Warning: This article contains spoilers for Dune 2. Please proceed with caution.
Dune 2 is filled with some of Hollywood’s brightest names, and recently it was confirmed that Anya Taylor-Joy is yet another star who will be appearing in the second installment of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s iconic novels.
Taylor-Joy joined the cast at the London premiere of the film and confirmed that she was in the movie on the red carpet. Although she didn’t say exactly what role she had taken on, there were a lot of people on social media who figured it out ⏤ and they were recently proven correct.
Her character is one that’s vital to the Dune world that Herbert so expertly crafted, but fans of the novel series will be aware that her appearance means there’s been a huge shift from the timeline in the novel. Who does Taylor-Joy play in Dune 2, and what does that mean for the series and any potential sequels? Scroll on, dear reader, scroll on.
Who does Anya Taylor-Joy play in Dune 2?
In Dune 2 (stylized as Dune: Part Two), Taylor-Joy will be taking on the role of Alia Atreides, the daughter of Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) and the late Leto Atreides, and brother of Paul (Timothée Chalamet). She only has a minor role, as Alia is technically in the womb for most of the film (and a lot of the latter half of the first Dune book, which the film is being adapted from); however, she speaks near the end and is also revealed in a vision to Paul during the film (hence her name on the cast list).
In the Dune universe, Alia’s mother Jessica ingests sandworm bile (known as the Water of Life) in a ceremony to become the Reverend Mother of the Fremen, a role that can only be taken by Bene Gesserit like her. However, this has the effect of causing Alia to be born with all the memories of her ancestors. This also means she is born talking and aware of her surroundings. In the book, she does communicate with her mother, but is in the womb as an embryo the entire time. In the movie, however, she has a line in the final scene as Rebecca gives birth, asking, “What is happening, mother?” A little creepy? Sure. But also super cool.
Alia is vital to the plot of the following Dune books, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, taking on the role of villain in the third. However, she doesn’t physically appear in Dune at all, nor in any of Paul’s visions in the first novel, making this a departure from Herbert’s books.
Does Anya Taylor-Joy being in Dune 2 change the plot from the novels?
In some ways, Taylor-Joy appearing in Dune 2 is a change from the novels, but it could also be argued that it’s not that big of a shift in a lot of ways. Plus, by virtue of being split into two, the movie has already drifted away from the book.
One inarguable difference between the big-screen adaptation and its source material is the fact that this is a timeline change. In the book, there are around two years of fighting between the Fremen and the Harkonnens before it all ends, whereas in the movie this war takes place over nine months. This isn’t just confirmed by biology, but also the fact that Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh) writes in her diary that it’s still 10,191, which is the same year that Dune (the first film) was set in. So, whereas Alia is over a year old at the end of the first book, in the film she’s only recently born.
Setting back the timeline a couple of years isn’t the biggest deal in the grand scheme of things, especially with the way that the Dune series spreads out over several years. After all, in the second book Alia is a teen who falls in love with a ghost clone of Duncan Idaho known as Hayt (which we hope means the return of Jason Mamoa). And, in the third book, she is an adult who becomes an antagonist after getting in touch with the memories of Baron Harkonnen, who her brother is fighting against in this film.
However, one major change that comes from this shift is the fact that Alia doesn’t kill the Baron in the film, which she does in the book (thus granting her the incredibly cool nickname Alia of the Knife). This is a bit sad, as the creepily aware baby killing Harkonnen is a pretty intense moment in the novel that would have been great to have on screen, but audiences who aren’t weirdly deep into Herbert’s lore will probably prefer the more narratively satisfying outcome of Paul doing it.
Other film adaptations have shown this moment, but they’ve also been much worse than Villeneuve’s, so we’ll let this one slide.
Does this mean there’s going to be a Dune 3? And will Anya Taylor-Joy be in it?
While Dune 3 has yet to be confirmed, it seems pretty likely that there will be another installment. The cast members all seem pretty keen on it and the money and great reviews are already rolling in, so the studios are likely to be on board, too.
If Villeneuve does make a third installment, it’s likely to be based on the second novel, Dune Messiah. Alia plays a huge role in this book, but she’s also a teenager, which means we’re likely to see yet another timeline shift, as Taylor-Joy is very much an adult woman. However, we don’t foresee this being a massive problem given the rest of the weird things that go on in the Dune universe.
What’s exciting for fans of the franchise is that Taylor-Joy is roughly the same age as Alia is in the third book, Children of Dune, in which the character also plays a massive part. Despite the director claiming he only wants to make a maximum of three Dune films, this casting of the Queen’s Gambit actress means that things are set up for a fourth adaptation. Add in a pile of money from the studio and a devoted fanbase and it’s not hard to see Villeneuve going back on his desire to limit this film series to a trilogy.
