HBO Max‘s space opera that is one of the best genre movies of all time sets up a massive task for the next film in its franchise. Star Wars is probably the first sci-fi movie franchise that comes to mind when the topic turns to space operas. That said, that galaxy’s contents can be unveiled on a different streaming service, aka Disney+.
Still, HBO Max’s library of movies features many excellent sci-fi films for viewers to get lost in immersive worlds. 2001: A Space Odyssey, one of the most influential sci-fi movies of all time, which was directed by the masterful Stanley Kubrick, is one of the best space operas HBO Max has to offer. However, a more recent franchise also comes close.
Held by many as the best modern sci-fi movie franchise, director Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movies are streaming on HBO Max in the United States. The films adapt the classic genre novels written by Frank Herbert. One of them is superior to the other, and it has set up a massive task for the next entry in the franchise, which releases this year.
Arrakis · 10191 AG Which Dune Character Are You? “The spice must flow.”
⚔️ Paul Atreides The Chosen One
🔮 Lady Jessica The Strategist
🏜️ Chani The Warrior
🛡️ Stilgar The Believer
🕷️ Baron Harkonnen The Mastermind
01
You arrive on a new planet with vast resources and hidden dangers. What’s your first move?
02
A sandworm erupts from the desert floor. Everyone scatters. What do you do?
03
Your closest ally is accused of betrayal. The evidence looks convincing. What do you do?
04
How would the people of Arrakis describe you?
05
Two factions are at war and both want you on their side. How do you respond?
06
You gain access to knowledge that could reshape the balance of power. What do you do with it?
07
After a devastating loss, how do you process the grief?
08
When the dust settles and the spice wars end, what matters most to you?
Mentat Analysis Complete Your Dune Alter Ego
⚔️
Paul Atreides
“I will not fear. Fear is the mind-killer.” You carry the weight of destiny on your shoulders — and somehow, you don’t buckle. You see patterns others miss, sense what’s coming before it arrives, and feel the pull of something greater than yourself. People look to you for answers, and you deliver — but at a cost. You’re learning that the power to see the future doesn’t mean you can control it. Leadership found you whether you wanted it or not.
Visionary Burdened Decisive Prophetic
🔮
Lady Jessica
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer.” You’re the most dangerous person in any room — and nobody sees it coming. Your power lies in observation, manipulation of subtle details, and an almost supernatural ability to read people. You play the long game, and you play it well. But beneath the calculated exterior is someone torn between duty and love. When forced to choose between the plan and the people you care about, your heart wins every time.
Calculating Devoted Powerful Conflicted
🏜️
Chani
“You will never lose me. Not to this world, not to any other.” You don’t need a title or a prophecy to define you — you define yourself through action. You’re fiercely independent, deeply rooted in your community, and skeptical of anyone who promises salvation. You’ve survived by being smart, tough, and uncompromising. You love deeply but you don’t lose yourself in it. The desert made you who you are, and you wouldn’t trade that for all the water in the universe.
Fierce Grounded Loyal Resourceful
🛡️
Stilgar
“As it was written.” You are the bedrock — the person everyone counts on when the sand shifts beneath their feet. Your strength comes from conviction: you believe in something bigger than yourself and you commit to it absolutely. Some call it blind faith; you call it purpose. You’re traditional, deeply loyal, and the first to recognize greatness in others. When the chosen one arrives, you’ll be the first to kneel — and the last to leave their side.
Faithful Honorable Steadfast Traditional
🕷️
Baron Harkonnen
“He who controls the spice controls the universe.” You think three moves ahead while everyone else is still setting up the board. Power isn’t something that falls into your lap — you engineer it, cultivate it, and protect it with ruthless precision. You’re not evil, you’re practical. The universe doesn’t reward the kind; it rewards the clever. You understand leverage, patience, and the art of letting your enemies destroy themselves. People may not like you, but they respect you — and fear you.
Cunning Ambitious Patient Ruthless
Dune: Part Two managed to improve on the first movie in the sci-fi franchise. The space opera was bigger in scope, with a better pacing, more intense fight sequences, more direct threats, and so on. It took the meticulous world-building of the first movie in the sci-fi franchise and dove deeper into the world and its characters, setting a high bar for the upcoming Dune: Part Three.
Dune: Part Two’s Success Sets Up A Daunting Task
Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures via MovieStillsDB
Taking only the cold numbers, it is easy to measure how the two Dune movies compare. Villeneuve’s first movie at the head of the space opera franchise, 2021’s Dune, earned a fantastic 83% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 512 reviews. The sci-fi movie stands at an even higher audience score, which flies high at 90%. Those might be enough to beat most competitors, but not its sequel. 2024’s Dune: Part Two was a clear step-up for the franchise, with the space opera boasting a near-perfect 92% critics’ score based on 466 reviews, and a sky-high 95% audience score.
Villeneuve’s first Dune movie was already so good that there was little room the sci-fi franchise could go in order to improve. Alas, that is precisely what the space opera movies did, with Dune: Part Two becoming one of the most iconic genre films of all time. Now, there is an even smaller chance that the franchise could one-up itself again. To stand as the best movie in the modern Dune franchise, Dune: Part Three, which releases in theaters on December 18, the same day as Avengers: Doomsday, a fierce competitor at the box office, will have to be virtually flawless.
How Dune: Part Three Can Live Up To What Part Two Built
Dune: Part Three‘s trailers have teased that this third movie will be even bigger in scope, making full use of the space opera franchise’s world-building. In the many years since the final moments of the second film, Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides will have changed a lot. Paul is now the leader of an intergalactic empire, fighting a holy war that has no ending in sight. Paul has become broken, burdened, and will be the source of some of the biggest action sequences the franchise has ever seen, as well as the most shocking Dune moments to date.
With Villeneuve confirming that Dune: Part Three is the sci-fi franchise’s most action-packed movie to date, and it being the entry that ends his trilogy, I’m confident that the space opera will deliver. Could that be at the near-perfect level that it would need to land at to top Dune: Part Two? Given the questionable decisions Paul makes, the complexity of this new political setup for the franchise, and how the book it is based on ends, Dune: Part Three could get there, but there is also a chance it will be quite divisive, so it remains to be seen.
