Dune 2 Trailer Unveils Austin Butler as a Terrifyingly Bald & Eyebrow-less Villain

Timothée Chalamet finally gets to ride one of the film’s biggest, almost mythological, creatures: a sandworm. We get to see Javier Bardem’s Stilgar warn Chalamet’s Paul to avoid trying to “impress” anyone. “You’re brave, we all know that. Be simple, be direct,” says Bardem in the trailer. “Nothing fancy.” Cut to: Chalamet riding a giant sandworm.

At the end of the first film, we saw Chalamet’s character escape from the Harkonnens, who had retaken control of Arrakis, and the Sardaukar troops. After a mortal battle with Jamis, Paul joins the Fremen, the native inhabitants of Arrakis. He’s from then on referred to as Muad’Dib, a messianic figure to the Fremen. As seen in the new first look images from Vanity Fair, Chalamet has bright, icy blue eyes as he joins the Fremen and absorbs Arrakis’ “spice.”

As Muad’Dib, Paul now has unlocked the power to ride the massive sandworms that populate Arrakis. (If you remember correctly, Dr. Liet Kynes, played by Sharon Duncan-Brewster, actually died in the first film after being — willingly — devoured by one of said sandworms in an effort to help Paul and his mother Lady Jessica escape so they could get to the Fremen.)

In Herbert’s book, the art of riding a sandworm is referred to as “wormriding,” and it is only generally done by Fremen as it’s a perilous adventure. In order to do so, one has to pour sand into a sandworm’s scale that has been previously pried open with a maker hook. If you succeed, you are known as a Sandrider. When Chalamet’s Paul finally meets Chani towards the end of the first film, he witnesses wormriding for the first time and refers to it as “desert power.”

3. Zendaya plays a much bigger role in the sequel

Zendaya famously only appeared in the first Dune film for a grand total of seven minutes despite being key in the promotions for the film, but rest assured because that will change in Dune 2 with Chalamet’s character fully becoming part of the Fremen.