Jason Momoa Confirms Dune: Messiah Return (but Isn’t Duncan Idaho Dead?)

Jason Momoa just gave away the worst-kept secret in the Dune franchise. The actor confirmed that he is returning for Denis Villeneuve’s third Dune film on Monday during an interview on The Today Show. The movie will be an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel Dune Messiah, and Momoa will reprise his role as Duncan Idaho, a military leader for House Atreides and a mentor to Paul (Timothée Chalamet). Those who have seen the first two movies may have some questions about this, while those who have read Herbert’s books are undoubtedly excited. As for Momoa, he’s nervous that the revelation has gotten him in trouble at work.

WARNING: There are spoilers ahead for Dune Messiah!

“I’m making a comeback,” Momoa said on the talk show. “You heard it here first, right here with you, baby.” Looking at host Craig Melvin, Momoa added, “You got me in trouble! …Well, I’m not sure if I’m going to get in trouble or not, but it’s the same thing like Game of Thrones, you know what I mean? If you didn’t read the books, it’s not my fault, right? Yeah, there’s going to be… I’m going to be coming back.”

Swordmaster Duncan Idaho led the Atreides diplomatic and military efforts on Arrakis when they were first granted the fiefdom in the first movie, and he survived the initial onslaught of House Harkonnen when they were betrayed. Fans may recall around the climax of that film, Duncan died fighting off Sardukar warriors in a Fremen hideout, giving Paul and Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) time to escape. Duncan did not appear in Dune: Part Two at all.

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Herbert’s novel Dune Messiah picks up about 12 years after the events of Dune, with Paul now firmly in control of the empire. The noble houses, Bene Gesserit, Spacing Guild, and other powerful groups are then looking for ways to curry favor with their new emperor — or impose some kind of control on him. One of those groups is the Tleilaxu, a culture who has embraced extreme genetic engineering to compensate for the lack of computers and advanced technology in this world.

The Tleilaxu and the Spacing Guild give Paul a gift: a “ghola” designed to look exactly like Duncan Idaho. This is some form of advanced cloning, but they’ve named this individual Hayt and trained him as a Mentat to serve the emperor. However, they acknowledge from the start that Hayt has some amount of genetic memory linking him to the Duncan of his previous life. Against his better judgement, Paul accepts this new companion, bringing Duncan back into the fold.

Villeneuve’s movies have generally been very faithful to Herbert’s books, so we have to assume the ghola will be no exception. However, the changes he has made may begin to impact the story in this third installment, especially since it is moving along so fast. Villeneuve recently confirmed that work on his third Dune movie has begun, and that it will likely premiere sometime in 2026.

That leaves plenty of time for curious fans to check out Dune Messiah and all of the other books in the series, which are available now in print, digital, and audiobook formats. Dune and Dune: Part Two are streaming now on Max, along with the prequel series Dune: Prophecy.