What Is the Spice Melange and Why Does Everyone Want It?

The Big Picture

• Spice melange, known as spice, is a valuable substance vital for space travel and enhances psychic abilities.
• Spice is only found on the dangerous planet Arrakis, making it a costly and challenging resource to mine and trade.
• Fremen, the planet's inhabitants, consider spice holy and use it for various purposes, causing conflict with others who value it for wealth.

Not many cinematic feats have proven to be as Herculean as adapting Frank Herbert’s acclaimed novel Dune. It’s only taken thirty-seven years, but it’s finally been portrayed in a way that encompasses the essence of the book. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, the 2021 film gave viewers a glimpse into a complex galaxy built on head-scratching concepts and ideologies, and now Dune: Part Two wraps up Villeneuve's film series (for now). Its critical success does not take away the fact that there’s still a lot to uncover and understand in Herbert’s vast universe. For people who’ve read the books, not a lot can fly over their heads since ample exposition has put plenty into context. However, the movie does raise a few questions along the way, and a top contender: What is spice?

Dune

A noble family becomes embroiled in a war for control over the galaxy's most valuable asset while its heir becomes troubled by visions of a dark future.

Why Does Everyone Want That Spice?

One thing is evident immediately; this substance is highly important and even rarer across the galaxy. This notion is reiterated and confirmed in the words of Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), “He who controls Spice, controls the universe.” All the what’s and why’s surrounding spice are plenty, so let’s start by stating that spice is somewhat of a street name. The psychedelic substance itself is more formally referred to as spice melange. Solely found on the desert planet of Arrakis, spice is valuable for a myriad of reasons, one being that it is vital to space travel.

Dune Part One | Official Trailer | Warner Bros.

The absence of computers in Herbert’s fictional universe means that they’ve had to devise other means to get around the expanse of space. As such, they’ve taken to the mind-opening properties of spice to give their navigators a boost of sorts to bend space, which leads us to the next point. When inhaled or ingested, the substance often opens the third eye, triggering genius-level feats and psychic abilities. When you factor in the fact that spice has life-prolonging properties, then there you have it, a substance that practically turns humans into superman versions of themselves. Based on that alone, it does strongly inspire some to get high on their own supply.

Spice Is Very Limited in 'Dune'

For the purpose of stressing how valuable it is, it's probably worth mentioning again that spice is only found on the planet Arrakis. This is not some idealistic getaway. The planet is considered highly dangerous especially when you factor in the less-than-favorable climate as well as the jumbo-sized sandworms that are central to the production of spice. In addition to only being available on a death trap of a planet, for foreigners, mining the stuff and dealing with the Fremen—the inhabitants of Arrakis—costs a small fortune and is as tasking a process as it is vital. While the rest of the galaxy considers spice ownership a sign of great wealth, Fremen consider it a holy substance. They mix it in with their food and beverages, create textiles, and even forge weapons with it. So, it’s no surprise that they probably have an issue with the way the rest of the galaxy barters for it. It doesn’t come cheap either, the exchange rate is right up there as spice can be traded for mansions, planets even.

Dune is now available to stream on Max in the U.S.

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