AI Reveals What Dune Characters Should Really Look Like Based On The Books

From characters being gender-swapped to their ages being changed, there are several major details the Dune movies get wrong from the books. While Denis Villeneuve's adaptations of Frank Herbert's epic sci-fi novel are critically acclaimed and might even rank among the best sci-fi movies of all time someday, they take their fair share of creative liberties. Some of the characters look nothing like their descriptions in the book, but thanks to the power of artificial intelligence, they've been recreated to match the appearances of their literary counterparts.

The video, which comes courtesy of Screen AI, shows the characters' book descriptions alongside images of their iterations in Villeneuve's films. Afterward, we see how they probably looked in Herbert's imagination, albeit visualized through digital wizardry. The lifelike images are impressive, especially in regard to Chani, whose elven features are more accentuated with AI. Meanwhile, some of the recreated characters, such as Vladimir Harkonnen, arguably look less memorable, even if they are truer to the source material.

Given that Herbert's books and Villeneuve's films are popular among sci-fi buffs, the comments section attracted people with strong opinions of the AI-drawn characters. With that in mind, let's take a look at some of the best responses.

Some "Dune" fans appreciated seeing the book's characters visualized in an authentic way, but the comments also highlighted frustrations they have with Denis Villeneuve's movies. For example, Chani is described as a redhead in the novel, but Zendaya portrays her in the films. This upset some people, with YouTuber @KK-45 stating, "So Chani should have actually been played by Sadie [S]ink ('Stranger [T]hings') or Sophia [Lillis] ('IT'). But they chose Zendaya?"

On the flip side, commenters such as @SergioHernandez-le8wp praised the video for its impressive depiction of certain characters, but admitted that they prefer some of their movie counterparts. "AI's version of Chani and Irulan were much better than the movie. That's actually very close to what I imagined while I was reading it. Oscar Isaac's beard is much more majestic than the AI's version."

Elsewhere, some fans believe the video highlights why filmmakers should stick to casting human actors for the foreseeable future. "It's impressive in its recreations, but extremely narrow in its scope. You start to pick up on the trends and habits it has and realize just how little variation and interpretation there is in AI, no matter the prompt," @shamrock141 wrote. Despite this, it seems that a lot of "Dune" fans appreciated how the video brought their favorite characters to life, even if AI remains a divisive topic.

For more information about this franchise, check out the untold truth of "Dune."