One Dune Star’s Comments About Appearing in Messiah Should Have Denis Villeneuve Worried

Dune has become something of a phenomenon. Frank Herbert’s classic series of sci-fi novels have always been beloved by genre fans, but Denis Villeneuve’s two-part film adaptation of the first book has brought the saga of the Atreides and the Imperium to new fans. Villeneuve has addressed the plans for the adaptation of Dune Messiah, the second book in the series. The director hasn’t talked about adapting the whole series personally, but if the third Dune movie is a success, they’ll definitely come. However, Villeneuve isn’t the only Dune alum talking about the third film. In a new interview from Variety about his upcoming animated film Spellbound, Bardem jokingly threatened to come Canada to find Villeneuve if his character Stilgar isn’t in the movie.

When asked about his potential role in the next film, Bardem joked, “I know that I’m in the book, so I should be in the script. If I’m not, I will be very angry and I will let him know. I will go to Canada,” before adding, “Seriously though, I totally love him. I adore him. Whatever he wants, and whatever he decides, it will be fine for me. Absolutely. He’s one of a kind. He’s an extraordinary human being. Such a loving man, fun, funny as hell, and a real worker.”

Bardem also talked about watching Dune Part II with his son, saying, “When he saw Dune 2, he stood up in the theater and said, ‘That’s my dad.’ But then at the end, he said, ‘But you haven’t had any sword fighting.’ So now I have another demand for Denis Villeneuve. If there is such a thing as Dune: Messiah, please give me just a little sword fighting that I can show it to my kid.”

In the novels, Stilgar has a reputation as the fiercest of the Fremen of Sietch Tabr before Paul shows up. However, Herbert was much more interested in exploring the personal, political, and ecological themes in the books rather than the action, so readers didn’t really get to see much of Stilgar in action in any concrete way.

Dune Messiah time jumps years after the first novel, taking place after Paul and the Fremen’s crusade to consolidate their power over the Imperium, a conflict which killed 61 billion people, sterilized 90 planets, and wiped out 40 different religions, which Stilgar participated in.

Villeneuve has talked about the time skip, so unfortunately, it looks like Bardem’s son is going to be disappointed.