The cast of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movies is exceptional. A list of Hollywood’s most resounding names cherry-picked for their screen presence and ability to shoulder the massive weight of Frank Herbert’s source material. Jason Momoa fits the bill as few do.
The 44-year-old actor, who rose to fame on a similarly hefty book-to-screen adaptation as Game of Thrones‘ Khal Drogo, breathed life into the character of Duncan Idaho, House Atreides‘ most skilled soldier, pilot, and fighter.
What happens to Duncan Idaho in Dune?
In the first film, we witness the close bond between Duncan and Timothée Chalamet’s Duke Paul Atreides, who sees the older man as an idol and a brother figure. He’s fascinated by Duncan’s account of his time living with the Fremen and asks to tag along on his missions.
When Arrakeen, the fortress stronghold on Arrakis and the Atreides’ new home on the desert planet, is attacked by the Harkonnens and the Emperor’s troops, Duncan is one of the few who manages to escape, taking an ornithopter (the insect-shaped helicopters of Herbert’s fictional universe) with him. He later rescues Paul and his mother Lady Jessica from the desert, taking them to a Fremen hide-out in an old Botanical Testing Station.
The Emperor’s elite military force, the Sardaukar, eventually finds them, and Duncan heroically sacrifices himself to save Paul. He takes on a large group of the universe’s strongest soldiers by himself, and holds out for an impressive amount of time, before eventually succumbing to his wounds.
In his short amount of screen time, Jason Momoa became one of Dune‘s stand-out performances as Duncan’s relationship with Paul provided a kind of comradery and vulnerability that is rare in Herbert and Villeneuve’s epic-scaled space opera.
Does Duncan return for Dune: Part Two?
No. Following his death, Duncan is not brought back for Dune: Part Two, not even via flashbacks. He’s barely even mentioned by name in the film, which is a shame considering how special his friendship with Paul was in the first installment. Nevertheless, his death is eventually avenged by the Duke-turned-Messiah and another important member of House Atreides, thought to be dead in the 2021’s Dune.
His now-iconic battle salute, which Momoa himself came up with as a nod to his son’s Kali training is, however, mimicked by Paul during one of the most intense battles in Part Two — a quiet yet powerful homage to a close friend. “That’s a Kali move, where you put your hand on your heart and put it on your head. That’s to Timothée in the movie, but that’s to my son in real life,” Momoa told IndieWire in 2021.
Those familiar with the source material know that, in the books at least, Duncan’s death at the Botanical Testing Station is not the end for his character. We will keep it as vague as possible so as not to ruin it for those who, unlike me, have successfully fought off their curiosity to find out what happens in Dune Messiah, but let’s just say we might see more of Jason Momoa in Arrakis yet.
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