Jason Momoa’s Rumored Dune: Messiah Return Sets Up Controversial Book Storyline

Last week, we got the first report that Jason Momoa will reprise his role as Duncan Idaho in the third Dune movie, an adaptation of the second novel, Dune Messiah. This isn’t too surprising as Denis Villeneuve’s Dune and Dune: Part Two have been relatively faithful adaptations of the original book by Frank Herbert. Still, now that the sequel is beginning to look real and taking shape, we can start speculating about the Duncan’s story and where changes might be warranted. There’s one central part of his arc that seems a bit unsavory to depict on screen, yet changing it would be the biggest alteration this series has made, and it would have major ripple effects on the story.

WARNING: There are spoilers ahead for Dune Messiah!

Dune introduced us to the desert planet Arrakis and its mystical Spice Melange, which is the most coveted resource in the galaxy because it enables faster-than-light space travel. Meanwhile, the prequel series Dune: Prophecy showed us a bit more of the galaxy and the diverse people scattered throughout it. That includes the Tleilaxu, an advanced civilization with expertise in genetic engineering and modification. Their technology is how Momoa’s character returns to the main story.

Herbert’s first sequel novel picks up 12 years after the end of the first book, and finds Paul firmly in control as emperor of the galaxy. The various factions of humanity try to curry favor from him, including the Spacing Guild and the Tleilaxu. One of their gifts to him is a ghola — essentially a clone made from the genetic material of Duncan Idaho. Paul sees that this is likely some kind of trap, but he also finds it hard to turn down the presence of his old friend and mentor.

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The ghola does not have all of Duncan’s memories, and throughout the story it’s unclear how much he shares Duncan’s personality, skills, and loyalty. He does not even go by the name Duncan — he is called Hayt. He’s a great addition to the story, advancing many of the themes that make Dune so popular, but the controversy comes in his relationship with another member of House Atreides — Paul’s younger sister, Alia.

Hayt and Alia

Alia is played by Anya Taylor-Joy in Dune: Part Two, though she has not been born yet at the time. Paul’s mother became pregnant just before Paul’s father Duke Leto was killed, and she was pregnant when she drank the Water of Life and underwent the transformation into a Reverend Mother. This gave both Jessica and Alia access to all of their ancestral memories and wisdom in the female line, and allowed the two of them to communicate telepathically. In the books, Alia is referred to as “pre-born.”

After the 12-year time skip, we find that Alia has the wisdom and skills of an adult, though she is only a teenager. She is frustrated when her access to ancestral knowledge doesn’t completely excuse her from the awkwardness of pubescent development, and she seeks out her own Spice transformation to gain even more prescience. In the meantime, Alia strikes up a romantic and sexual relationship with Hayt. The two found common ground as Alia was trying to discern her own identity from her inherited memories, while Hayt was grappling with his identity in relation to Duncan Idaho.

Age Gap Discourse

Obviously, in a sci-fi setting with life extension, cloning, ancestral memories, and so on, discussions of the age gaps between characters become a parody of themselves pretty fast. However, it’s worth noting that the changes made in this film adaptation already necessitate a big change to Alia in Dune Messiah. In Herbert’s book, Alia is born among the Fremen long before the climax of the story, and is present for the final showdown between Paul and Emperor Shaddam IV. A two or three-year-old Alia is even the one to kill Baron Harkonnen in this version of events.

This means that after a 12-year time skip, Alia would be at least 14 or 15 years old in Dune Messiah. That book takes place over the course of two years, so Alia could be as old as 17 when she begins her affair with Hayt. That’s still far too young for Jason Momoa, but it’s less disturbing than the movie version of Alia, who should be between 11 and 14 years old at this time.

Possible Solutions

However it is depicted, the romance between Hayt and Alia is sure to raise some eyebrows, but it doesn’t have to be unwatchable. For one thing, it’s possible Villeneuve will simply extend the time skip in his movie. This would leave more time for Alia to grow up enough that Taylor-Joy could still play her. If the other characters don’t seem to have aged as much, we can chalk that up to the life-extending effects of the Spice Melange.

It’s also possible that the movies will distract from the age gap between Alia and Hayt by drastically changing Hayt’s appearance. While he is made from Duncan’s genetic material, he should look very different — most notably with metal implants for eyes. He may also have a manufactured appearance through makeup and prosthetics, though he should still appear mostly flesh and bone, as robotics are extremely taboo in the Dune universe.

It’s possible that this romance will be severely downplayed or omitted altogether. Villeneuve has often talked about Dune as a coming-of-age story for Paul, and it makes sense that he’d want to continue focusing on Paul in this sequel. That might tempt him to put Alia’s story on the backburner as much as possible. It’s hard to say how this might work, and how it might effect future sequels like the recently rumored Dune 4. Herbert wrote six novels in his Dune series, and if other filmmakers are taking on sequels to Villeneuve’s movies, he may want to leave as many doors open to them as possible.

At this point, we’ve already gotten way ahead of ourselves in speculation. Warner Bros. and Legendary have not officially announced a green light for a third Dune film yet, though last week Deadline reported that the movie is entering the pre-production phase. Insiders said it will begin filming this summer with the hope of hitting theaters in December of 2026. The studios have not confirmed that news yet, and it does conflict with Villeneuve’s previous statement that he wanted to wait a few years before tackling this project.

In the meantime, Villeneuve’s movies are both streaming now on Max along with the prequel series, Dune: Prophecy. Herbert’s books are available in print, digital, and audiobook formats.