Here’s your first look at a bald Austin Butler in ‘Dune: Part Two’

Elvis actor and Academy Award-nominee Austin Butler is ditching one rock star persona for another as Dune: Part Two enters the next phase in its marketing campaign, which includes a first-ever look at Butler’s evil character, Feyd-Rautha. And unlike author Frank Herbert’s novels, the cinematic version of Feyd-Rautha is in want of a full head of hair. 

Butler’s bald head made its grand debut in Vanity Fair’s first look at the movie, which includes not only the back of Butler’s baby-smooth scalp but also his character’s ominous silhouette holding two twin blades at his side.

According to the film’s director Denis Villeneuve, Butler’s full reveal is being withheld until later in the publicity campaign, no doubt desiring to save the shocking appearance for when the film closes in on its release date. Still, that hasn’t stopped him from singing Buter’s praises and teasing his character’s menacing addition to the cast. Villeneuve described Butler’s Feyd-Rautha, who is the heir of the evil Harkonnen empire, as Machiavellian, saying he’s “much more cruel, much more strategic, and is more narcissistic” than his uncle, the Harkonnen ruler known as Baron, played by Stellan Skarsgård in the first movie. 

Feyd-Rautha has a “lean, coiled presence,” according to Vanity Fair. Villeneuve says Butler’s performance is a “cross between a psychotic, sociopath serial killer, and Mick Jagger,” inadvertently drawing parallels to his hard-earned Elvis persona that resulted in a seemingly permanent “Elvis accent.” Given the fact that Feyd-Rautha is described as a heartless, lethal assassin, one can only hope this persona isn’t adopted in quite the same way. 

Butler’s unique take on Feyd-Rautha is yet another deviation from the 1984 movie, which saw his character played by musician and actor Sting. Joining him as a newbie to the cast is Black Widow actress Florence Pugh, who will play Princess Irulan in the movie; it is a role Villeneuve says she was born to play.

Dune: Part 2 is scheduled to premiere in theaters on Nov. 3