Timothee Chalamet also being the lead actor in Wonka led to many jokes about the lengths Willy Wonka will go to acquire candy ingredients, or that his chocolate contains melange spice.
Zendaya is Chani.explanationThe release of character posters in July 2021 quickly led to the poster for "Zendaya is Chani" becoming an extension of the "Zendaya is Meechee" meme spawned by Smallfoot.
Russian Internet seems to enjoy cracking jokes about the band of the same name, who used to be popular in The '90s (and, for what it's worth, got their inspiration for the name from Frank Herbert's book). One of the more popular jokes goes like this: "Are you coming to see Dune (Duna)?" — "Are they still performing?".
DUNCexplanationThe stylized typography used in the title has made this intentional misreading of the last letter ubiquitous.
Sequel Fear Is The Mind-KillerexplanationDenis Villeneuve's films have never exactly been box-office smashes despite their critical and audience receptions, and in the case of Blade Runner 2049, outright tanked. It stoked fears in fans that the movie simply won't bank enough to warrant a sequel, thus playing on the quote "Fear is the mind-killer", though it ended up doing well enough to warrant said sequel eventually.
The Litany Against Hype: I must not hype. Hype is the fun-killer, etc. explanationAfter the first trailer and preview images got the fanbase as well as newcomers incredibly excited, the book's Litany Against Fear was also jokingly riffed on by those who counseled against hype burnout, especially with the delays. It even received a possible full version:
I must not hype. Hype is the fun-killer. Hype is the little-death that brings too much of expectation. I will face the hype. I will allow it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn my critical eye to see the film's path. Where the hype has gone, there will be nothing. Only the film will remain.
Jokes about the Aerith and Bob nature of Duncan Idaho's name became very commonplace online after the film opened, with many finding his last name to be rather Narmy. "My Own Duncan Idaho", in particular, got a lot of traction.
When it was announced the film would be released in Spain almost a month earlier than the rest of the world (sans France), and due to the then-recent case of Antonio Banderas being famously called a person of colour, Spanish Dune fans speculated, half-jokingly half-seriously, that Warner Bros. was under the impression that Al-Ándalusstill exists and Spain is currently a Muslim country, and that the early release was a sort of cultural gesture due to the book's Arabic influences. howeverThis confusion happening in the West would be utterly ridiculous if true, but isn't actually as unbelievable as it sounds - according to Spanish war journalists, there are country people in modern day Middle East who really believe Spain still has lands with a Muslim majority.
The Mongolian throat-singing chants of the Sardaukar priest have also been a subject of great memery, with many people editing it quite a bit. Some also joked it to be actually not a battle chant, but rather Sardaukar ASMR.
"You'll still be the only thing I ever needed you to be." explanationLeto assures Paul that even if he falls short of leading House Atreides, he'll still love him as his son. This has since been mutated to become memes of people assuring various things, mostly upcoming highly anticipated media, that even if they never live up to the hype the barest minimum they do will be enough for them.
The shot of Thufir Hawat having his eyes go blank while using his mentat abilities to calculate a price has become popular, especially as comparison to someone's encyclopedic knowledge of obscure trivia.
Kurt from Glee on the soundtrack ExplanationVideos saying the wail by Loire Cotler on the leitmotif "Paul's Dream" sounds like Chris Colfer's countertenor on Glee went viral
Use the Voice. ExplanationJessica reminds Paul to practice using the Voice. It's since been used to reference voices that have inspired multiple imitators. It's even been used to joke about Austin Butler retaining his Elvis Presley voice for Feyd-Rautha after Butler claimed that he had trouble getting rid of it after filming Elvis (2022).
Fans wondering where Paul's sister Alia Atreides is, given her significant role in the book and her brief cameo in a vision in the first film, quickly has become something of a Running Gag in the fandom with many making use of the "I would like to see the baby" meme as well. In the film itself, she only appears in a flash-forward due to the film lacking the book's Time Skip.
Lisan al-Gaib! ExplanationJokes about Stilgar experiencing religious awe from Paul doing extremely mundane things, such as doing a Pick a Card trick. Often in Monty Python's Life of Brian fashion.
"He's not the Messiah! He's a very naughty boy!"ExplanationReferences to this quote from Life of Brian are plentiful due Paul being a manufactured Chosen One and starting a war. Stilgar's Insane Troll Logic also bring to mind the scene where Brian tries to deny he's the Messiah, which further proves he's the Messiah.
Nissan al-Gaib! ExplanationVariant of the original meme, where Stilgar is experiencing religious awe from seeing a Nissan car.
É o Lisan al-Gaib, não tem jeito.ExplanationTranslated to "It's the Lisan Al-Gaib, there's no way". A meme from the Brazilian fandom, drawing from an ironic meme "é o visionário, não tem jeito" (He's the visionary, there's no way) with an ironic image of a gangsta lion smoking weed, used to praise visionaries (ironically or not). The "Visionary" is switched with "Lisan al-Gaib" in a bad photo edit.
"You kiss your uncle on the mouth?"ExplanationIn reference to the uncomfortable scene in which na-Baron Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen passionately kisses his own uncle, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, on the mouth, after accepting Arrakis as his fief.
Feyd appearing as though he's looking directly into the camera after the kiss also became memetic due to how random and awkward it looks, taking on a life as a reaction image. Some even go as far as including the preceding kiss for some Ho Yay humor.
When it was announced Christopher Walken was cast as Emperor Shaddam IV, fans starting sharing Fatboy Slim's music video for "Weapon of Choice", which both starred Walken and featured a shout-out to Dune in the lyrics: "Walk without rhythm, it won't attract the worm." It's like things came full circle. It was often mis-attributed to Shaddam quoting "Walk without rhythm, it won't attract the worm." in the movie.
Spice World ExplanationAs a joke with the importance of "Spice", many jokes have been made jokingly called the 1997 Cult ClassicSpice World a prequel that is crucial to understanding the movie's developments. This also extends to sometimes calling the female cast "the real Spice Girls", though that one dates back◊ to the 1984 film.
Jonny ExplanationDue to Chani's name being pronounced "Chah-Nee" in this film as opposed to Frank Herbert's intended pronunciation of "CHAY-nee", one person told on Reddit his girlfriend genuinely thought Chani was called "Jonny". It resulted in a meme where Chani was renamed "Jonny", sometimes amalgamating her with various other characters named Johnny.
Duncan Idaho's post-credits sceneExplanation — contains spoilers for the novelsFans pretending the film has a stinger which features Jason Momoa reprising the Duncan Idaho role. This is both a nod to an officially planned Dune sequel based on the Dune Messiah novel (Dune Messiah — and its later sequels — features a Ghola/Clone of Duncan Idaho as an important character) and to Momoa's earlier career (he's famous for playing the superhero Aquaman in the DC Extended Universe, a film series which indeed had stingers). There actually is no stinger in the film.
"May THY knife chip and shatter." Explanation People realized amusedly that Feyd's response to Paul's Pre-Asskicking One-Liner is ultimately a weak No, You retort, and joke accordingly that Feyd couldn't honestly come up with anything cooler and just copied him.
Regarding any deep blue liquid as the Water of Life, especially Gatorade.
Using the Bene Gesserit's Compelling Voice for mundane things, like ordering fast food or accidentally telling the person at the concessions stand "you too" when they say to enjoy your movie.
Feyd didn't put his hand in the pain box. ExplanationIn the film, Feyd is subjected to the gom jabbar test by Margot Fenring, but the pain test itself happens offscreen as the film immediately cuts to Margot reporting to Mohiam that Feyd passed the test with flying colors due to him being Too Kinky to Torture. The box test happening offscreen and Feyd's masochist characterisation resulted in jokes telling Feyd put his dick in the box instead of his hand.
"This film is dedicated to the brave Fedaykin fighters of Arrakis."ExplanationAn in-universe version of Harsher in Hindsight as the Fremen go from freedom fighters to crusaders on a destructive holy war, similar to the urban legend of Rambo III dedicating their film to people what would later become associated with the Taliban and the September 11th attacks.
Dune if it came out in 2007 ExplanationThe fans' take on the eponymous meme, inserting Linkin Park's "What Have You Done" in clips of the movie's final scenes in reference to the 2007 Michael BayTransformers movie.
"Sandstorm" by Darude
