Game of Thrones veteran Jason Momoa was part of the star-studded cast of the first Dune movie, which also featured the likes of Timothée Chalamet, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin and more. Momoa played Duncan Idaho, the loyal swordmaster for House Atreides. Idaho dies in Dune: Part 1, defending Paul Atreides and his mother Lady Jessica from Sardaukar soldiers.
So that's it, right? He's out of the franchise? Turns out no. “I’m making a comeback,” Momoa said on TODAY. “You heard it first, right here with you, baby.”
The first two Dune movies from director Denis Villenueve adapted Frank Herbert's original 1965 sci-fi novel Dune. Villenueve has plans to make one more Dune movie based on Dune Messiah, the second in what would be six Dune books that Herbert would ultimately write (his son Brian would write more afterwards). And Duncan Idaho does indeed come back in Dune Messiah, although Momoa was loathe to reveal how. “Well, I’m not sure if I’m going to get in trouble or not, but it’s the same thing like ‘Game of Thrones’, you know what I mean? If you didn’t read the books, it’s not my fault, right? Yeah, there’s going to be … I’m going to be coming back.”
If you don't mind SPOILERS, we have the information. In Dune Messiah, a group of genetically altered human beings called the Bene Tleilax create a clone of Duncan Idaho, called a ghola in the vocabulary of the Dune universe, and present him as a gift to Paul Atredies, who is by this point the Emperor of the Known Universe. The Duncan Idaho ghola isn't exactly the same as the Duncan Idaho Paul knew growing up, but it's close enough that Paul accepts the gift, which is what the Bene Tleilax want: to get close to the Emperor. And Paul knows they want that. It's all part of the complex political game played throughout the novel.
As mentioned, Dune: Part 3 is the final Dune movie Denis Villenueve intends to direct. But there are more Dune books to adapt beyond that if Warner Bros. Discovery wants to keep going with someone else in the director's chair. And a lot of them, as it happens, involve a ghola of Duncan Idaho, who keeps coming back even centuries pass between books. So depending on how movies they make, this role could keep Jason Momoa employed for a very long while.
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h/t Variety