Jason Momoa is one of the biggest names in Hollywood right now, thanks in part to unforgettable roles in releases like A Minecraft Movie, the Aquaman movies, and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. Well, now it’s his son, Nakoa-Wolf Momoa, who is on the rise after being cast in the upcoming book-to-screen adaptation of Dune Messiah.
As is the case with any major casting announcement these days, social media has been going crazy about the son of Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet showing up in one of the key roles in the upcoming sci-fi movie, where he and Ida Brooke will play the twin children – Leto II Atreides and Ghanima Atreides, respectively – of Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya’s characters. In a post by the Entertainment Tonight Instagram account, shortly after news broke in June 2025, fans were quick to comment on the casting with a range of responses.
On one hand, there were comments from users like ciaran.flynne07 that were very receptive to the idea of seeing Nakoa-Wolf share the screen with his dad, who is returning for Dune 3:
You know what. I actually buy it. Jason’s son does looks a bit like Timothee and Ida Brooke actually looks like she could be related to Zendaya. Good choices.
Others, quick to make a joke about fears of AI taking away actors’ jobs and nepotism in Hollywood, chimed in like a user known as oddpanout:
It’s funny cuz actors have been worrying about AI taking their jobs. Looks like the bigger threat is nepo babies 🤣
And then there were those who seem to know more about Dune Messiah than others, especially calebjwill , who was quick to point out the “interesting” fact that Paul Atreides’ twins will play a part in the upcoming threequel:
We’re actually seeing the twins in the movie? Interesting
Frank Herbert’s 1969 sci-fi novel, Dune Messiah, takes place around 12 years after the events of the first Dune epic, but the casting of the 16-year-old Nakoa-Wolf could mean that Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation will have a larger time jump. There could be a situation where the movie works around this age disparity, but we shall see.
There were also several memes being shared after the casting news dropped, including a post on X that managed to combine a classic Back to the Future moment with a joke about Dune Messiah and the long-rumored Children of Dune continuation:
Seeing everyone on the TL freaking out about Dune Messiah casting pic.twitter.com/OlrPkWe5ToJune 18, 2025
The altered Freman eyes, the nose piece that looks like it was drawn in using Microsoft paint, the look on Marty McFly’s face – all of it works together to create a hilarious, clever, and on-point meme.
Another X user, responding to a post by the Denis Villeneuve Universe account, came back with a short and sweet response that posed a recurring question about the Dune movie timeline:
These aren’t newborn children sooooo what’s Denis cookin ???
How the movie handles a presumably massive time jump and fact that Timothee Chalamet’s Paul Atreides still looks like a young man with nearly grown children is anyone’s guess at this point.
We’ll have to see what happens when Dune Messiah hits theaters as early as the 2026 movie schedule. The highly anticipated epic is reportedly slated for a December 16, 2026, release, but that’s the same day as the Russo Brothers’ Avengers: Doomsday, which could create a massive weekend akin to Barbenheimer in July 2023 if both stick. We shall see!
