Hold onto your Dune: Part Two-inspired popcorn buckets, because this is going to be a bumpy ride. It’s been two years since Denis Villeneuve’s highly anticipated follow-up to Dune: Part One was released, and finally, we’re back to the world of Arrakis. Picking up where we left off in the first film, Dune: Part Two is a visually advanced film that features incredible performances from actors like Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet, Austin Butler, and Florence Pugh.
Even though Part One and Part Two are similar in certain ways, Part Two dives deeper into the world of Dune and opens the potential doorway for more. While we’re not sure about when a potential third film could come out, we can definitely answer your questions regarding Dune: Part Two after watching it, including how the sequel differs from Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel.
When Dune: Part Two takes place.
Dune: Part Two immediately begins after Part One, a few days after Paul and Lady Jessica arrive at Arrakis. However, in the book, Part Two begins a few years after the Atreides family lands on Arrakis.
Most notably, it’s estimated that they’ve been on the planet for roughly 3 years. Since the film adaptation takes place in a shorter time frame, we see the hesitation from the Fremen once they begin to get accustomed to Paul.
That cameo in Part Two.
During a vision scene in Dune: Part Two, we get a glimpse of Anya Taylor-Joy’s character Alia speaking about the future. In the book, Alia is Paul’s younger sister, who is born during the 3 years that Paul and Lady Jessica are on Arrakis. However, the film changes that by only giving us a first look at Alia as an adult. Alia warns Paul in a vision about a catastrophic future, and ultimately, leads into the next Dune film.
The fate of Chani and Paul.
Towards the end of Part Two, it’s revealed that Paul will ultimately marry Princess Irulan due to politics and having an arranged marriage to keep the peace. Throughout the book version of Dune, we get to see Paul and Chani’s relationship even during Paul’s marriage to Irulan. Paul and Chani end up having children together in the book, and remain close.
However, in Part Two, Chani begins to see Paul’s corruption and the negative side of the prophecy. When Paul proposes the arranged marriage idea, Chani leaves out of frustration for her people.
Even though we may have to wait a long time for Dune: Messiah, we know that we’re going to be talking about Dune: Part Two for a good while. And when you have a stacked cast, incredible attention to detail, and a killer soundtrack, can you blame us?