He may have been absent from Part One, but the character of Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen will have a major part to play when Dune: Part Two hits theaters in 2023.
While many fans already assumed as much, Dune director Denis Villeneuve has confirmed that the character of Feyd-Rautha will "definitely" be in the upcoming sequel. During a recent interview with Empire, Villeneuve explained that he was the one who made the decision to exclude the antagonist from Part One. "There was enough characters that were introduced in this first part, and it will be more elegant to keep Feyd for Part Two," he said.
Moreover, the director assures that Feyd "will be definitely a very, very important character in the second part." That being said, it still remains to be seen who will actually portray the character in the upcoming film, as no casting information is currently available.
While some fans of Frank Herbert's original Dune novel and its previous adaptations were surprised to see that a major antagonist like Feyd was left out of Villeneuve's first film, saving him for Part Two does make sense, seeing as how Feyd is most relevant to the second half of the beloved sci-fi tale.
The nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and younger brother of "The Beast" Glossu Rabban Harkonnen -- played in Denis Villeneuve's Dune by Stellan Skarsgård and Dave Bautista, respectively -- Feyd is the heir apparent to House Harkonnen, sworn enemies of House Atreides. This fact naturally puts Feyd on a collision course with main protagonist Paul Atreides, played in Villeneuve's film by Timothée Chalamet.
In director David Lynch's 1984 film adaptation of Dune, the character of Feyd-Rautha was played by rock icon Sting (real name Gordon M. Sumner). Frank Herbert's Dune, a television miniseries, debuted on the Sci Fi Channel (now known as Syfy) in 2000, with the role of Feyd now being occupied by Matt Keeslar (Scream 3, Grimm).
Villeneuve's Dune -- which adapts roughly the first half of Herbert's novel -- arrived in theaters and on HBO Max earlier this year on Oct. 21. Following a period of uncertainty, Legendary Pictures announced on Oct. 26 that it had officially greenlit Dune: Part Two. The sequel is currently slated to premiere exclusively in movie theaters on Oct. 20, 2023.
Source: Empire