Hot on the heels of Dave Bautista joining the film earlier this week, Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune has found its ‘big bad’.

Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, Stellan Skarsgard has been brought in to play Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in the picture. That role was played by Kenneth McMillan in David Lynch’s 1984 Dune effort, with Ian McNeice handling the role in the so-so Syfy miniseries of the 2000s. Skarsgard is likely best known to genre fans as Erik Selvig in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and for his roles in the likes of Deep Blue Sea, Exorcist: The Beginning, Dominion and the Pirates of the Caribbean series.

Dune began life back in 1965, with Frank Herbert’s original novel tying for the 1966 Hugo Award and then winning the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel. Set in the distant future, the story centres on Paul Atreides as his family takes control of the desert planet known as Arrakis. With valuable resources key to the tale, what unravels is a plot that’s full of politics, betrayal, and man’s relationship with nature. A Kyle MacLachlan-starring, David Lynch-helmed movie followed in 1984, which went on to become a cult classic, and then Syfy developed a Dune TV series in 2000. As for written works, Herbert penned five sequels himself before Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert expanded that written world even further.

Skarsgard joins a cast that currently features Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, Rebecca Ferguson as Paul’s mother Lady Jessica, and the aforementioned Bautista as the sadistic nephew of Skarsgard’s Baron Harkonnen.

At this stage, Villeneuve’s Dune has yet to be given a release date.