Poor old Duncan Idaho. In Dune, Paul Atreides’ warrior mentor was the closest thing he had to a friend: a slick, suave, swaggering asset of House Atreides, who helped the young heir of the dynasty build his combat skills back on Caladan, before leading the takeover of the Spice operation on Arrakis. But if you saw Denis Villeneuve’s epic adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel, you’ll remember that Jason Momoa’s charismatic Duncan perished before the end of Part One – sacrificing himself to Sardaukar soldiers in order for Timothée Chalamet’s Paul and his mother, Rebecca Ferguson’s Lady Jessica, to survive. RIP to the realest one on Arrakis.
Or, perhaps not. In Dune: Part Three, Jason Momoa somehow returns – though not necessarily as Duncan Idaho. Get ready to meet the ‘ghola’ known as Hayt, a genetically engineered human replica of the man himself, bearing some memories of the man he used to be. “It was nerve-wracking,” Momoa tells Empire of returning in a new form. “It’s one of those things where you’re like, ‘I didn’t sign up to play this guy. I signed up to play the other guy.’” But safe to say, there’s some of the old Duncan Idaho hiding in Hoyt’s genetic code. “I was just waiting to get to that point where you’re like, ‘This is my guy, man. I’m going to unleash hell on everyone!’”
If Duncan Idaho has changed, so too has his young ward – with Paul now the fearsome Emperor whose reign casts a bloody shadow across the galaxy. “It’s a whole ’nother person, what he brings to being the Emperor,” Momoa says of Chalamet in Part Three. “It’s just strong, silent and violent.” Prepare for a very different dynamic between them than in the first Dune. “Me and him will geek out a little bit [between takes], but then we got to get back to being serious. He was really in it,” Momoa enthuses. “I was like, ‘Wow, I cannot believe he just went toe to toe with me physically and mentally.’ That guy comes in like a nuke, man.”
Read Empire’s full Dune: Part Three cover story – speaking to Denis Villeneuve, Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Anya Taylor-Joy, Robert Pattinson, Jason Momoa, and Florence Pugh about the epic final chapter – in the December 2026 issue, on sale Thursday October 22. Pre-order a copy online here. Dune: Part Three comes to cinemas from December 18.