Dune: Part 2 trailer reaction

Even more so than the first trailer for Dune: Part 2, the second trailer teases audiences with 15 solid minutes of war on the planet Arrakis, as well as some of the political machinations that will be key to Paul’s success in avenging his father.

Paul (Timothée Chalamet) starts off narrating the trailer, explaining, likely to Chani (Zendaya), that House Atreides are no stranger to fighting the Harkonnens, saying that there’s been a centuries long war between the Houses. It’s what this conflict comes down to really, even Arrakis is just another stage in that fight.

This conversation is likely about the massacre of the Fremen by both the Harkonnens and Sardaukar, the Imperial army and one of the most feared in the galaxy. In the book Dune, the Sardaukar enact pogroms against the Fremen, which would be very powerful to watch in the film. 

Revenge is not what Paul’s father would have wanted cautions his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), but audiences know that Paul will ignore this and go all out against the Harkonnens and Emperor.

Tensions between the Fremen and Paul are still present, even though he demonstrated at the last part of Dune Part 1 he was worthy. This no doubt leads him to riding the sand worm, something briefly seen here, and of course there’s the thumper.

There’s then the first of the two big reveals of the trailer, the return of Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin). He’s still seen encouraging Paul, this time to embrace his position as the prophet, but Paul replies his visions are all bad. Which no doubt means they’ll be more dream sequences, not massively exciting since all the ones from Part 1 were just teases for this film. 

There is then the second big reveal of the trailer, the appearance of Christopher Walken’s Emperor Shaddam IV of House Corrino, looking sinister and taunting with Paul, who’s a threat to his power, is still alive. This is where the political machinations come into the film, along with the exploration of how a prophecy can subdue a group, which Chani refers to. 

To deal with this threat, Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler) is sent to kill Paul, in a white coated sequence with Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), who’s also still alive! Feyd-Rautha looks more agile and lighter on his feet than his brother Glossu Rabban (Dave Bautista), who’s a heavy tank of a brute.

Peppered throughout this trailer are shots of conflict, with Chani taking out ornithopters and then a huge ornithopter attack, massive amounts of fighters, and at the end of the trailer are some satisfyingly huge explosions. It’s something that’s bound to look awesome on the big screen. And, to top the trailer off, there is the iconic line from Paul, “He who can destroy a thing has the real control of it.” 

Denis Villeneuve is likely to destroy the box office competition when Dune Part comes out on November 3 2023, demonstrating his control over cinema.