WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Dune, now in theaters and on HBO Max.
As Dune barrels through its dusty opus on Arrakis, placing House Atreides in danger as House Harkonnen plots to take it down, it does make key changes from the source material. A major one comes with Dr. Liet Kynes, who's now a Black woman rather than a fair-skinned male. However, while it's a welcomed subversion to increase female representation and ethnic diversity, the movie totally squanders its most interesting character.
Kynes is a judge of change on Arrakis -- an ecologist who tries to get House Atreides acclimated. She's impressed by Paul, sensing he's got a secret connection to the Fremen, so she's eager to help out. She knows aiding Duke Leto on the planet's terrain, after all, will help them mine spice and make money for the Emperor, while maintaining a balance with the natives who don't like how Harkonnen, the previous citizens of the capital, exploited and abused the planet.
And so, she builds a bond with Leto, seeing him saving miners and showing compassion to the Fremen as he wants an alliance. It's genuine loyalty, though, as he knows he can help them survive even longer, especially as they don't trust the Imperial forces. Sadly, things go awry when the Imperials and Harkonnen's army attack House Atreides, killing Leto and sending Paul on the run with his mom, Jessica.
They end up at Kyne's lair with other Fremen. However, when the hunters come for them, Kynes doesn't endure a happy fate. Paul and Jessica escape to find the militant Fremen, but as Kynes tries to flee to alert the coalition of planets to the Emperor's treachery, she's stabbed. While she bleeds out from being impaled, she summons a Sandworm to swallow her and the attackers up. It's an epic death but it feels like the most intriguing character is gone too soon.
She worships Shai Hulud, aka the worm, so as she bridges science and the supernatural, Kynes was perfectly positioned to help Paul on his journey as the Chosen One, aka Kwisatz Haderach. As an expert on the Fremen too, she'd have a lot to offer Paul, not to mention she may have run into conflict with her own people should they have lost their way with him.
And it's down to relatability, because like Paul, Kynes feels like someone from both worlds, so losing her now is akin to Star Wars' Luke losing his Obi-Wan Kenobi. Given the ending has Fremen riding worms and whatnot, Kynes should have been kept in as a mentor and someone to help in the political conflict to come.
It's too short a role, but admittedly, it's better than the source material where Kynes aided Leto and got killed by Harkonnen, who tossed him out into the desert to die. That wasn't as nuanced, but here, Kynes is a movement in her own right and someone who seemed more connected to her people's prophecy than even she knew. Thus, with this untapped potential, it's disappointing to have Kynes gobbled up when Paul and Jessica needed her to shine light on their destiny and on how to cripple the Imperials.
Dune is now in theaters and on HBO Max.