Stellan Skarsgard Is the Villain of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune

After a happy break in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Stellan Skarsgard returns to what he does best: playing despicable villains. According to THR, the Swedish actor has been cast as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, one of the main antagonists in Legendary Entertainment’s adaptation of Dune.

The Baron is known as a formidable foe, both devious and dastardly. His family, the former rulers of the planet Arrakis, have feuded with the House of Atreides for millennia. This pits Skarsgard’s character against Paul Atreides, played by Timothee Chalamet, as they and their kin battle for the spice-rich Arrakis.

Besides his foray into the world of ABBA, Skarsgard was most recently seen on the silver screen in The Man Who Killed Don Quixote and Borg vs McEnroe. He feels like the right fit for the Baron, who was portrayed by character actor Kenneth McMillan in the David Lynch adaptation and British actor Ian McNeice in the TV mini-series Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune.

Skarsgard and Chalamet are joined by Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy), who recently signed on to play the Baron’s cruel nephew, and Rebecca Ferguson (Mission Impossible—Fallout), who is set to be Paul’s mother, Lady Jessica. With Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049, Arrival—need we say more?) onboard as director, this reboot of Herbert’s classic novel seems poised to avoid the pitfalls of previous adaptations.

Find out everything else we know about the new Dune movies here.