Dune, the newly released adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi novel, has an ensemble cast you’ve got to see to believe. Timothée Chalamet is lead character Paul Atreides, Oscar Isaac is his father Duke Leto, josh Brolin is House Atreides retainer Gurney Halleck, Zendaya is Fremen warrior Chani…and the list goes on.
Game of Thrones veteran Jason Momoa also has a role as the swaggering Duncan Idaho, the House Atreides swordmaster. Momoa was bowled over by the cast. “I didn’t expect Oscar Isaac to be that amazing. So funny, talented, and charming,” he told IndieWire. “Brolin, I knew would be a stud. Javier is like a god to me. Timothée is so intelligent. Rebecca is amazing, she held her own against all of us.”
But when it came time to shoot, Momoa had to put away his awe of his castmates and play someone who Paul himself idolizes. Momoa was able to draw on his own experience with mentors to make that happen. “Those men that come in your life, and they go on these journeys, whether they’re mountaineers or skateboarders, they go on these adventures, and they come back and tell them, and you just idolize them,” Momoa said. “That’s what I really felt like Duncan was to Timothée’s character. That’s what I wanted to embody when playing this role.”
It also helped that Momoa has a son himself. He included a very sweet tribute to his son in an unexpected place: the fight choreography. “We did a bunch of stuff like Kali,” Momoa said, talking about a martial arts technique native to the Philippines. “I never really learned that. My son does that. There’s definitely these intimate moments where I’m signaling to my son. That’s a Kali move, where you put your hand on your heart and put it on your head. That’s to Timothée in the movie, but that’s to my son in real life.”
The internet is tickled over the name of Jason Momoa’s Dune character, Duncan Idaho
If Warner Bros. makes more Dune movies, Momoa could have a big role — if you’ve read the books you know what I mean. But for now, people are just coming to grips with his character’s name, which sounds a little out of place in this far-flung future full of Bene Gesserit and Gom Jabbars and Tleilaxu Face Dancers.
Dune: “People use space drugs to travel through space and gain super powers”
— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) October 24, 2021
Me: “Alright”
Dune: “Space drugs are only on a dirt planet with giant worms and also the new space messiah”
Me: “Pretty reasonable”
Dune: “There’s a character named Duncan Idaho”
Me: “okay hold on
If I told you Dune was out this weekend AND a new Wes Anderson film, which one would you think included a character named Duncan Idaho?
— Patrick Barb (@pbarb) October 24, 2021
I am too high to find out that there is a character in DUNE named Duncan Idaho. They keep saying it and I keep pausing the movie to laugh.
— Sean O’Connor (@seanoconnz) October 23, 2021
I know I’m, like, 50 years behind on DUNE Discourse, but have we talked about how “Duncan Idaho” is totally a porn name? Especially when attached to Jason Momoa?
— Suleikha Snyder (@suleikhasnyder) October 22, 2021
Have it hand it to Dune that there are characters named "Glossu Rabban" and "Thufir Hawat" and then there's also a guy named "Duncan Idaho"
— Peter Blair (@PeterAWBlair) October 22, 2021
This movie desperately needs a sequel, if for no other reason than the wisecracks.
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