over 2 years since Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic Dune was released. Now the much awaited Dune: Part 2 is arriving with a whole host of new characters and lots more story. Here’s everything you need to know about the first Dune before you go to see Dune: Part 2. Also read: Dune Part Two box office prediction

Arrakis, the Spice Planet

The planet Arrakis is the only source of spice – a psychotropic substance and an essential component of interstellar travel making it the most valuable substance in the universe. Arrakis used to be controlled by House Harkonnen but was turned over to House Atreides by the Emperor. Arrakis is an inhospitable desert planet, whose indigenous people are called the Fremen, led by Javier Bardem’s Stilgar. The Fremen naturally distrust the offworlders who come only to plunder the natural resources of the planet. But the Fremen have a trick up their sleeve.

House Atreides

House Atreides is ruled by Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac), who is caught between a rock and a hard place when the Emperor commands him to take over Arrakis. Suspecting that the Emperor has an ulterior motive, he sends his trusted lieutenant Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa) to Arrakis to forge an alliance with the Fremen. Leto fears for the safety of his family – his concubine Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), and his son, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet). His fears prove true when House Atreides is double crossed on Arrakis; most of his forces including trusted advisor Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin) are vanquished. Lady Jessica and Paul escape into the desert, but Leto dies in captivity.

The Bene Gesserit/The Voice

The Bene Gesserit is a powerful religious order and political force. The Gesserit are a sisterhood who have trained for years to master superhuman powers and abilities that allow them to control other people using the Voice. Lady Jessica is one of their acolytes, and has been secretly training Paul on how to use the Voice, but he is still a novice. Meanwhile, the Bene Gesserit have their own agenda with their leader, the Reverend Mother, making a secret deal with Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (a deliciously evil Stellan Skarsgård)

Paul’s Visions/Muad’dib

Young Paul has been seeing visions when he sleeps. He dreams of Arrakis and a mysterious Fremen girl. He confides in Jessica and Duncan about his visions, but is unable to understand anything more about them or what they mean. On Arrakis, exposure to the spice triggers even more intense visions – Paul sees the Fremen people chanting the name Muad’dib at him, and thousands of them fighting a bloody holy war in his name. Paul understands that he is meant to be some kind of prophesied saviour, a role he is reluctant to play. When he and Jessica are rescued in the desert by Stilgar’s people, Paul meets Chani (Zendaya), the girl in his visions.

Desert Power/The Sandworms

When it comes to Arrakis, Duke Leto Atreides keeps talking about harnessing desert power. It’s never really explained what desert power means, but it can refer to a number of things. Firstly, the conventional understanding of combat relies heavily on the powered body shield, which is useless in Arrakis. The Fremen have developed a fighting style which does not need a shield. Even the fiercest Atreides warrior, Idaho, says he almost died fighting a Fremen warrior. Desert power could also refer to the way in which the Fremen have developed tools to survive in the desert – like the stillsuits which preserve body moisture, recycle it, and feed it back to the wearer, allowing the wearer to survive for weeks in the open desert. But it’s most likely that desert power alludes to the relationship of the Fremen with the sandworms (think the dragons from Game of Thrones, only much much bigger). At the end of the first Dune, Paul sees a Fremen riding a sandworm, and you can be sure to see a lot more of them in Dune: Part 2.

Dune: Part 2 releases this Friday in cinemas across India and promises to be the box office event of the year.

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