I see they’re not doing the book’s thing of Shaddam being 70 but looking 30 from hitting the spice hard, though none of the other adaptations did that either. It doesn’t particularly add anything to the story and would require an additional line or two of expository dialogue that the movie could probably do without. Walken can deliver terrific performances and brings a ton of presence to whatever he’s in. I’m imagining him in his Fu Manchu get-up from Balls of Fury, and I expect nothing less.
Austin Butler is spot-on for Feyd, the Anti-Paul. A slim pretty boy, trained from birth in combat and statecraft, but a debauched and ruthless psychopath. Basically everything Paul is, but directed toward evil. Based on his look and what I saw of him in Once upon a Time in Hollywood, I can see him fitting that to a T. I don’t remember if Florence Pugh has been confirmed for Irulan, but she fits the bill too. Beautiful and intelligent, but mostly confined to a gilded cage (first her family’s, then Paul’s). Both of these movies are kind of insanely well cast.
