We might only serve one master (Shai-Hulud, obviously), but Deadline’s new report about Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Messiah adaptation could one day prove to be a sacred text. Justin Kroll first broke the news the director is considering Robert Pattinson for a “significant” role in the film. But before we even had a chance to make the case for who The Batman star should portray from Frank Herbert’s second novel in the series, we got another story from The Hollywood Reporter about his possible role. It says Villeneuve is likely thinking the exact same thing we immediately did: Pattinson is a perfect choice for Dune: Part Three’s villain Scytale.
While no one has confirmed Pattinson is specifically up for the role of Scytale, THR says he is “circling the role of the chief villain in the film.” There’s simply no other villain in the story that makes sense for him to play other than Scytale. Forget villain, there’s no other remaining “significant” part that makes sense for Pattison, period. Dune: Messiah‘s Edric might be the only other reasonable guess. But you probably/definitely don’t cast Robert Pattinson to play a disgusting character with the body of a reptile. Especially not when you can instead have him play a more important cerebral, sinister shape-shifter.
While we won’t get into too many specifics/spoilers, Scytale is a master manipulator in league with some very powerful enemies of Paul Atreides. He’s also especially dangerous because he’s a Tleilaxu Face Dancer. Non-book readers recently got to meet that race of shape-shifters on HBO’s Dune: Prophecy. Scytale’s role is much bigger in Dune: Messiah than his ancestor on the prequel series. He’s also a far more cunning antagonist than anything the Kwisatz Haderach dealt with in Villeneuve’s first two films where he opposed the brutal Harkonnens.
Pattinson, one of Hollywood’s most interesting performers, is really a perfect choice to play Scytale. He’s a huge star who will easily fit into a franchise overflowing with them. He also has an ethereal quality to him that absolutely fits the vibe and tone of Villeneuve’s Dune movies. (In much the same way Anya Taylor-Joy does.) And, most importantly, we’ve seen Pattinson play not only effective, nuanced, dangerous villains before, he’s played elusive, highly intelligent, mysterious characters numerous times. That’s a big part of what makes his Bruce Wayne so good and different from past iterations.
You never know exactly what you’re going to get from a Robert Pattinson performance. You just know it’s going to be thoughtful, interesting, and really freaking good. That’s exactly what both Scytale and Dune: Part Three need from its major villain. He’s the exact actor the role calls for. He’s the exact kind of star and performer who will elevate Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides by sharing the screen with him. We pray Shai-Hulud, and Denis Villeneuve, can make this happen. You don’t have to be the Kwisatz Haderach to see why Pattinson would be a perfect chouce.
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Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist and definitely not a Face Dancer, no need to check. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
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