Keeping in mind that this is just a rumor and should be taken with a spoonful of salt, and that quite a bit has to happen before Villeneuve steps away t and a new director is chosen, Edwards makes sense as the next in line. Edwards broke out with the kaiju indie Monsters, and has worked on big sci-fi franchise pictures such as Godzilla, Star Wars: Rogue One, and the upcoming Jurassic World: Rebirth. He knows how to do scale and how to work in the studio system, skills needed for to carry Children of Dune past the oddity that will be Dune Messiah.

The second book in the original Frank Herbert series, Dune Messiah takes a more intimate approach than the writer’s original epic, focusing instead on a conspiracy within the court of Emperor Paul Atreides. In the novel, as Paul and Chani struggle to conceive an heir, this conspiracy works against the family, employing new threats such as the shape-changing assassins known as the Face Dancers and the machine savvy people of Ix, both of which appeared in the HBO miniseries Dune: Prophecy.

Even more than the first Dune, Dune Messiah critiques the concept of charismatic leaders. The novel portrays the cost of Paul’s Fremen Jihad in frank detail, never forgetting the destruction he wreaks, even as he tries to do what he considers best for humanity.

Children of Dune returns to the larger scope and stakes of the series. Paul and Chani’s children, Leto II and Ghanima, take center stage here, along with Paul’s mother Jessica, his sister Alia, and a surprising ally in the form of Princess Irulan. The focus on Leto and Ghanima helps put Paul’s plans and actions into perspective, letting us witness the legacy that he leaves for not just his children but also all of humanity.

If you’re reading Den of Geek, you probably already know what happens to Leto: at the end of Children of Dune, he transforms into a giant sandworm/human hybrid. Although this version of Leto isn’t really the main character until the fourth novel, God Emperor of Dune, its appearance in Children of Dune would justify the decision to hire Edwards, who knows how to make things look huge and upsetting, and those are the two primary qualities of Leto in his worm form.

Even so, it’s hard to imagine anyone being able to translate Herbert’s vast imagination as well as Villeneuve has, so we can’t help but hope he delays his exit one more time and makes a fourth Dune film.