Timothée Chalemet is set to play Paul Atreides, the hero of Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of the legendary sci-fi novel, Dune. Both the result of thousands of years of planning and an accidental result of his mother's rebellious actions, he is a powerful psychic. Though intended to be a tool of control for others, Paul was born before his time and has a destiny more powerful and terrifying than anyone could imagine.
Paul's origins begin with the Sisterhood of the Bene Gesserit, a political faction in Dune comprised of an all-female cadre of psychics. They are renowned for their ability to sense truth from lies and manipulate others through perfect control of their "Voice." Both feared and coveted for their "Weirding Ways," the Sisterhood has entrenched themselves in every noble house. Though they serve royalty as counsel, it is merely a cover to benefit the Bene Gesserit's true agenda: the continued survival of the human race.
They seek to do so through an intricate and highly secretive breeding program. The end result is their Kwisatz Haderach ("The Shortening of the Way") -- an engineered superhuman capable of true prescience. The Bene Gesserit have a limited ability to see the future and seek to create someone without their limitations who would remain under their control. To that end, Lady Jessica is sold to House Atreides to serve as Duke Leto's concubine.
Jessica was ordered to seduce Leto and conceive a daughter, who would be an essential part of their plans. She would have been wed to Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, not only ending the long-standing enmity between the noble houses, but the Bene Gesserit also believed that their resulting child would be their long-awaited Kwisatz Haderach. However, something happened that the Bene Gesserit didn't count on: Jessica and Leto fell deeply in love.
It was out of Jessica's immense love for Leto that she conceived a son instead of a daughter, as ordered. Jessica fell into disfavor with her Sisterhood as a result of having Paul and the Bene Gesserit sought a way to recover from this major misstep in their plans and still make use of the boy. Because Jessica knew how precarious her and Paul's position was, she spent his entire life training him in the secret arts of Bene Gesserit mind and body control -- another broken taboo for her order.
Paul's Bene Gesserit training was complemented by the grueling education and combat training at the hands of his father's close counsel. House Atreides greatest warriors, Gurney Halleck and Duncan Idaho, taught Paul how to fight, while Thufir Hawat, a living computer and the Duke's Master of Assassins, assisted him in espionage and statecraft.
But Paul's greatest and most terrifying gift was his prophetic dreams. This was a sign to the Sisterhood that he may be the Kwisatz Haderach arriving a generation too soon, which made him both valuable and dangerous. His dreams only become more potent when he reaches Dune and begins ingesting a higher amount of the planet's ubiquitous Spice, the most important resource in the universe, and one that's vital to the Bene Gesserit's psychic abilities.
Eventually, Paul's exposure to the Spice grants him full prescience, making him one of the most powerful humans in existence. All of this happens under the Bene Gesserit's noses, however, who at this point believe Paul to be dead. Fortunately, Paul finds refuge with Dune's native Fremen, a highly superstitious people.
Ironically, Paul winds up fulfilling legends of a savior figure implanted in the Fremen long ago as part of the Bene Gesserit's intricate plans. He becomes recognized as the Lisan-al-Gaib ("The Voice From the Outer World") and leads them as their messiah, Muad'Dib. The Fremen's fanatical loyalty, coupled with Paul's immense psychic powers, eventually allows him to turn the tables on all who would have used him, paving the way for him to become Emperor of the Known Universe.