The Cute Reason Jason Momoa Probably Won't See Dune When It Comes Out (Even Though He's In It)

Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho in Dune
(Image credit: (Warner Bros))

If Warner Bros had not made its most recent delay to Dune, we’d be a little under a month out from seeing Denis Villeneuve’s cinematic adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal science fiction novel. As things stand now, Dune is almost a year away, but that’s not the timetable Jason Momoa is apparently going by. The Aquaman actor will be waiting until his whole family is comfortable with watching the movie first.

Jason Momoa is, of course, a daddy first and foremost, and with that comes some give and take. The Game of Thrones icon has two kids with Lisa Bonet: a 13-year-old daughter named Lola and a 12-year-old son known as Nakoa-Wolf, or “Wolfie.” According to Momoa, his youngest is still uncomfortable with watching violence on film (especially when the blood is on his dad) As such, he’ll wait to see the epic, with Momoa saying:

My son just loses it… ‘Papa, are you okay?’ And I’m like, ‘Son, I’m sitting right next to you. We’re good. This was two years ago. Just watch the movie.’

Hey, this could act as a compliment of sorts to Jason Momoa’s acting. And even if Wolfie is well aware that his dad is a-ok, I can imagine watching my family members in dire situations on screen as a kid would be unsettling. Traumatizing, even? In the interview with Men’s Health, it’s made quite clear Momoa will wait it out until his son is ready. That could be long after the release of Dune, or if he’s lucky, just in time for the film’s premiere next October.

It goes to show how dedicated Jason Momoa is considering how much he loved making Dune, along with how much respect he has for Denis Villeneuve. The actor said he’s never been so “nervous” to play a role due to the statue of Villeneuve, who has previously made some incredible films, like Arrival, Blade Runner 2049 and Sicario. Dune is supposed to be part one of a larger adaptation of the Frank Herbert novel, previously attempted to film by David Lynch in 1984.

Dune is a huge film, with a massive cast including Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, David Bautista and Stellan Skarsgard, the latter of whom will play the terrifying villain Baron Harkonnen. Jason Momoa’s Duncan Idaho is a skilled swordsman and friendly mentor to Chalamet’s Paul Atriedes. It’ll be exciting to see what Momoa brings to the role in between his work in the DCEU as Aquaman. Arthur Curry will return in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which comes to HBO Max next year.

Jason Momoa will also return for Aquaman 2, currently expected to hit theaters in December 2022 following a slew of other highly-anticipated Warner Bros movies based on DC superheroes. You can follow along on the lineup with CinemaBlend’s list of upcoming DC movies.

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.