Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is shaping up to be the adaptation of the sci-fi classic that we always deserved, and a tweet by Dave Bautista has now heightened expectations for an altercation between a pair of the story’s supporting characters.
The tweet, not the first cryptic missive he’s ever sent, shows himself as Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy and Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry from Aquaman, and without any caption added to the image, replies were varied. Many of them expressed confusion, some the desire for a crossover or each to appear in the other’s comic book movie franchise, and a few requested salacious gratification, but the comments about Dune seem the most likely, along with the image implying a showdown between their respective characters.
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) January 10, 2020
In Dune, Bautista will play Glossu Rabban Harkonnen, the nephew of the scheming Baron Harkonnen, and a sadistic and violent thug of limited intellect nicknamed ‘Beast’ after strangling his own father to death. In contrast, Momoa will portray Duncan Idaho, the swordsman and fiercely loyal right-hand man of Duke Atreides, a fair and compassionate noble whose being afforded stewardship of the desert planet Arrakis sets the plot in motion.
Although having little to do with one another in the original novels, in Dune: House Atreides, the first of Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson’s Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy that establishes characters’ origins, it’s revealed that as a child slave, Duncan’s parents were murdered by Glossu Raban, and also attempted to kill him by being hunted for sport. This extra source material to draw from will allow the characters to be fleshed out from their slightly functional presence in the original novel, the enmity most likely resulting in a battle between the two that only one will walk away from. The differing physical styles of the characters – Duncan’s speed and skill matched against Glossu Raban’s strength and brutality – will no doubt prove a varied battle, and one that will surely be among the numerous highlights of Dune.
