Most recently, we got an exciting casting confirmation for Dune: Part Three. Robert Pattinson revealed that he would, in fact, be in the movie as reported. And now, we finally have our first look at Robert Pattinson in Dune: Part Three. And okay, he looks good. Good and creepy. Definitely not like someone who “did not have a single functioning brain cell” in the desert. You can check out our first look image of Robert Pattinson in Dune: Part Three below… An image which seems to confirm he’s playing villain Scytale.
New Image Confirms Robert Pattinson Will Play Villain Scytale in Dune: Part Three
We still don’t know for CERTAIN who Robert Pattinson will play in Dune: Part Three, but our first look at Pattinson from the movie, released among a whole host of other character shots, seems to confirm he’ll play Dune: Messiah‘s villain, Scytale.
As we’ve written before, “Scytale is a master manipulator in league with some very powerful enemies of Paul Atreides. He’s also especially dangerous because he’s a Tleilaxu Face Dancer. Non-book readers recently got to meet that race of shape-shifters on HBO’s Dune: Prophecy. Scytale’s role is much bigger in Dune: Messiah than his ancestor on the prequel series. He’s also a far more cunning antagonist than anything the Kwisatz Haderach dealt with in Villeneuve’s first two films, where he opposed the brutal Harkonnens.”
And what is Robert Pattinson’s face doing in this Dune: Part Three first-look image? Why, it’s dancing! Face + dancing = Face Dancer. That seems to clinch it for us. Pattinson also looks cunning and cerebral, exactly what the doctor ordered for Dune: Part Three villain Scytale.
More About Scytale and the Tleilaxu
As mentioned, Scytale is one of the Tleilaxu, who are a new antagonist we meet in Dune: Messiah. They are a secretive race of humans who specialize in bioengineering and are reviled by the rest of the Imperium due to their unethical practices.
Their abhorrent creations include shapeshifting humanoids called Face Dancers. In the books, Face Dancers were created as forms of entertainment, but their ability to mimic the looks, sounds, and personas of others made them optimal tools for espionage and assassination. Sounds like Pattinson’s Dune: Part Three character Scytale is going to be a lot of trouble.
Pattinson Was Just Vibing on Dune: Part Three Set
Although Scytale is a scheming mastermind, Robert Pattinson was anything but. Here’s what Pattinson said about his Dune: Part Three stint, “When I was doing Dune, it was so hot in the desert that I just couldn’t question anything. And it was so relaxing, like my brain actually wasn’t operating, I did not have a single functioning brain cell. And I was just listening to Denis [Villeneuve]: ‘Whatever you want!’” We love this for RPatz and for us. We’re sure Scytale will end up all the better for it.
Dune: Part Three will release in theaters on December 18, 2026.