Dune 3 hype is already rising, thanks to six standout characters

By the time the dust settled on Arrakis, Paul had seized the Golden Lion Throne by demanding Princess Irulan’s hand, shattered the old order, and unleashed a holy war in his name. The next chapter dives straight into the fallout — and it ’s bringing in new wild cards alongside some very complicated returns.

Denis Villeneuve is adapting Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah for the third film.

The flashiest new arrival is Robert Pattinson as Scytale, a Face Dancer from the shadowy Bene Tleilax. In the book, Scytale doesn’t just shapeshift; he threads himself into a plot to topple the Emperor, making him the kind of villain who smiles while he moves the knife.

Then there’s the resurrection that isn’t quite a resurrection. Jason Momoa returns as Duncan Idaho — but as Hayt, a ghola engineered from Duncan’s remains. Hayt’s presence turns grief into a test of memory and identity, forcing everyone around Paul to question what “coming back” really means.

Who’s in the fight

• Robert Pattinson — Scytale, a Bene Tleilax Face Dancer tied to a conspiracy against Paul.
• Jason Momoa — Duncan Idaho/Hayt, a ghola whose very existence pokes at the limits of the soul.
• Anya Taylor-Joy — Alia Atreides, born with ancestral memories and far from an ordinary child.
• Timothée Chalamet — Paul Atreides, no longer the reluctant heir but the Emperor trying to hold a burning empire together.
• Florence Pugh — Princess Irulan, Paul’s political bride with Bene Gesserit training and ambitions of her own.
• Zendaya — Chani, the Fremen warrior who walked away rather than watch her people be consumed by a prophecy.

Irulan’s marriage to Paul sealed his claim to the throne but left zero room for romance. As a daughter of the former Emperor and a Bene Gesserit adept, Florence Pugh’s cool, calculating Irulan stands at a crossroads between loyalty, self-preservation, and a regime she helped legitimize.

Briefly glimpsed in Part Two, Anya Taylor-Joy’s Alia now steps into the light. A “pre-born” with the voices and memories of her ancestors, Alia is powerful enough to make the Bene Gesserit uneasy — and complicated enough to test her brother’s rule from the inside.

The man at the center of it all has changed. Timothée Chalamet’s Paul embraced the mantle of Emperor and set off a galaxy-spanning jihad; now he’s trying to steer a future he can see but can’t control, surrounded by plots that cut close to home.

Refusing to be swept along, Zendaya’s Chani chose her people over prophecy and left. The official synopsis places her at the heart of the mystery around Paul’s reign, turning their fractured relationship into the saga’s most volatile front.

And in the shadows, Scytale waits: in Dune Messiah, he becomes a central figure in a conspiracy to overthrow Paul.