Anya Taylor-Joy makes a very brief appearance in Dune: Part Two, but if and when Denis Villeneuve returns to helm his adaptation of Dune: Messiah, the Furiosa star will have a much more substantial role.
If you haven't seen the movie yet, spoilers follow.
In Part One, we learn that Paul Atreides' mother, the Bene Gesserit Lady Jessica, is pregnant with the late Duke Leto's child. When the Fremen take in the survivors of the Harkonnen massacre, Jessica agrees to become the tribe's new Reverend Mother (she isn't really given a choice) and is "persuaded" to drink the Water of Life (a blue substance that's been extracted from a juvenile sandworm).
This gives Jessica incredible foresight and knowledge of previous generations, while also awakening similar abilities in her unborn daughter, who begins to communicate with and seemingly influence her mother's actions.
When Paul ingests the same liquid later on in the movie, he sees a vision of his now grown sister Alia (Taylor-Joy) standing by an ocean on Arrakis. She tells her brother that she loves him and is waiting for him.
“Anya was Alia as soon as I met with her,” Villeneuve tells Variety. “In fact, I realized after the fact, she has always been Alia. Anya feels out of this world, as though she belongs to some other dimension, one step into the dream. Shooting with Anya in Africa was nothing short of magical. Her generosity, candor and passion truly moved me. I can’t wait to go back on Arrakis with her.”
Taylor-Joy kept her involvement in the Dune sequel (mostly) secret, but the cat was let out of the bag when she showed up to the movie's world premiere.
“I told my husband and my parents,” she says, adding, “and I took my mum.” She then revealed that Villeneuve kept her role so well hidden that “no one at the studio knew. My face had been blurred out.”
When asked if there's more Dune in her future, Taylor-Joy said: "I hope so."
"Those hoping for blockbuster escapism might find themselves shook by this faithful, at times borderline depressing adaptation," we said in our review. "But Dune Part Two is Sci-fi spectacle at its finest and most audacious, as Villeneuve builds-upon and possibly surpasses (opinions will vary) his previous film with aplomb."
The saga continues as award-winning filmmaker Denis Villeneuve embarks on Dune: Part Two, the next chapter of Frank Herbert’s celebrated novel Dune, with an expanded all-star international ensemble cast. The film, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, is the highly anticipated follow-up to 2021’s six-time Academy Award-winning Dune.
The big-screen epic continues the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s acclaimed bestseller Dune with returning and new stars, including Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet (Wonka, Call Me by Your Name), Zendaya (Spider-Man: No Way Home, Malcolm & Marie, Euphoria), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning), Oscar nominee Josh Brolin (Avengers: Endgame, Milk), Oscar nominee Austin Butler (Elvis, Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood), Oscar nominee Florence Pugh (Black Widow, Little Women), Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor: Love and Thunder), Oscar winner Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter,), Stephen McKinley Henderson (Fences), Léa Seydoux (James Bond, Crimes of the Future), with Stellan Skarsgård (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling (45 Years, Assassin’s Creed), and Oscar winner Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men, Being the Ricardos).
Dune: Part Two will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.