The promise of seeing two of the most exciting actors working today, Timothée Chalamet and Austin Butler, square off in Dune: Part Two makes the sci-fi sequel even better. Dune: Part Two acts as the second half of Denis Villeneuve’s two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s iconic novel, which has received a reputation for being “unadaptable“. However, like several “unadaptable” novels such as Watchmen and Moneyball, Dune has been successfully transferred to the big screen. Released in 2021, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune received critical acclaim and was successful enough at the box office, and on HBO Max, for Warner Bros. to greenlight a sequel.
Despite Dune‘s immense success, Dune: Part Two promises to be even bigger in several ways. Not only is the sequel likely to have even better box office returns than the first, especially given that Dune received a simultaneous theatrical and streaming release, but also Dune: Part Two‘s ensemble cast looks even more exciting than its predecessor. The addition of A-list stars, such as Florence Pugh (Don’t Worry Darling), Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter), and Elvis‘ Austin Butler means that Dune: Part Two has even more potential to be great than the first of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune adaptations.
Chalamet’s Paul Vs. Butler’s Feyd-Rautha Is Very Exciting For Dune 2
One of the most exciting elements of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two is the opportunity to see Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides and Austin Butler’s Feyd-Rautha face off against one another. Timothée Chalamet has been considered one of the greatest young actors working for several years now, especially since his widely acclaimed performance in Call Me By Your Name back in 2017, and Austin Butler is following up his Oscar-nominated breakout role as the titular rocker in Elvis with a villainous turn in Dune: Part Two. The potential to see these two highly-acclaimed young actors fight one another, as hero and villain, is downright tantalizing.
What makes this inevitable duel even more exciting is the fact that Austin Butler has teased a more complex interpretation (via Backstage) of the typically-vile Feyd-Rautha character. Feyd-Rautha, the nephew of the evil Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard), is often portrayed as an utterly immoral villain for Paul to overcome. However, Butler’s potentially more complex portrayal of the character not only gives his rivalry with Paul more dramatic weight but also captures the tone of Herbert’s novel perfectly, as they strive to avoid portraying any character, Paul included, as simply black or white from a moral point of view.
How Butler’s Feyd-Rautha Will Be A Dark Mirror Of Chalamet’s Paul In Dune 2
What makes Feyd-Rautha so interesting as an antagonist is that he is a dark reflection of Paul Atreides. Both men are a product of the Bene Gesserit’s centuries-long genetic manipulation to produce the Kwisatz Haderach, the Dune universe’s version of a Messiah. Feyd-Rautha represents everything Paul could become should he give in to his own darkest impulses, especially following the near-destruction of his family by the Harkonnens in Dune. Paul Atreides and Feyd-Rautha’s conflict is not merely one of hero against villain, but representative of Paul’s inner workings. Should he give into his darkest thoughts in Dune: Part Two, he could very easily become a villain worse than Feyd-Rautha.
Key Release Dates
Dune 2
Release Date:2023-11-03
