Denis Villeneuve lifts lid on Jason Momoa’s “very important comeback” for ‘Dune: Part Three’
Denis Villeneuve has lifted the lid on the return of Jason Momoa’s character Duncan Idaho in Dune: Part Three.
Idaho appeared in the first Dune film but was killed off after fighting to save Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) and did not feature in the follow-up, Dune: Part Two.
However, now that the third and final instalment of the trilogy is set for release, and with its first trailer having just appeared online, director Villeneuve spoke more openly alongside Momoa about the character’s return.
At a launch event for the film on March 16th, Momoa appeared via video link and said (via Deadline): “I’m back. Yay! Finally! Listen, I loved Dune Two. It was amazing. I mean, but there was one thing missing, obviously, one key ingredient. So my question to you, Denis, is why did you kill me off of the first one? And why am I back now? I love you because you miss me.”
The actor had previously confirmed last year that he was set to return for the third and final film instalment of the series, based on the fact that Idaho returns as a clone in the plot of the original novel that the movie is based on, Dune Messiah.
However, in response to Momoa’s comments at the event, Villeneuve added: “He created that tremendous charismatic character that our heart was broken, seeing him falling in the first one. And then the desire to see him back.”
Attempting to reveal as few plot points as possible, the director then said: “And he comes back just at the right moment in the story. And it’s a very, very important comeback. Paul is struggling with his identity and having that kind of strong Atreides figure coming back from the past will have a tremendous impact. I will say that he’s fully back.”
Although details of the storyline for Dune: Part Three remain scant, Villeneuve also confirmed there had been a 17-year time jump between the events of the last film.
According to the plot of Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah, Atreides has been ruling as emperor for 12 years but humanity has fallen into excess suffering, so he must steer it back to the path of least destruction before it proves too late.
To this end, due to the darker tonal shift compared to the previous two films, Villeneuve said he considers the genre of the movie to be a “thriller”.
Dune: Part Three is set to hit cinemas on December 18th, 2026.
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