The trailer for Dune: Part Two has dropped and it looks absolutely spectacular, from the production design to the graphics, the wardrobe, and of course the stellar cast, it really has done an amazing job of setting our expectations high for the sequel. There is something missing from the trailer though, or should we say, someone. Alia Atreides has been left out of all promotional material so far, and no one knows who will be playing her, but who is she and why is she important?
Alia Atreides is the young sister of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), and daughter of Bene Gesserit, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), and Lord Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac), though was born eight months after the death of her father after the Harkonnens attack. Her birth itself was a fraught one, as she was considered pre-born after her mother underwent the process of becoming a Reverend Mother for the Fremen by taking in the Water of Life.
This floods Lady Jessica with the memories of those who came before her, and as she becomes connected to those memories so too does her unborn baby. This process makes Alia more likely to become an “Abomination,” a person who cannot control these ego-memories making them highly unstable and dangerous. Thus, when Alia was born she was already conscious and aware of the outside world, giving her knowledge far exceeding her age. This made her extremely wise, unnervingly so for a child, with the Fremen both worshipping and fearing her and the Bene Gesserit wanting her terminated. She also has the same gift of prescience (foresight) as her brother Paul.
In the upcoming film, she should have a massive role. Dune: Part Two should have somewhat of a time jump, and we should see a lot more of her from that point onwards. At the age of four, she is already able to converse and outsmart individuals 10 times her age, and she allies with her brother in his quest to take down House Harkonnen in revenge for their father’s murder. She is also very capable with a crysknife (a knife made from the tooth of a dead sandworm of Arrakis) and her deadly skills earn her the nickname, St. Alia of the Knife.
Her character is an extremely interesting one, with her story going on well beyond the initial Dune novel, meaning that the casting for this character needs to be done right, as she may have a role beyond Dune: Part Two if there are to be more films or spin-offs in the Dune universe to come. This is not the only thing that makes casting difficult, as the Alia we will be seeing in the upcoming sequel should be a four-year-old with the wisdom and knowledge of someone much, much older, which, as you can imagine, can be extremely difficult to find.
Because she is so unnerving in the novel it is interesting that director Dennis Villeneuve has chosen not to introduce us to her just yet. The audience will be as shocked to see her character as the Fremen are, having no time to get used to her presence we may feel as uncomfortable with her character as some of the other characters are on screen.
She has appeared in other adaptions of Frank Herbert’s novels, played by Alicia Witt in David Lynch’s 1984 film adaptation with the actress turning eight during filming, a very young Laura Burton in the 2000 miniseries Frank Herbert’s Dune, and Daniela Amavia as an aged up version in its 2003 sequel, Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune.
We may not get a chance to see her or know who her actor is, until Dune: Part Two hits theatres on Nov. 3, 2023.