‘How many ****ing names can you give one character?’: Christopher Nolan needed to get this one ‘Dune’ complaint off his chest

After the marvels of Dune, filmmaker Denis Villeneuve has legion of supporters in his court, including fellow blockbuster director Christopher Nolan. However, there’s one aspect about the movie that mildly amused Nolan – and no, it isn’t the sandworm’s toothy grin.

For a book that many deemed unadaptable – and bless David Lynch for trying – Villeneuve proved the impossible possible by reimagining Frank Herbert’s Dune epic for the big screen. Oscar buzz follows in its wake, as many believe Dune: Part Two will be the film to secure Villeneuve his much-deserved Best Director trophy. Heck, Josh Brolin, who plays Gurney Halleck in the series, claims he’ll quit acting if Villeneuve doesn’t get nominated at the very least.

Brolin isn’t the only big Hollywood heavyweight lavishing praise on Villeneuve and Dune: Part Two, as Nolan heralded the motion picture during a recent For Your Consideration panel. Sitting in conversation with Villeneuve, Nolan told his peer: “I watched the second half [of Dune] and I think it’s a miraculous job of adaptation, of taking that second half and making an incredible conclusion of the story.”

However, Nolan couldn’t help but ask the question that probably every single person watching Dune has thought about before. He said: “I have a lot of questions about how you did that, starting with: Usul, Muad’Dib, Paul, Lisan al Gaib. How many f**king names can you give one character and expect us to keep up with it?”

While it was said with humorous intent and evoked laughter, Nolan emphasized that there is a point to his question. He explained how most filmmakers try to find ways to untangle complex narrative webs for their movies, but Villeneuve went in the other direction and dug even deeper into the lore and themes. It’s testament to his ability that he’s able to do this and still keep the audience invested in the movie. Villeneuve chuckled at the initial comment about all of Paul Atreides’ names and explained how even the editor for the film pointed out the same thing to him, but the director said that every character has multiple names in the book.

Expectedly, the internet had thoughts about Nolan’s little jibe. While most commentators took it in the spirit it was meant to be taken, some decided to throw shade at both Nolan and Villeneuve. One X user wrote: “Of course the guy that named his protagonist ‘Protagonist’ would have this take.” Others laughed at how Nolan made a valid point about how anyone knows who’s who here, while the most diehard Dune supporters told the director to pick up the book sometime and educate himself. 

Again, it needs to be stated that Nolan didn’t say anything with malice here. Instead, it was to showcase the surreal talent of the director to weave such complexity into a cohesive and compelling film. But the internet is gonna internet and find any pixel to offend them…

The good news is the legacy of Dune isn’t stopping here. Not only is the prequel series Dune: Prophecy airing on HBO at the moment, but Villeneuve will return to the director’s chair to helm the third film in the trilogy, Dune Messiah. Hopefully, Nolan has his notebook ready so that he’s able to jot down and keep track of all the different names for the characters.