5 things the Dune: Part Three trailer revealed to us - from Paul and Chani's child to Robert Pattinson's new villain

We're still nine months out from the release of Dune: Part Three, but anticipation has just been ramped up a few notches thanks to the release of the first trailer for the third and final chapter in Denis Villeneuve's epic sci-fi trilogy.

The trailer follows the release of a number of character posters earlier today (Tuesday 17 March), which showed both returning faces like Timothée Chalamet's Paul Atreidis and Zendaya's Chani alongside high profile new additions to the cast, such as Robert Pattinson's shapeshifting villain Scytale.

The film is based on the second novel in Frank Herbert's popular series – Dune Messiah – and it remains to be seen just how faithful it will stick to the events of that book.

But we get a much closer look of what to expect in the new trailer below – here are 5 things we learned.

1. Paul and Chani are starting a family

The trailer opens with Paul and Chani sharing a quiet moment as they discuss potential names for their child – who appears to be on the way.

"If we have a girl, what will we name her?" Chani asks, with Paul responding that her name should be Ghanima and she would "need to be strong, like her mother."

He then asks Chani what the child might be called if they were a boy, to which she responds: "I would name him Leto. So he would have the wisdom of his grandfather."

2. Paul still has a lot of enemies – and there is all out war on Arrakis

"War feeds on itself," we hear Paul say early on in the trailer as he walks through the remains of a battlefield, and we see plenty of evidence of all out war throughout – with lots of violence and bloodshed.

Later, he explains: "The more I fight, the more our enemies fight back."

And it certainly looks like he has a lot of enemies, with a couple of sequences showing huge armies partaking in bloody battle. If this is anything to go by, it looks like this third entry will be just as expansive as the previous films.

"I am not afraid to die," Paul says at the end of the trailer. "But I'm not afraid to die... yet."

3. Jason Momoa is back as Duncan Idaho

Despite the fact that Jason Momoa's character Duncan Idaho was killed in the first film, we know that he will be back for this closing instalment – and we get a brief glimpse of him in the trailer.

Book readers will know how his return comes about, but for those unfamiliar with the source, not too much is given away here – we see only a short scene of him engaging in hand-to-hand combat.

4. Robert Pattinson's new character looks chilling

The most high profile new addition to the cast for the third film is Robert Pattinson, who will be playing villain Scytale – a shapeshifting Tleilaxu Face Dancer who executes a plot to dethrone Paul.

We get only a short look at Scytale – complete with bleach blonde hair – in the trailer, but it's enough to give the impression that he's not someone to be messed with. If nothing else, he certainly possesses a chilling glare...

5. Lady Jessica seems disapproving of her son

We learned this week that Rebecca Ferguson would only be reprising her role as Lady Jessica for one scene in the film – but by the looks of things it could well be an impactful one.

At one point in the trailer, Paul turns to his mother for advice, asking her "how did father do it?"

Her response? "Your father never started a war." She certainly isn't letting him off the hook then, suggesting that he is to blame for all the violence that we are seeing.

Dune: Part Three will be released in UK cinemas on 18 December 2026.

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