This Dune article contains big spoilers.

Does Paul Atreides seem okay to you? He’s the unequivocal winner of Dune: Part Two. He gets revenge on the Harkonnens for killing his father, he takes over as Emperor, he marries Princess Irulan, and even gets cool superpowers from drinking the Water of Life.

So why is Paul so… angry? Readers of the book Dune don’t recall Paul being such a jerk at the end of the story, and the David Lynch version ended on an inspirational note. Is Denis Villeneuve taking liberties with the Frank Herbert novel again?

Yes… but also no.

Villeneuve has been very clear about his intention of working toward the second Herbert novel Dune Messiah. Already in Dune: Part Two, we can see Villeneuve set up the darker version of Paul that Herbert imagined in Dune Messiah, work he does by changing the two primary female characters,...