The premiere trailer for Dune gave viewers the first in-depth look at Denis Villeneuve's' upcoming adaptation of the sci-fi classic. The trailer showcased most of the film's major players, putting the incredibly star-studded cast on display. While the footage was mostly met with high praise, hardcore fans of the Dune series were left with a major dangling question, one that has yet to be addressed in any way — where is Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen?
Feyd is a major player in Dune, present from nearly the beginning. He is the nephew of the villainous Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and is the Baron's heir-apparent. He also serves as a narrative foil for Dune's hero, Paul Atreides. Both are charismatic, cunning young noblemen who have received the greatest education and combat training. But where Paul displays compassion and loyalty, Feyd cares only for himself and the acquisition of power.
The entire novel builds to a fateful confrontation between the two, but there has been no footage or casting announcements regarding Feyd-Rautha -- not even a mention of the character's name. For staunch fans of Dune, Feyd's absence has set off some alarms. The true purpose behind avoiding any mention of Feyd is unclear, but there are few likely scenarios to explain it.
The simplest and most likely explanation is that Feyd-Rautha is played by someone super famous who audiences wouldn't expect and the creators want to surprise audiences with his appearance. David Lynch's 1984 adaptation famously cast the musician Sting in the role. Alejandro Jodorowsky's unmade version in the '70s would have seen Mick Jagger playing the part. It's entirely possible that Denis Villeneuve has followed suit and picked someone famous outside the realm of film and TV to play Feyd.
Another possibility is that all of Feyd's story has been pushed to the yet-to-be-made Dune: Part Two. This would take a fair amount of restructuring, but it's within the realm of possibility. Dune has an immense cast of characters and Villeneuve may be prioritizing who audiences meet in Part One. With the seemingly increased screen time for smaller characters like Duncan Idaho or Glossu Rabban, there simply may not have been room for Feyd.
Speaking of Rabban, played by an intense-looking Dave Bautista, Villeneuve could have decided to make a very controversial change and merge him with the character of Feyd. Rabban is Feyd's older, brutish brother, used by his uncle the Baron to rule Dune as a tyrant. In the novel, Rabban is oft mentioned, but rarely present in any scenes. The trailer gave the impression that viewers will see a lot more of him than in the book, but simply deleting a character as important as Feyd from the story is a sure-fire way to upset fans.
There's also a decent chance Feyd-Rautha has been gender-flipped as they did with the character Liet-Kynes, who was a man in the novel but will now be a woman in Villeneuve's film. They may be trying to limit the time internet trolls have to be abusive about the switch while simultaneously keeping the reveal a big surprise for as long as possible.
Villeneuve is also aware of some of the uncomfortable and dated gender-role concepts in the first novel, which is why he's developing a prequel series for HBO about the all-female political group, the Bene Gesserit called Dune: Sisterhood. There would have to be some reconfiguring regarding the specifics of the Bene Gesserit's plans for Feyd and Paul, but it could work.
The likelihood of Feyd being in this first Dune film is still high. Another character missing from the trailer but confirmed to appear in the film was Piter De Vries, Baron Harkonnen's scheming adviser. Most of Piter's scenes in the book also involve Feyd-Rautha. Piter's absence could easily be attributed to keeping footage of Feyd out of sight. Regardless of what route Villeneuve decided to go, it doesn't change the fact that Feyd's non-existence in the first trailer was just too big to ignore.