Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures’ next Dune movie is taking shape. Director Denis Villeneuve is returning for Dune 3, along with core cast members like Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh, and Anya Taylor-Joy. And now we know one major new actor who may be joining the cast for Part 3. Deadline reports that Robert Pattinson is being considered for a major role in Dune 3. Apparently The Batman isn’t the only tentpole Warner Bros. franchise Pattinson could be involved with in the years ahead.
At this early stage, we don’t know for sure which character Pattinson would play, though THR suggests he’ll be playing a villain. But we certainly have some ideas based on where Dune: Part Two leaves off and what we know from author Frank Herbert’s Dune novels. Let’s break down the Dune characters Pattinson is most likely to play in the next movie.
Scytale
Assuming the Dune 3 movie sticks more to adapting the contents of the first sequel book, Dune Messiah, and leaves the book after that, Children of Dune (and the rest of the series), for future movies to handle, there aren’t many new characters we could really see Pattinson playing. If he’s going to play any Dune Messiah character other than Leto II, we’d put our money on Scytale. And as it happens, that’s the character THR suggests Pattinson will be playing.
Scytale is basically the main villain of Messiah. He’s one of the ringleaders of a plot to overthrow Emperor Paul Atreides, who now rules over the galaxy with a massive army of fanatical Fremen worshipers. If the first two Dune movies showed us how Paul evolves from pampered son of a Duke to battle-hardened Fremen messiah, the third movie will likely shed light on the challenges he faces as emperor. As ever, heavy is the head that wears the crown.
The problem with plotting against a guy like Paul is that he has a superhuman ability to see the future. Scytale and his co-conspirators (including Charlotte Rampling’s Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohaim) only manage it by working alongside a Guild Navigator named Edric. Because the Guild Navigators consume massive amounts of spice to carry out their functions, they distort time and space and render themselves invisible to Paul’s prescient visions. More or less.
Scytale is a fascinating character, and a role we could really see Pattinson sinking his teeth into. He’s a shapeshifter known as a Face Dancer (another of which was glimpsed in the Dune: Prophecy prequel series), as well as a member of the technological wizards known as the Bene Tleilax. Pattinson has so often gravitated toward heroic roles in his franchise films, so Scytale is a chance for him to play the bad guy instead.
Plus, playing Scytale leaves ample room for Pattinson to return to the Dune franchise in future sequels. We won’t spoil where Scytale winds up by the end of Dune Messiah, but suffice it to say, neither time nor death are much of a barrier to characters returning in this series.
Most likely, this is the character Pattinson will play in Dune 3. But are there other possibilities? Let’s look at some other Dune villain roles that could be perfect for his talents.
Leto Atreides II
Given that Pattinson is a major actor who bears more than a slight resemblance to Chalamet, we can’t help but immediately gravitate to another member of the Atreides family, and one of the most important characters in the Dune saga overall. Could Pattinson be playing Paul’s son, Leto Atreides II?
It’s important to point out that there are actually two Leto IIs in the Dune saga, both named in honor of Paul’s dearly departed father (played by Oscar Isaac in the first movie). Paul’s firstborn son, Leto Atreides II the Elder, plays a minor role in the original Dune novel, where he’s killed in a Sardaukar attack while Paul plots his revenge against the Harkonnens. That Leto II is less a fully realized character than he is a tragic source of motivation for Paul in the book’s climax. The Dune: Part Two movie skips that particular plot point entirely.
The younger Leto Atreides II is introduced in the second novel, Dune Messiah. He’s only an infant in that story, but as he ages, he goes on to become the central protagonist of the third book, Children of Dune, and the villain/prime plot catalyst of the fourth book, God Emperor of Dune. That trippy half-human/half-worm character on the cover of God Emperor of Dune? That’s Leto II. Leto II was also portrayed by a young James McAvoy in the 2003 Children of Dune miniseries.
The third Dune movie is shaping up to be an adaptation of Dune Messiah, so on the surface it might seem strange to cast Pattinson as an infant character. But as we saw in Dune: Part Two, the movies are embellishing the source material a bit by giving Paul spice-induced visions of his future family members. Anya Taylor-Joy appears in that sequel as Paul’s unborn sister Alia, so what’s to stop Pattinson from playing Leto II in spice vision form?
That’s to say nothing of the fact that the movies look to be diverging a bit from the source material as time goes on. As we’ve explored before, Dune: Part Two leaves Zendaya’s Chani in a very different place compared to the book. And there’s no telling whether Villeneuve’s next movie might borrow a page from the Children of Dune miniseries and combine the plot of Messiah and Children of Dune into one story.
However Dune 3 justifies the idea of Pattinson playing Leto II – if that’s where things wind up – what matters most is that this casting would leave room for Pattinson to continue playing a major role in the franchise going forward. Again, the younger Leto II is one of the most important characters in this sprawling sci-fi universe. And we really aren’t going to be happy until we see Pattinson playing Leto as a pompous, pontificating worm god.
Prince Farad’n Corrino
There’s another possibility if Dune 3 does indeed combine elements of Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. Could Pattinson be playing Prince Farad’n?
Farad’n is one of the villains of Children of Dune. As the grandson of the now-deposed Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV (played by Christopher Walken in Dune: Part Two), Farad’n represents his family’s last, best hope of reclaiming their lost throne. Farad’n is raised on the hellish world of Salusa Secundus and trained in the ways of the Sardaukar, meaning all he knows is rain, combat, and weird chanting.
Farad’n is a particularly compelling character because he doesn’t actually covet Paul’s throne all that much. That’s more his mother Wensicia’s obsession. He’s a guy who would be much happier being left alone to read and write. If the idea is to cast Pattinson as a more sympathetic villain in this dark and sinister galaxy, Farad’n could fit the bill.
A New Fremen Character
Again, Dune: Part Two makes some significant changes to the source material, and nowhere is that more apparent than with Chani herself. Where Chani ends the first Dune novel as a willing participant in Paul’s grand cosmic plans, in the movie she rejects his holy war and returns to the sands of Arrakis, embittered and disillusioned by the Fremen messiah she loved.
That loose thread alone promises that Dune 3 isn’t going to be a 1:1 adaptation of Dune Messiah. Knowing that, we can’t help but wonder how many other sweeping changes will be introduced in the next movie. What new characters will Villeneuve concoct? Will there be new villains not seen in the classic Dune novels? Will Pattinson play one of those villains?
It’s certainly possible. We could easily see Pattinson playing a brand new character who serves in Chani’s anti-Paul faction of Fremen. She represents those new-school Fremen who aren’t so taken with Paul and his promises of a cosmic bloodbath. Could Pattinson play a Fremen who rises up to oppose Paul and fight in Chani’s name? Could he be essentially the new, less creepy version of Austin Butler’s Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen?
In that sense, he’d only be a villain from Paul’s perspective. Herbert was always very clear that the Dune novels are cautionary tales about the danger of charismatic leaders. It would make sense to cast Pattinson as a character who fights against Paul and argues that, hey, maybe slaughtering billions of people to cement one’s claim to the throne is a bad thing.
Maybe Dune 3 could even work up a love triangle involving Paul, Chani, and Pattinson’s character. For all her loathing of what Paul has become, we have to assume Chani still harbors feelings for him. Somehow, the next movie is going to have to arrange matters so that Chani can become pregnant and give birth to Leto II and his twin sister Ghanima. Maybe she’ll have to make the ultimate choice between Timothée Chalamet and Robert Pattinson. We don’t envy her there.
Which Dune character do you think Pattinson is playing? Cast your vote in our poll and let us know your thoughts in the comments below:
For more on the future of the Dune franchise, find out what spoiler-y revelation Jason Momoa made about the next movie.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.
