Drop everything! Everything except your Crysknife, we mean. Because it’s time to blast back to Arrakis, and you’ll want to be ready for war. Dune: Part Two is now just a few tantalising months away, and if you thought that first trailer was huge? Well, just you wait for this epic new look at Denis Villeneuve’s second chapter of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi spectacular. Across three minutes, the latest trailer offers another seismic look at what’s in store as Villeneuve translates the second half of the book – not only showing off more stark monochromatic footage of Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha, but teasing a dark destiny for Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides, and unveiling someone we haven’t seen up until now: Christopher Walken as Emperor Shaddam IV. Stop reading this, and watch the trailer below now. Right now!
...and breathe. The scope of Dune has always been huge, but all signs point to Part Two being particularly expansive – picking up with Paul Atreides, Rebecca Ferguson’s Lady Jessica in the desert among Zendaya’s Chani and the native Fremen people, where war is brewing. Paul is still – understandably – pissed about the murder of his father, Oscar Isaac’s Duke Leto Atreides, and the fearsome Harkonnen forces need taking down several pegs. But, Paul is also having more Spice-fuelled visions that hint at a destiny he doesn’t want to embody. There is clearly an epic battle incoming – after setting the table in the first Dune, Villeneuve is about to bring the thunder.
And that’s not just in the promise of war. We also, as teased in the previous trailer, will see Paul Atreides riding a sandworm; we’ll get much more from Zendaya, who only briefly appeared as Chani in the first film; we’ll get the return of Josh Brolin’s Gurney Halleck; we’ll get to properly meet Florence Pugh’s Princess Irulan. But most importantly, we’ll finally meet the shadowy Emperor himself – Shaddam IV, played by Christopher Walken. Even the brief shots we get of him here are deeply impactful – you can imagine Paul Atreides won’t take kindly to being told, “Your father was a weak man.” As for long-standing Dune fans? We finally get to hear our central figure describe himself as “Paul ‘Muad’dib’ Atreides, Duke of Arrakis”, and get to hear a Fremen version of that line: “Long live the fighters.” Anyone else got chills right now?
The other most important return here? The astounding, none-more-eye-boggling imagery, stunningly captured by cinematographer Greig Fraser – and scored once again by the thunderous, clattering score of Hans Zimmer. We can already feel the Spice flowing through our veins. Buckle up, everyone – the return trip to Arrakis isn’t too far away. See you there on 3 November. Bring your own stillsuit. Trust us, you don't want to borrow ours.