Christopher Walken reveals himself for the first time as Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV in the new Dune 2 trailer. We explain his important role in the epic sci-fi sequel.
Dune: Part Two opens in German cinemas on 2 November 2023. The massive new Dune trailer has already given goosebumps, and not just to sci-fi fans. But what can quickly get lost in the visual and musical bustle of the latest glimpse is that this is the first time we are introduced to Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides’ greatest antagonist: Christopher Walken as Emperor Shaddam the Fourth.
Christopher Walken in Dune 2: Who is the Emperor in the Sci-Fi Universe?
Shaddam IV, of House Corrino, is the Emperor in the sci-fi world of Frank Herbert’s Dune in the time of Paul Atreides. That is, he rules as emperor and supreme ruler over the entire known universe. As a galactic feudal lord, he can give orders to other houses, such as the Atreides and Harkonnen. At his behest, the Atreides family moved from their green water home planet of Caladan to the desert planet of Dune in Part 1 to oversee Spice production as rulers.
In the new Dune trailer, Shaddam IV is shown on his green home planet, in stark contrast to the red and yellow desert ambience (minute 1:30). He has no sons, but he does have a daughter: Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), who also rises to become an important new main character in Dune 2.
Why is the Emperor Shaddam IV so dangerous in Dune 2?
In Denis Villeneuve’s first Dune film (currently on Amazon Prime *), the massive Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) was the ultimate threat to House Atreides. He usurped power over the desert planet again at the end of Part 1, leading to the death of Paul’s father Leto (Oscar Isaac). The Baron’s first nephew, the “Beast” Glossu Rabban (Dave Bautista), is now joined in Part 2 by the pugnacious Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler). But the bald-headed Harkonnen pale as a threat when the real string-puller appears: Emperor Shaddam IV.
The Sardaukar
As was shown at the end of Part 1, the Emperor was playing a false game: he deliberately sent House Atreides to their doom on Dune. The reason: because the family, valued in many places in the universe, became too influential for him. To eliminate the perceived threat to his own throne, he wanted to wipe them out under the guise of the Harkonnen attack. However, the deployment of the elite imperial fighters (Sardaukar) alongside the Harkonnen army exposed this deception to the few surviving witnesses.
To illustrate the villain power imbalance with a Star Wars comparison (which, as a franchise, borrowed a lot from Dune anyway): So if the Harkonnen henchmen are like the evil face of the Empire aka Darth Vader, then Shaddam is Emperor Palpatine.
That Shaddam IV in Dune 2 is not only a powerful opponent, but also a psychologically clever one, is already evident in the trailer, where he throws at Paul that his father Leto was “a weak man”. You can find out for yourself in November 2023 who will win this power struggle on Dune in the end.
