Dune 2020 has an embarrassment of stars—How well do they match their roles?

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – FEBRUARY 05: Actor Timothee Chalamet attends the 90th Annual Academy Awards Nominee Luncheon at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 5, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides

Paul is the son of Duke Leto Atreides and his concubine, the Lady Jessica. He is the heir and only son of House Atreides and the main character for the first couple Dune books. Because Paul’s mother is of the powerful Bene Gesserit order, she took part in the organization’s breeding program and was ordered to produce a daughter who could then be paired with another human to bear the Kwisatz Haderach, a figure with special abilities the Bene Gesserit think they can use to further their control over the universe. However, because she fell in love with Duke Leto, Jessica used her Bene Gesserit training to manipulate the genes in her womb and give him the son he’d always wanted: Paul.

Because Jessica trained Paul from an early age in the ways of the Bene Gesserit, he knows how to use his voice to manipulate those around him, his senses are heightened, and he has been schooled in the secret Bene Gesserit martial arts. He has also undergone mentat training, which basically means he’s a human computer. He also trains with different weapons under the tutelage of people like Gurney Halleck and Duncan Idaho.

Image: Dune/Universal

In David Lynch’s version of Dune (1984), Paul was played by Kyle MacLachlan, who did a very good job with the role. In fact, I think Chalamet bears some resemblance to a young MacLachlan. Chalamet is perfect for Paul. He can convincingly play a teenager, he has the bearing of someone from an aristocratic family, he’s been in a big-budget sci-fi film (Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar), and he’s already been nominated for an Academy Award for his work in Call Me By Your Name.