Here’s Everything That ‘Dune 3’ Could Be About

After the undeniable successes of both Dune: Part 1 and Dune: Part 2, it wasn’t surprising to many moviegoers to hear that director Denis Villeneuve will be returning to create a third Dune film, too. The only trouble is that the plot of the third Dune book, titled Messiah, is even more complicated to adapt to screen than the initial book. 

The first challenge will undoubtedly be the fact that Messiah takes place a whopping twelve years after the original Dune book. While this isn’t as big of an issue for the book series — which has a single title spanning the same content that both Dune movies cover — it will be slightly awkward for one out of three movies to be taking place in a completely different timeline from the other two.

Because of the extensively complicated plot of Messiah (no spoilers ahead, don’t worry), adapting the book to screen will be somewhat difficult. Characters who only made a brief appearance in Dune: Part 2 will play a more significant role in Messiah, while the nuances of the plot itself could cause Dune: Part 3 to have a very long runtime.

The ending of Dune: Part 2 also implies a somewhat different role for Chani (played by Zendaya). During the final few minutes of the film, Chani leaves Paul (played by Timothée Chalamet) to escape into the desert after he accepts a marriage to Princess Irulan Corrino (played by Florence Pugh), betraying Chani. 

A minor character spoiler for Messiah is that, in the books, Chani returns as Paul’s lover, while he continues in his marriage to Princess Irulan — which makes tensions in his household high, as Princess Irulan’s interference in Paul’s extramarital relationship become more and more manipulative. It is this love triangle that creates the primary driving plot of the second book. Though Dune: Part 2’s ending implied a more hopeful future for Chani, the likelihood is that Dune: Part 3 will backtrack her character’s vie for independence in Dune: Part 2. 

Both Chani and Princess Irulan will return for Messiah, as the core plot of the movie will not be able to stay true to the book without either of them. 

In Dune: Part 2, Alia, Paul’s sister (played by Anya Taylor-Joy) was also introduced as a future central character. She joins the cast as a main character in Messiah and also operates a major side plot of the book. In the book, Alia is only 16 years old, however — so critics are uncertain as of now whether Dune: Part 3 will age Alia up more to fit with Anya Taylor Joy’s current age, or seek to make the actor herself look more like a teenager. It’s also possible that the teenage Alia could be recast.

Paul will retain and work with his visionary abilities throughout Messiah, too. The premise of the book is that he forsees the fall of all humanity under his rule, and he is concerned that he is powerless to stop it. The houses from the first two parts of the movie, now fallen, plot to remove Paul from the throne for good. 

Additionally, Paul struggles to produce an heir to his throne, as he has premonitions that Chani will die in childbirth should she fall pregnant. This, however, puts his family’s rule in peril. 

These two plots — Paul’s struggle to combat the conspiring houses that will end his rule and his attempts to save Chani without sacrificing his house’s power — make it clear that the film will, in some capacity, need to at least involve Paul, Chani, Princess Irulan, and Alia. Also returning for the film will be Duncan Idaho, played by Jason Momoa. 

While it’s expected that some changes will be made to fit the plot of Messiah into movie format more thoroughly, these are the central aspects of the plot that we can almost certainly guarantee will make it into Dune: Part 3. 

Even better yet, it is highly likely that the cast of the first two Dune movies will be returning to their roles during the second film. 

In the original Dune books, Paul begins the series as a 15-year-old, making in him in his late 20s when the time jump occurs in Dune: Messiah. However, the recent Dune movies never actually confirmed what age Paul was when the events of both Dune: Part 1 and Dune: Part 2 occurred. 

Regardless, it’s clear that both Paul and Chani are intended to be fairly young during the first two blockbuster films, which means that it actually won’t be too difficult to see an “aged-up” cast of Dune: Part 3 — in fact, Timothée Chalamet is already two years older than Paul was in the original Dune: Messiah book.

One character in particular won’t even need to do any off-screen aging at all. But if you haven’t already read the Dune books yet, you’ll just have to wait until Dune: Part 3 comes out to find out why.