Following the casting of Emily Watson and Shirley Henderson, Deadline brings word that Game of Thrones vet Indira Varma has officially been tapped to join HBO Max’s upcoming Dune prequel series Dune: The Sisterhood, which centers around the origins of the Bene Gesserit. Varma is set to portray the role of Empress Natalya, “a formidable royal who united thousands of worlds in her marriage to Emperor Corrino.”
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Varma starred as Tala Durith in Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Apart from the Dune prequel, she will next be seen in the Apple TV+ series Extrapolations and in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.
Set 10,000 years before the ascension of Paul Atreides, Dune: The Sisterhood will follow the Harkonnen Sisters as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind, and establish the fabled sect known as the Bene Gesserit. Watson will be playing Valya Harkonnen, while Henderson is portraying Tula Harkonnen.
The project hails from Legendary Television. It is created, written, and executive produced by Diane Ademu-John, who also serves as co-showrunner along with Alison Schapker. Executive producers are Schapker, Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, Scott Z. Burns, Matthew King, John Cameron, and Cait Collins, along with Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, and Kim Herbert on behalf of the Frank Herbert estate.
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Dune: The Sisterhood will be set in the universe of Frank Herbert’s epic Dune novel series and take place 10,000 years prior to the events of the original Dune book. The series is told through the eyes of a mysterious order of women known as the Bene Gesserit. Armed with extraordinary abilities, this group of women weaves through the feudal politics of Dune, pursuing their own plans that ultimately lead them to the enigmatic planet Arrakis, and the events of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune films.
