Denis Villeneauve’s Dune: Part Two was released earlier this week to overwhelmingly positive responses from critics and fans alike. The follow-up to 2021’s Dune: Part One sees Timothee Chalamet’s Paul Atreides becoming one with the Fremen, while his mother Lady Jessica manipulates events to make him the messiah of the Fremen, the Lisan al Gaib.
While a third film based on the novel Dune Messiah is yet to be greenlit, many scenes in the film set up the threequel, especially through Paul’s visions. The ending of the film also shows Zendaya’s Chani going away from Paul’s journey as he becomes the Emperor of the Known Universe. Though there are no Marvelesque post-credits scenes to set up Dune Messiah, one scene from the visions of Paul is theorized to indicate a key plot element. Spoilers ahead.
Will There Be A Dune: Part Three?
When Denis Villeneuve signed on to adapt the Dune novel by Frank Herbert, he reportedly decided that he would split the novel into two parts. Though a sequel was not greenlit by WB, who chose to wait for the performance of the first one to greenlight it, Dune: Part One still chose to include many references to the events to come in the second part.
While promoting Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve expressed his desire to adapt the second novel of the franchise, Dune Messiah into a third film, to wrap up the series as a trilogy. Dune Messiah is widely regarded to be the end of Paul Atreides’ arc, though he still faces some events in Children of Dune.
Denis Villeneuve mentioned to Time magazine that though a threequel was not greenlit yet, he had worked on the script for the film and was hoping to make it. He said,
“Dune Messiah should be the last Dune movie for me.”
Many events in Dune: Part Two set up the events seen in the novel Dune: Messiah, including the presence of Anya Taylor-Joy’s Alia Atreides. Though she is not born in the events of the second film, she seems to have a bigger role in the sequel films.
Chani also seemingly has a separate journey of her own after Paul ascends to the position of the Emperor of the Known Universe after staging a coup along with the Fremen army. The end of Denis Villeneuve’s film shows that though his revenge over the Harkonnens and the Emperor has been fulfilled, he still has to lead the Fremen into what they call the ‘Green Paradise.’
How Did Denis Villeneuve Set Up Dune Messiah In Dune: Part Two?
Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two teases many events of the future of Paul Atreides and the planet of Arrakis through the visions he has due to his exposure to the spice melange. One vision that haunts him for most of the film is the vision of a starving and near-extinct population as he assumes the role of a messiah a.k.a the Lisan al Gaib.
Despite his attempts to stop it from happening by denying that he is the Lisan al Gaib, Paul is forced to be the messiah of the Fremen population to lead them to the Green Paradise and take back control over their planet. One of his visions with a grown-up Alia Atreides shows the planet recovering its water and shows seas being on the planet.
While these visions are depicted by Denis Villeneuve as surreal events that may or may not come true (Jamis also returns as his mentor though he was killed by Paul), one particular vision seems to indicate a key plot element of Dune: Messiah. X (formerly Twitter) user JimboFett87 posted a GIF of Paul walking along the desert dunes and theorized that it indicated Paul’s eventual exile as an Emperor.
In Dune Messiah, Paul becomes responsible for over 60 billion deaths as his religious fundamentalist groups begin fighting in his name. Known as the Muad’Dib’s Jihad, the Holy War that was referenced in Dune: Part Two occurs in the novel, but Paul believes that to be better than the eventual extinction vision that he had (via Dune Wiki).
OMG, I've just realized what this particular scene is REALLY a setup for! 😯 https://t.co/6RVIMHbx45
— JimboFett – the Fernet Branca of Social Media (@JimboFett87) March 2, 2024
After many other parties who have lost power due to Paul’s coup blind him using a stone burner, Paul tries to rule over the Empire by using his ‘prescient visions’ that he receives while he is exposed to the spice melange. He ultimately loses his vision and becomes completely blind, choosing to go into the desert to die as per Fremen traditions.
The X user mentioned that Denis Villeneuve cleverly set up Paul’s ultimate fate through this small scene of Paul walking into the desert.
