Nearly a decade ago, Denis Villeneuveteased that his then-upcoming Dunemovie would be like “Star Warsfor adults.” It was a bold, somewhat annoyingly snobbish comment (partially because he said it before The Rise of Skywalker came out, when it still seemed like Star Warshad gotten pretty good), but he probably didn’t mean for it to be as dismissive as it came across. It was less that Star Warsis for kids and more that he wanted Dune to be the kind of thoughtful, interesting sci-fi story that he wished Star Warshad been before it became all about selling toys.
Now, with Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah on the way (boringly retitled Dune: Part Threefor the movie version), one thing has become increasingly clear: Villeneuve was right… in a way. His Dune movies aren’t just Star Warsfor adults, they’re basically the anti-Star Wars.
What Is the Connection Between ‘Dune’ and ‘Star Wars’?
Paul Atreides (Thomthée Chalemet) and Chani (Zendaya) share a kiss as they sit atop a sand dune overlooking the vast desert landscape of Arrakis in ‘Dune Part Two’ (2024).Image via Warner Bros. Pictures
Before getting into how they differ, it’s important to point out why the comparison seems relevant in the first place. Frank Herbert’s Dune, the book that both of Villeneuve’s first two movies were adapted from, came out in 1965. Focusing on a desert planet, a “chosen one,” and the machinations of both a galactic empire and a secretive, vaguely religious sect with special powers, Dune offered some very obvious points of inspiration for George Lucas when he eventually made Star Wars.
As Star Wars became bigger and bigger and its more palatable version of sci-fi (with all the robots and traditional good vs. evil stuff), Dune’s weirdo drug trips and more explicit political messaging (Arrakis sure sounds like Iraq, doesn’t it?) began to fall out of favor. Dune became the book that sci-fi nerds liked and a footnote in the history of Star Wars. The book series also went on and became weirder and weirder, making it even less approachable for the general public.
Why Is Dune the Anti-Star Wars?
Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha on the Harkonnen Planet holding up a knife in Dune: Part TwoImage via Warner Bros. Pictures
The key difference between Dune and Star Wars, as far as their media franchises go, comes from the very basic purpose of their stories. The Star Wars saga is built on classical mythological storytelling and comes at it from a consciously uncritical position. In other words, Star Wars is about Good Guys fighting Bad Guys — the Light Side and the Dark Side. However you feel about the change, that’s why Greedo shoots first. He’s the Bad Guy, whereas Han is the Good Guy. The point of Star Wars is that the Good Guys are tested and come out as stronger Good Guys who eventually prevail over the Bad Guys (not to be outdone by Dune’s heavy-handed metaphors, that’s why the Empire is modeled after the Nazis).
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix 🔥Mad Max 🌧️Blade Runner 🏜️Dune 🚀Star Wars
01 You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02 In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03 What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04 How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05 Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06 Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07 Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08 What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Dune, meanwhile, is intended to be a rejection of all of that, or at least a deconstruction of it. The Bad Guys in Dune are super, cartoonishly bad, and you cheer when they die like pathetic cowards. But, to accomplish that, the Good Guys co-opt an indigenous culture and manipulate people into holding them up as holy saviors. Unlike in Star Wars, the “chosen one” in Dune is only “chosen” because of centuries of a mystical cult putting its finger on the scale, which is only different from the typical idea of a “chosen one” because Dune acknowledges that someone made it all up. Blind faith in The Force is a good thing in Star Wars, but blind faith is scary and dangerous in Dune— with Zendaya’s Chani getting a larger emphasis than what she has in the book so her performance can underline that point.
There’s also the fact that Villeneuve’s Dune has resisted expansion, unlike the way Star Wars has grown under Disney’s control. There’s the Dune: Prophecyprequel show on HBO Max, but its somewhat mixed reception and setting (10,000 years before the movies) mean it’s not exactly required viewing for big Shai-Hulud fans. Meanwhile, Disney can’t even let a nice (mostly) standalone story like The Mandalorianbe its own thing, it has to set up a movie and eventually tie together with other standalone stories. So not only are Dune and Star Wars about opposite things, but they’re taking opposite approaches to how they tell their stories.
Release Date
September 15, 2021
Runtime
155 minutes
Director
Denis Villeneuve
Writers
Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts, Frank Herbert
Producers
Herb Gains, John Harrison, Joseph M. Caracciolo Jr., Mary Parent, Richard P. Rubinstein, Cale Boyter, Thomas Tull, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, Joshua Grode
