Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of the beloved Frank Herbert novel Dune Messiah (Dune 3) is slowly starting to take shape. Jason Momoa, who plays Duncan Idaho in the first Dune movie, has now confirmed that he will be returning in Messiah, despite his character's death in the first movie.
Speaking at the premiere of his latest film, A Minecraft Movie, Jason Momoa offered a slight tease at the status of the next Dune movie from French-Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve.
In describing his upcoming projects, Momoa mentioned the third Dune film, listing what he is working on, including "a couple of really good secrets coming up to finish off the end of the year," his "TV show, Chief of War," and "Dune 3" (via Shortlist):
"I’m shooting 'Supergirl' now, playing Lobo, and then got a couple of really good secrets coming up to finish off the end of the year… My TV show 'Chief of War' comes out on August 1st. That’s been like my dream project, my 'Braveheart for Hawaii,' and we’ll probably hopefully do two more seasons of that. Hopefully this does well and I’m going on more adventures in 'Minecraft' world. Then there’s…gosh… 'Dune 3'…"
When asked about how things are going on the project, Momoa said, "It's going well:"
Q: "'Dune 3!' How’s that coming?"
A: "[Long pause…] It’s going well…"
This marks some of the first news on where the next Dune movie stands in production and the first proper confirmation that Momoa will return to the sci-fi universe as the dashing Duncan Idaho.
While the first two Dune movies finished adapting the story of author Frank Herbert's beloved 1965 sci-fi novel, the proposed third movie would jump into the future and tackle the mind-bending plot of Herbert's literary sequel, Dune: Messiah.
Dune 3 follows Emperor Paul Atreides (Timothy Chalamet) as he furthers his Jihad across the universe and deals with a conspiracy inside his home. The film will also see the return of Chani (Zendaya), Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), and Lady Jessica (Rebecca Furguson).
Following her tease in Dune 2, Anya Taylor Joy will have a more significant role in Messiah as Paul’s sister, Alia Atreides.
Directed by Denis Villeneuve, production is expected to start during the Summer of this year, and a release date is set for December 18, 2026.
The Future of Jason Momoa's Dune Character
Fans who have not read ahead in the Dune series of books may be confused about why Jason Momoa is involved in a third movie in the franchise, especially after his Duncan Idaho character dies at the end of the first Dune film.
Well, one of the key moments of the Dune: Messiah book sees Duncan coming back into the Arrakian fold in a downright shocking turn of events.
The last audiences saw of Momoa's Dune character, he had been knocked upon the head by a Harkonnen warrior during the siege on the Arrakis capital city, Arakeen.
At that moment, his fate was pretty definitive. Duncan Idaho was dead, and House Atreides had fallen.
Now, following the events of Dune: Part Two, which saw Timothée Chalamet's Paul and his mother, Lady Jessica (played by Rebecca Ferguson), escape the Harkonnen attack and use their influence to put Paul in a place of power, the Dune film franchise is ready to jump into the brain-boggling plot of Dune: Messiah.
In that book, Momoa's character is brought back to life as what is known in the Dune universe as a ghola—an artificially replicated human created by replicating the DNA of a dead individual.
Created by the Tleilaxu after Paul's rise to power, this artificial clone of Duncan Idaho is gifted to the new emperor to serve his house (with secret programming to kill Paul and end House Atreides' rule).
Without the memories of his past self, Momoa's character now goes by the name Hayt. Under Paul's servitude, Hayt begins training to become a human thinking machine known as a Mentat and studying the ways of the ancient Zensunni religion.
On his quest for enlightenment, though, Duncan Idaho recovers the memories of his past self and goes against this innate programming built within his cloned self to kill Paul and, once again, vowing his service to the Atreides family.
In his time in Messiah under the Atreides banner, Duncan becomes romantically involved with Paul's younger sister Alia (played by Anya Taylor-Joy in Dune: Part Two).
He eventually marries her before he is killed after murdering Alia's secret lover after she is possessed by the memories of her ancestor, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, and attempts to bring down her brother's rule (read more about Dune: Messiah here).
