Two characters have been dropped from Dune 2, even though their stars had already filmed scenes for the sci-fi sequel. Nevertheless, a reunion is not completely off the table
Dune: Part Two has an impressive running time of 2 hours and 46 minutes. Nevertheless, director Denis Villeneuve had to make painful cuts in the sci-fi sequel. Two characters did not make it into the final version of Dune 2, but there is still a small hope of a reunion
Tim Blake Nelson & Stephen McKinley Henderson: Two stars have been radically removed from Dune 2
Dune 2 director Denis Villeneuve recently made it clear that there will be no director’s cuts, extended editions and the like. The scenes he deleted will never see the light of day. And because two cast stars didn’t make it into the movie version of the sequel, we can say goodbye to the hope of seeing them again in additional material released for Dune 2.
While the role of Tim Blake Nelson (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs) in Dune 2 remains unknown to this day, the omission of Stephen McKinley Henderson (Fences) Villeneuve was particularly painful, as the Atreides helper and mentat Thufir Hawat was a permanent member of the ensemble of Part 1.
(Dune Thufir Hawat (Stephen McKinley Henderson) is missing in part 2)
According to Entertainment Weekly Villeneuve confessed:
One of the most painful decisions for me was the [omission] of Thufir Hawat. He’s a character I absolutely love. But I decided right at the beginning that I would do a Bene Gesserit adaptation [of Dune]. That means the mentats are not as present as they should be. But that’s the nature of this adaptation.
Mentats are kind of like human computers in the sci-fi universe of Dune. Because “thinking machines” were banned after a great war, the thinking power of these human geniuses is essential for those in power. But the female Bene Gesserit order also possesses an enormous talent for calculation and foresight. In the end, will it be precisely this foresight that brings us a meeting with the two departed stars?
In Dune 3 instead of Dune 2? So we could see the two canceled stars in the sci-fi series after all
The announcement of Dune 3 as Denis Villeneuve’s final Dune film is something we can expect at any moment given the recent box office success of Dune 2. With the conclusion of the trilogy about Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), the two missing stars will also get the chance to return. Because: As things stand, Thufir Hawat has simply disappeared
In the original book, however, he lived as a prisoner of the Harkonnen. Given Villeneuve’s meticulous approach to the adaptation, it is unlikely that he simply let him slip under the radar. Of course, he could easily explain Thufir’s death through the Harkonnen attack on Arrakis. But the fact that Part 2 makes no mention of his potential demise, Stephen McKinley Henderson keeps the back door open to Part 3. After Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin) and before the (spoiler-filled) “old newcomer” Hayt, the next sequel could bring back another character we thought was dead in the form of Thufir.
(Tim Blake Nelson in Lincoln)
Tim Blake Nelson is keeping quiet about his role, even though he told Movieweb that he was “heartbroken but with no hard feelings” because he loved his scene (singular!). Of course, there are several theories that could land him a foot in the door of Dune 3:
Screen Rant speculates that Tim Blake Nelson would have played Count Hasimir Fenring, i.e. a confidant and advisor to the Emperor (Christopher Walken) and the husband of Lady Margot Fenring (Léa Seydoux). As such, a subsequent appearance would be possible, especially since Seydoux emphasized that she wanted to learn more about her mysterious character in Part 3.
Another possibility on Reddit explains that Tim Blake Nelson would have played a character in Dune 2 who doesn’t actually appear until the second book, Dune Messiah: a navigator of the Space Guild who steers the large spaceships through interstellar space like a fish in a tank. In Villeneuve’s third film, such a person will in all likelihood play an important role in the form of conspirator Edric. Perhaps the actor will join the Dune universe after all?
If you don’t want to wait until Villeneuve’s Dune 3 to find out what happens next, you can take a look at the film adaptations of the Dune mini-series as well as the books.
