Frank Herbert's Dune universe is full of interesting characters. From the brutal Harkonnens to the heroic Atrias, pairing respectful mothers with warm-hearted Fremen, the franchise has no shortage of interesting people. If there's one fellow who wins the award for the guy you want around, though (for laughs along with protection), it has to be Jason Momoa's Duncan Idaho. From his surprisingly worldly last name to his laid-back nature to his fighting prowess, Idaho is the ultimate character in Dune — that is, until he suddenly dies near the end of the first film.

As Paul Atreides and his mother, Essica, flee the wrath of the Harkonnens, Idaho stays behind, giving his life to slow down his enemies and give his Lord and Lady a chance to escape. This heroic last stand makes Idaho's role that much better in the story, but it also means Momoa had to exit the two-part Dune story early.

The good news for fans of Momoa's memorable performance is that there's a strong chance they'll see the loyal member of House Atheids again in Director Denis Villeneuve's sequel to Dune's first story two-parter: Dune Messiah. In fact, it is very likely. Catch? He won't be the same person because, in the books, Idaho's character returns in the sequel in the form of Gola. What is Gola? We're glad you asked. Let's break down Herbert's strangely lifeless, yet evasive invention to see how Idaho might return differently in the third act of Villeneuve's Dune trilogy.

Despite its human-centric story and lack of artificial intelligence ( Thinking machines of the Dune universe were exterminated in the distant history of the Butlerian Jihad), there's still plenty of room for the imagination to run wild—and we're not just talking about sandworms or The tragically empowered Aaliyah (played by Anya Joy Taylor). Gholas are another of Herbert's more disturbingly compelling creations.

These beings come from a group of mysterious, genetically altered humans called the Tleilaxu. Gholas are originally used to provide comfort by recreating a copy of a deceased person that has their physical attributes but none of their personal memories. If you are splitting hairs, these are different from a clone, due to the fact that they are recreated from dead cells of the original body rather than living ones. (Semantics? Try telling that to more educated members of the random "dune".)

In Dune: Messiah, the Tleilaxu use Duncan's dead body to create another version of the veteran warrior. While we won't go into spoiler specifics about what Gola is used for (let's just say it's not a good thing), this opens the door for Momoa's return in the sequel story and the third film of the Chinese franchise.

Momoa is up for the part, too. In response to a statement about Duncan Idaho being revived in the books, he said Men's health,

"Now it's going to be a good future if Duncan Idaho can have some kind of ... you know what we had?" Oh man, I can't say this. I will face problems. F ***. Well, there was something that was really cool that made it into the movie that the first one didn't, and it was pretty epic (...) I'll try to bring it back. in the third".

Idaho's return to the story may be a surreal, strong semi-reality, but based on the cryptic speech, it seems likely that Momoa will have a very real chance to reprise the character.