“There’s always some kind of violence toward the original material,” Denis Villeneuve says.
But here’s the character he’s most sad about cutting.
Warning: This article contains spoilers aboutDune: Part Two.
Denis Villeneuve and Javier Bardem on the set of ‘Dune: Part Two’.Everett Collection
“You have to change things, you have to bend, you have to make painful choices.”
Everett Collection
Dune: Part Twois not afraid to make changes to Herbert’s original story.
“One of the most painful choices for me on this one was Thufir Hawat,” Villeneuve admits.
Stephen McKinley Henderson in ‘Dune’.Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures
Mentats are, essentially, human computers.
There are two replacements for the functions of thinking machines.
The other is Mentats, humans trained from a young age to perform high-level mathematic and strategic calculations.
All of the noble Great Houses in theDuneuniverse have their own Mentat, like Maesters inGame of Thrones.
Hawat was the Mentat for House Atreides.
Viewers also met Piter de Vries (David Dastmalchian), the much creepier Mentat for House Harkonnen.
Piter was killed during Duke Leto’s suicidal attack on the Baron.
But there’s only room for so many characters, even at a 150-minute runtime.
As Villeneuve says, the film focuses more on the machinations of the Bene Gesserit.
Amid Paul’s triumph, the Reverend Mother isn’t cowed: “There are no sides.”
In the meantime, sorry to these Mentats.
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