The new trailer for Dune: Part Two reveals some crucial scenes and events from the books.
Frank Herbert’s sci-fi novel was too long to fit in one movie, so Denis Villeneuve decided to divide it into two parts. Dune focused on how House Atreides was betrayed and how Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) started his quest to free Arrakis with the help of the Fremen.
Dune 2 continues right after Paul and his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), join the Fremen. The sequel will show the rest of Herbert’s book, where Paul becomes Lisan al Gaib and leads the war against House Harkonnen.
The first official Dune 2 trailer was released online by Warner Bros. after some people saw it at CinemaCon and shared what they saw. The trailer has more than two minutes of scenes that show many characters and plot points for Villeneuve’s second movie.
We get to see new characters like Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh) and Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler) for the first time, and more of Chani (Zendaya) and Stilgar (Javier Bardem) who have bigger roles. Here is a detailed analysis of the most important scenes in the Dune 2 trailer and how they relate to Frank Herbert’s book.
Check out the trailer here if you haven’t already –
1. Lady Jessica’s New Look
The trailer for Dune 2 shows how Lady Jessica has changed her appearance in the sequel. We can see her face tattoos and blue eyes in one of the scenes.
This is what Paul saw in his vision of his mother in the first Dune movie. Lady Jessica’s blue eyes are caused by the spice of Arrakis, which she and Paul have been using a lot. This makes them look like the other Fremen who live on the planet.
Lady Jessica’s blue eyes also show how much she has become part of the Fremen culture. She gets the face tattoos after she becomes their Reverend Mother. This is a big deal for her and the Bene Gesserit, who want to create the Kwisatz Haderach, the most powerful being in the galaxy.
2. The Introduction of Princess Irulan
The trailer for Dune 2 shows Princess Irulan for the first time and hints at her role in the book. Florence Pugh’s character does not have a big part in Frank Herbert’s novel until the end, but she is always there because she writes the quotes that start every chapter.
The trailer has Irulan talking into a voice recorder and saying, “In the shadows of Arrakis lie many secrets, but the darkest of them all may remain, the end of House Atreides.” This is not a real quote from Irulan’s writings in the book, but it shows how she likes to record history.
3. Paul’s Fate and the Fall of House Atreides
The trailer for Dune 2 also has Princess Irulan hinting that Paul is alive even though House Atreides has fallen. This is similar to how people in the book wonder about what happened to Paul.
For example, Lady Margot Fenring quotes a Bene Gesserit saying in the novel. She says, “Do not count a human dead until you’ve seen his body. And even then, you can make a mistake.” Irulan is not the only one who doubts his death in Dune 2 and will eventually find out he is still alive.
4. Gurney Halleck is Alive
The trailer for Dune 2 also shows that Gurney Halleck is not dead after what happened in Dune. He was the House Atreides Warmaster and fought with House Harkonnen and the Sardaukar on Arrakis.
He survived by joining some spice smugglers and became a leader among them. He is alone in the Dune 2 scenes, but he will meet Paul again later. Also, Gurney Halleck’s long hair shows that the movie will probably have some time jumps, because he and Paul are apart for two years after the end of Dune in the book.
5. Feyd-Rautha – The New Villain
The first time we see Austin Butler’s Feyd-Rautha in Dune 2, he looks very different from the books. Herbert’s novel said he was a teenager with a round face, sad eyes, big and pouty lips, and black hair. But Dune 2 has made Austin Butler bald and white all over.
This is not how Feyd-Rautha looks in the book, but Denis Villeneuve seems to have done this to make him look like Baron Vladimir and Glossu Rabban, who are his relatives. Maybe their planet Giedi Prime makes them look like this.
The trailer for Dune 2 also seems to show a bit of the Harkonnen’s world on Giedi Prime through Feyd-Rautha. The character is fighting in a gladiator arena that is black-and-white.
This could be the Harkonnen family games that the Dune book mentions, where Feyd-Rautha kills slave-gladiators for his birthday. Lady Fenring is there for the fight in the trailer, just like in the book. Since this is the first time, we see Giedi Prime, we don’t know if the black-and-white look is a way to show a flashback or how the whole planet looks.
The trailer for Dune 2 also shows a bit of the final fight between Feyd-Rautha and Paul Atreides. They are facing each other with people on both sides of them. This is from the book where Feyd-Rautha wants to fight Paul one-on-one. The fight happens when Paul is close to winning the war with the emperor and ending the war on Arrakis.
6. The Significance of the Water of Life
The trailer for Dune 2 also shows more of Lady Jessica’s role in the movie with a quick look at the Water of Life. The special liquid is held by a Bene Gesserit woman in the trailer.
This probably means the scene is about Lady Jessica becoming Reverend Mother for the Fremen. The Bene Gesserit use the Water of Life to make their sisters into Reverend Mothers. It is a risky ritual that can kill those who are not ready, but those who drink the Water of Life can access genetic memories.
The Water of Life is very important in Dune 2, not just for Lady Jessica’s new status. This is because the new Reverend Mother has to spit out the liquid for later use.
It is supposed to be fatal to any man, but Dune 2 will have Paul Atreides try to use the Water of Life to become Kwisatz Haderach. The trailer hints that Lady Jessica will become Reverend Mother, so Paul can then drink the Water of Life himself.
7. The Relationships: Paul & Chani, Feyd-Rautha & Lady Fenring
The trailer for Dune 2 also shows how important Chani and Paul’s love story is in the movie. Zendaya’s character did not have much to do in the first movie, but she will be a big part of the sequel as Chani and Paul fall in love.
This makes Paul closer to the Fremen in the books, but his mother worries about how Chani will affect her son. In the end, Paul has to choose between his love for Chani and the political benefits of marrying Princess Irulan.
The trailer for Dune 2 also has a scene where Feyd-Rautha and Lady Fenring are close to each other, and it looks like they are going to kiss. This shows the love affair that they have because of the Bene Gesserit’s plan.
Lady Fenring is good at tempting men and the Bene Gesserit send her in the book to make a baby with Feyd-Rautha. They do this when they think Paul is dead, so they might have to start over with the Kwisatz Haderach breeding program. The trailer hints that Dune 2 will include this part of the story.
8. The Ending: Paul Assembles His Fremen Army
The trailer for Dune 2 ends with Paul getting ready to lead his Fremen army against House Harkonnen. He stands on a mountain with many Fremen fighters in the sand below him and raises his knife in the ritual way.
This might be when Paul is becoming more powerful among the Fremen and making them ready for war with the Harkonnens. This could also be after Paul has taught some of the Fremen the weirding way, which makes them very good fighters called the Fedaykin.
9. About Dune
Dune (also known as Dune: Part One) is an American sci-fi film based on Frank Herbert’s novel of the same name, directed by Denis Villeneuve.
Part One introduced the planet of Dune/Arrakis, the only place where the enhancer drug “Melange” is found and sought out by many. The Atreides House is sent to the planet as the ruling Duke, as part of their adversaries’ trap. However, the Atreides are aware of the same and aim to defend Dune and their house.
The ensemble cast is made up of Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Chang Chen, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem.
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