Zendaya's Chani Is the X-Factor That Makes Dune: Part Three So Exciting

The 2nd trailer for Dune: Part Three has arrived. The biggest takeaway from this caller footage is that Part Three is not a straightforward adaptation of 1969’s Dune Messiah. The communicative is moving successful a precise antithetic absorption successful the 3rd and last portion of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune trilogy, and we couldn’t beryllium much excited.

What makes this adaptation truthful antithetic from the root material? It each has to bash with Zendaya’s Chani, a quality who looks to beryllium playing a profoundly antithetic relation successful this mentation of the Dune mythos. Let’s research what’s changed and wherefore Chani is the concealed X-factor that’s transforming this iconic sci-fi saga.

Warning: This nonfiction contains spoilers for the Dune novels!

Chani’s Fate: The Dune Books vs. the Movies

2024’s Dune: Part Two already powerfully hinted that Villeneuve was taking Chani’s communicative successful a precise antithetic direction. In general, Chani is simply a overmuch much passive quality successful Frank Herbert’s Dune novels. After being trained successful the Atreides marque of combat (known arsenic the weirding way), Chani mostly settles into her relation arsenic Paul’s person and concubine. She stands backmost arsenic Paul steps onto the Imperial throne and ushers successful a cosmic jihad that kills billions.

In Dune Messiah, Chani remains a quiescent but fierce protagonist of her lover’s cause. She wants thing much than to carnivore Paul’s children. Unfortunately for her, Chani is being secretly fed contraceptives by Paul’s wife, Irulan, arsenic the Bene Gesserit person nary tendency to spot their centuries-old breeding programme upset by the summation of a random Fremen woman. Paul knows of Irulan’s actions. However, helium foresees that the commencement of a kid volition pb to Chani’s death, truthful helium chooses not to act.

It’s lone aft Chani switches to a traditional, untainted Fremen fare that she yet becomes pregnant. Unfortunately, again, her years of vulnerability to Irulan’s contraceptives person near her assemblage ill-equipped to woody with the strain of pregnancy. Chani yet dies successful childbirth, leaving Paul 1 last astonishment erstwhile helium realizes that she was large with twins.

Dune: Part Two doesn’t bash thing to tee up that storyline for Chani successful the sequel. Quite the opposite. Zendaya’s Chani is shown to beryllium a overmuch much progressive subordinate successful Timothée Chalamet’s Paul’s warfare against the Harkonnens. But dissimilar Javier Bardem’s Stilgar and his set of spiritual fanatics, Chani doesn’t bargain into the thought of Paul being a prophesied messiah. She sees done the deceptions and stories planted by the Bene Gesserit. She follows Paul due to the fact that helium seeks to combat alongside the Fremen and liberate Arrakis, not to instrumentality powerfulness for himself.

That each changes astatine the extremity of the film, erstwhile Paul crowns himself Emperor and takes Florence Pugh’s Irulan arsenic his wife. Chani sees this arsenic a profoundly idiosyncratic betrayal and a rejection of everything Paul claimed to basal for. She has nary involvement successful being portion of Paul’s beatified war, truthful Chani retreats backmost to the desert. Paul wins his war, but successful the process, helium makes himself wholly alone.

Zendaya’s Chani successful Dune: Part Three

Again, everything we’ve seen of Dune: Part Three truthful acold suggests Chani is playing a vastly antithetic relation compared to the root material. Her presumption quo is wholly different. She isn’t Paul’s faithful concubine, pining for the time she tin proudly carnivore his children. She’s rejected Paul and everything helium stands for, preferring alternatively to unrecorded arsenic a existent Fremen, wholly escaped and a servant to nary one.

At this point, we tin lone conjecture arsenic to the relation Chani volition play successful Dune: Part Three. The selling is surely playing up the calamity of her doomed romance with Paul. The film’s caller poster highlights their increasing rivalry, making it look arsenic though Paul and Chani volition beryllium forced to conflict 1 different successful the desert. The archetypal teaser trailer features what appears to beryllium a country acceptable during the events of Part Two, arsenic Paul and Chani bespeak connected the names they privation for their aboriginal children. The caller trailer, meanwhile, shows america what is apt a flashback country acceptable conscionable aft Part Two, arsenic Paul confronts an angry, disillusioned Chani and is accused of seizing undeserved power.

“At the extremity of the 2nd film, Chani is evidently feeling a consciousness of betrayal toward Paul, and their narration has crumbled,” Chalamet said astatine the instrumentality lawsuit wherever the caller trailer was screened. “Without giving excessively overmuch away, successful the 3rd movie I deliberation it’s benignant of Denis weaving successful storylines that weren’t explicit successful the book. Perhaps, I would accidental that’s wherever Denis took the astir originative liberty, but it truly ties the communicative together. Zendaya, arsenic you guys spot successful that trailer, gives specified a fantastic show successful this, arsenic usual.”

For Chalamet, Paul’s autumn from grace is simply a captious portion of the Dune storyline, and this revamped attack to Chani feeds into that. It’s not that Paul is simply a villain, per se. He’s a antheral trapped by his visions of the aboriginal and trying to navigate the champion way guardant for his household and humanity astatine large.

“I anticipation it’s much nuanced than that,” Chalamet said. “I deliberation it’s 1 of the large endings of Frank Herbert’s books. I deliberation I work determination that it’s wherefore helium wrote Messiah arsenic a follow-up to the archetypal book, that radical mistook Paul arsenic a classical hero. He benignant of wanted to pass the satellite what tin hap erstwhile radical blindly travel leaders, and that adjacent the bully tin beryllium corrupted.”

The existent question is conscionable however acold Chani volition spell to reason Paul now.“

The existent question is conscionable however acold Chani volition spell to reason Paul now. Is she simply exiled successful the desert, oregon is she actively resisting his regime? She won’t beryllium the lone Fremen who’s mislaid religion successful Paul. Part Three besides introduces a quality named Farok (Isaach de Bankolé), 1 of Paul’s Fedaykin commandos who becomes disillusioned with the Lisan al-Gaib aft encountering an water for the archetypal clip (we spot portion of that country successful the caller trailer).

Like Dune Messiah, Part Three features an confederation of anti-Atreides powerfulness players similar Reverend Mother Mohaim (Charlotte Rampling), Irulan (Florence Pugh), and a Tleilaxu named Scytale (Robert Pattinson). One intriguing anticipation is that Chani joins this confederation successful the film. She would surely beryllium a almighty state successful the warfare to unseat the Emperor, but would Chani stoop to colluding with Paul’s enemies successful bid to halt him?

Either way, galore fans are opening to speculate that Scytale uses Chani’s representation against Paul successful the film. Scytale is simply a shape-shifter known arsenic a Face Dancer, meaning helium tin contort his muscles and instrumentality connected the quality of anyone helium chooses. Some person pointed retired that thing seems disconnected astir Chani successful the country successful the trailer wherever she taunts Paul, “How does it consciousness to beryllium quality similar everyone else, Paul Atreides?” Is this the existent Chani, oregon is it Scytale successful disguise?

Paul and Chani’s Children

And past determination are Paul and Chani’s children. We cognize those characters besides person a portion to play successful Dune: Part Three. As mentioned, Leto II and Ghanima are calved adjacent the extremity of Dune Messiah, but they’re simply helpless infants successful that story. Their existent value to the Dune saga doesn’t go evident until the 3rd book, 1976’s Children of Dune, erstwhile they regenerate Paul arsenic the series’ main protagonists.

But here, again, Villeneuve is diverging importantly from the root material. Villeneuve has gone truthful acold arsenic to formed teen actors Nakoa-Wolf Momoa and Ida Brooke arsenic Leto II and Ghanima, respectively. Perhaps the characters volition look lone via spice-induced visions (as Anya Taylor-Joy’s Alia did successful Dune: Part Two), but we fishy their relation is much crucial. Given that Paul and Chani are intelligibly breached up successful Part Three, it’s apt that Chani is already large by the clip she leaves Paul’s side. By the main timeline of the film, Paul volition already beryllium a begetter to duplicate teenagers. In that sense, Part Three whitethorn beryllium drafting arsenic overmuch from Children of Dune arsenic it is Dune Messiah.

Much similar Chani’s rejection of Team Paul, the beingness of these Atreides children changes everything for the film. It raises each mode of absorbing questions. Is Chani raising the children herself? Is she teaching them to cull Paul’s jihad? How volition the Fremen respond to the find that Muad’Dib has 2 heirs? Perhaps astir importantly, does Paul himself cognize astir his children? Given his supernatural powers, we would ideate so, but helium whitethorn besides beryllium keeping that accusation adjacent to the stillsuit, retired of a tendency to support his household from their galore enemies.

It is worthy reiterating that, successful the book, Paul is amazed to observe Chani has fixed commencement to twins alternatively than a azygous daughter. That’s due to the fact that Leto II is calved with prescience, making him invisible to Paul’s oracular sight. This could besides play into their relation successful the film, if Leto II’s precise beingness shields him and his household from their father’s all-seeing gaze.

Leto II doesn’t look successful the caller trailer arsenic acold arsenic we tin tell, but determination whitethorn beryllium a mates of little shots of Ghanima. Honestly, Brooke looks truthful overmuch similar Zendaya that it’s hard to beryllium sure. But contempt the deceptive editing, that does look to beryllium Ghanima who stops the charging Sandworm successful its tracks adjacent the extremity of the trailer. It’s a motion that she, similar her brother, has almighty abilities that committedness to alteration the playing tract successful Dune: Part Three.

The archetypal 2 films successful the bid were great, but they didn’t needfully clasp galore surprises for fans of the Dune books. This clip around, Chani and her children person the imaginable to wholly shingle up a acquainted communicative and support adjacent the astir hardcore Dune-heads connected their toes. That’s wherefore this latest sequel is truthful exciting.

For much connected Dune: Part Three, larn who’s who successful the archetypal teaser trailer.

Jesse is simply a mild-mannered unit writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intelligence thicket by following @jschedeen connected BlueSky.