Nerds and Timothee Chalamet stans rejoice—Dune approaches. Denis Villenueve’s take on the classic science fiction novel, originally slated for last fall, will finally arrive on October 22, and there’s a juicy new trailer today to get everyone excited about it. But Dune is a notoriously wild story, set in an elaborate world with a vast set of characters that can be difficult to wrap your head around. So I, both Timothee stan and nerd, am here to break the trailer down so you can prepare for the biggest sci-fi movie since the last star war.
Fifteen seconds in we get a look at Zendaya, sprawling desert, and hear some major key terms. “My planet Arrakis is so beautiful when the sun is low. Rolling over the sands, you can see spice in the air.” Arrakis is the titular Dune, a desert planet where “the spice melange” is produced. Spice is kind of like cinnamon with super powers. People all over the universe use it to season food or make beer, but eaten in insane quantities, it can extend life and give you *special abilities.* It’s a cornerstone of the intergalactic economy (more on this shortly). Zendaya plays Chani, a Fremen (native of Arrakis) who we’re going to get to know very well by the end of this movie.
Pretty desert gives way to an… ominous flying boat? “The outsiders ravage our lands in front of our eyes,” Zendaya continues. Villeneuve seems to be leaning into an important but often under-appreciated theme in Dune: colonialism. Arrakis is a colonial mining outpost brutalized by the rest of the world for an essential commodity. It’s a promising sign that the film might grapple with this element and, hopefully, challenge the more problematic “white savior” elements of the plot.
Here is Dave Bautista, looking even more ominous than that imposing boat. He’s playing Glossu Rabban, a member of the Harkonnen family, the big bads of Dune. Bautista is reuniting with Villeneuve after appearing in the director’s last epic sci-fi outing, Blade Runner 2049. Not much to see here other than the fact that Glossu is one nasty dude.
Our man at last! Timothee Chalamet, playing Paul Atreides, wakes up from dreams of Chani. Paul is a familiar type of protagonist—he’s young, he’s a royal heir, he’s a bit unsure of himself, and he’s got a lot of untapped potential. Oh the places he’ll go!
Jason Mamoa plays Duncan Idaho, a Jason-Mamoa-character if there ever was one. I mean, the name alone! Duncan is a “Swordmaster of the Ginaz” serving Paul’s dad, which is sci-fi/fantasy speak for being the weapons guy who doubles as an instructor for Paul. Watch Duncan tease Paul about being scrawny, something you can imagine Jason Mamoa doing to Timothee Chalamet in real life.
Oscar Isaac plays Paul’s dad, the all-around good guy Leto Atreides, otherwise known as Leto the Just. Leto spouts something about responsibility and accepting a task, referring to the setup for Dune. He and his family have been ordered by the galactic Emperor to leave their Earth-like homeworld to manage Arrakis. One hand, this is a pretty prestigious assignment, given that Arrakis plays such a huge role in the intergalactic economy. On the other hand, he’s getting kicked off his pretty green world to go live on a desert planet, so he and his family aren’t exactly thrilled.
Now we’re getting some serious sci-fi goodness. Here we have Timothee and Josh Brolin sparring with “shields,” a Dune specific technology that’s essential to understanding combat in the world. The basic gist is that it blocks high-velocity objects like bullets or even a strong swing of the sword. To get through one, you have to move sloooooow, hence one of the book’s most famous lines, “The slow blade penetrates the shield.” You can bet your next paycheck there will be a dramatic speed of someone stabbing someone very slowly in this movie.
Here’s Leto, flanked by two of his advisers, Gurney Halleck (Brolin) and Thufir Hawat (Stephen McKinley Henderson). Gurney is Leto’s Warmaster (read: Secretary of Defense) and Thufir is Leto’s Mentat (read: political adviser). Mentats are an important part of the Dune universe, where artificial intelligence is banned and computers have limited access due to an ancient war against machines (a long story you should save when you fully commit to Dune lore). Because there are no computers, some humans have developed advanced intelligence, like Mentats, who are logic-based strategists. They’re kind of like Spock from Star Trek.
“There’s something awakening in my mind,” says Paul, as something whispers and gurgles in the background. We won’t talk too much about what’s going on in Paul’s head, but we will say that there are a few different psychic powers in the world of Dune, like “Voice,” which is the original Jedi Mind Trick, and “prescience,” the ability to see into the past and the future.
Jamis, a Fremen, played by Babs Olusanmokun. All Fremen have those electric blue eyes.
“The Duke’s son sees too much.”
Baron Harkonnen, played by Stellan Skarsgard, is the boss of the bad guys. He’s a rich, depraved noble who’s so fat that he has anti-gravity suspenders that help him move — that’s how he’s able to float so menacingly here.
The Harkonnens aren’t a fan of what the Atreides family is up to on Arrakis, so they launch an attack. Some might call this a big spoiler for the movie, but remember, this movie is just Dune Part 1, so everything is really prelude.
Dr. Wellington Yueh, Duke Leto’s personal physician. That diamond tattoo on his forehead marks him as a doctor that’s undergone “Imperial Conditioning,” so he’s unable to take human life. It’s a form of medical training that certifies elite doctors to serve nobility in the Dune universe.
The WORM! These are giant monsters that live in the deserts of Arrakis. As you can tell, they’re really big, and a lot of the colonial infrastructure on the planet is built around avoiding them. The Fremen, on the other hand, share the desert with them.
This is Lady Jessica, Paul’s mom, a very important character with a very complicated background. Here’s the quick version: Jessica is a concubine of Duke Leto who belongs to an all-female magical/religious order called the Bene Gesserit that seeks to guide humanity to peace and prosperity through political influence and, uh, selective breeding. In other words, Paul’s mom is a psychic space nun.
Nothing to see here but a blue-eyed Chalamet in some bad-ass battle armor.
Here’s Paul with the literal girl of his dreams, looking down like he’s about to cause some serious mayhem. It’s unclear exactly where in the plot Dune Part 1 will end, but it’s clear that Paul and Chani are going to meet up and start something big. Just what, we’ll have to wait until October to find out.