Denis Villeneuve has become one of the most celebrated directors in the sci-fi genre since the release of his 2021 blockbuster epicDune. However, an earlier movie directed by Villeneuve in 2016 may mark the real beginning of hisDunesaga, according to a wild but ingenious theory originated by fans of the filmmaker’s work. Fittingly, it was his filmArrivalwhich signaled to the world of cinema that Villeneuve had arrived as a future-great of the sci-fi genre. The movie is ostensibly a standalone story about humanity’s first encounter with aliens and their role in our future.
Yet, once you familiarize yourself with the theory thatArrivalis, in fact, aprequel toDune, it’s impossible to avoid the myriad connections between the movies, which make this theory not only plausible, but highly logical. The starting point for the theory is thatbothArrivalandDunereference an intergalactic event in which humanity will play a major role, thousands of years into the future. From this point on, it becomes easier and easier to see howDunecould share a universe with Villeneuve’s earlier work, particularly in relation to the curious absence of computers in the saga.
Why There Are No Computers In Dune
Humanity Eradicated All Thinking Machines In A War
Given thatDune’s cast of charactersconsists of highly-developed humans living on faraway planets thousands of years into the future, it’s only natural to assume that advanced computer systems are the basis for their societies. On the contrary, there are no computers or artificial intelligence inDunewhatsoever. This apparent contradiction is explained by a religious commandment issued in the Orange Catholic Bible before the events of the franchise’s first movie, which dictates,“Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind.”
The reason for this commandment,strictly adhered to by all characters in theDuneuniverse, is the Butlerian Jihad, the intergalactic event thousands of years into the future from our present epoch, which may well connect Denis Villeneuve’sArrivalto his later movie franchise. The Butlerian Jihad is awar fought by a section of humanity to eradicate all thinking machinesfrom the universe. The initial story ofDunetakes place over 10,000 years after the Jihad ended.
How Arrival’s Alien Warning Could Connect To Dune
Nevertheless, theButlerian Jihad still occurs thousands of years into the future, which suggests it may well relate to the warning given to humanity by the aliens known as heptapods inArrival. The heptapods arrive in Earth’s orbit at the start of Villeneuve’s 2016 movie, with a message in their own language which is eventually decoded by protagonist Louise Banks, played by Amy Adams.
The message warns of an ominous event 3,000 years into the future, which will require humanity to ally with the heptapods in order to help them. According to theDuneandArrivalshared universe theory, this event is the Butlerian Jihad, the war which leads to the necessary destruction of intelligent machines.
But the heptapods’ message isn’t just a warning about this future event. It also introduces a language to humanity that fundamentally alters our perception of time, allowing those who develop an understanding of it to see into the future. This languageexplains the non-linear timeline inArrival’s story. What’s even more intriguing, though, is that, according to the shared universe theory, it may mark the starting point ofthe cognitive development which leads to certain sections of humanity being able to see into the future inDune.
Moreover, the theory suggests that it’sno coincidence the first human master of the heptapods’ premonitive language inArrivalis a woman. Louise Banks may, in fact, be the first ancestor of theBene Gesserit, a female order with advanced cognitive abilities inDune, who have a special command of language, as well as the ability to access ancestral memories and premonitions about the future.
Dune & Arrival Share Similar Themes
Both Movies Deal With Our Perception Of Time & Predestination
While the details of these shared universe themes draw out the connections betweenArrivalandDunein concrete terms, there are even more fundamental similarities in the themes they share.BothDuneandArrivaldeal with our perception of time, as well as the burden of knowledgeprescience about the future can bring. In this sense, themessianic character Paul Atreidesis closer to Louise Banks’Duneequivalent than any female member of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood, as both Paul and Louise grapple with the unwarranted power their knowledge of the future gives them.
Feature ofArrival
Feature ofDune
Future intergalactic event
Heptapod warning about an intergalactic event involving humans 3,000 years into the future
Begins after the intergalactic Butlerian Jihad thousands of years into the future, involving humanity’s destruction of sentient machines
Human prescience
Human consciousness is heightened by a cognitive ability to see into the future
Humans have developed prescience about future events
Ancestral memory
The first premonitions brought about through the heptapod language are effectively memories of familial events from the future
The people of the Bene Gesserit have developed the ability to inherit ancestral memories from previous generations of their family
Female-led cognitive advances
Louise Banks as a master of the premonitive heptapod language
The Bene Gesserit is a female order of advanced humans with a mastery of language, memory and prescience
Non-linear time perception
The heptapods introduce the non-linear perception of time to humans for intergalactic purposes
Spacing Guild Navigators use the non-linear perception of time for the purposes of space travel
The burden of knowledge
Louise and Ian discuss the burden of knowing the future
The burden of knowledge about the future is a key aspect of Paul Atreides as a character
Predestination
The prescience gifted to humanity by the heptapods raises the question of predestination and determinism
Paul’s premonitions suggest that he is predestined to lead a Jihad
More broadly, on a wider social level,DuneandArrivalraise the idea of predestination, by depicting storylines in which the future is effectively already determined. They arerare examples of science fiction works portraying predestined events in such absolute terms, since the genre typically emphasizes humankind’s ability to shape the future, whether according to our will or by unleashing forces beyond our control.
The Problems With The Arrival & Dune Theory
Aliens Are Absent From Dune, & The Dates Don’t Add Up
Arrivalserving as a prequel movie toDenis Villeneuve’sDunefranchiseis certainly a compelling theory, with plenty of evidence to back it up. However, this hypothesis is far from watertight, and suffers from multiple inconsistencies that undermine its validity. For instance,Arrival’s supposed premonition of the Butlerian Jihad in theDuneuniverse is predicated on a super-intelligent extraterrestrial alien species warning humanity about future events.No such species appears in any part of theDunesaga, from which intelligent alien species are notably absent.
In addition, there’s a clearinconsistency between the time of the event forewarned by the heptapods inArrivaland the date of the Butlerian Jihad. InArrival, the ominous event in which the heptapods enlist humanity’s help will take place 3,000 years in the future. But the Butlerian Jihad is said to take place 11,000 from now, even though it’s still10,000 before the events of the firstDunemovie.
The 7,000-year discrepancy between these numbers is surely too big for anyArrival-Duneshared universe theory to be able to explain away. Still, the problems with the theory don’t detract from the thematic similarities which demonstrate thatArrivalunquestionably informed Denis Villeneuve’s making ofDune.
