Dune 3 Final Trailer Reveals a Major Deviation from the Books

Ever since the final moments of Dune: Part Two, we’ve been worried. Not about Paul Atreides, the protagonist of the Dune series, who becomes more of a tyrant with each film. Anyone paying attention to the movie or has read the books knows that author Frank Herbert wrote them as a warning against charismatic leaders. No, we’ve been worried about Paul’s beloved Chani, who stormed away from Muad’Dib at the end of the last movie.

We who have read Herbert’s 1969 novel Dune Messiah, the basis for Dune: Part Three, took comfort in knowing that Chani and Paul would stay together, and their bond would get closer as Princess Irulan and the face dancer Scytale launched a conspiracy against them. But the final trailer for Dune: Part Three steals that comfort away from us, suggesting that in the world of the films, Chani will join the conspiracy against Paul.

A book with more palace intrigue than giant sand battles, Dune Messiah takes place twelve years after Dune, with Paul (Timothée Chalamet) firmly in place as the Emperor. That fact irritates powerful factions, such as the religious Bene Gesserit, the mercantile Spacing Guild, and the science-focused Tleilaxu, who launch a conspiracy against him. Central to that conspiracy is Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), the daughter of the deposed previous emperor and wife (in law only) to Paul, and Scytale (Robert Pattinson), a shapeshifter.

That conspiracy takes center stage in the final trailer for Dune: Part Three, with Scytale talking with Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam (Charlotte Rampling) of the Bene Gesserit. The trailer features more scenes with Jason Momoa as Hayt, the clone of Duncan Idaho who the conspirators created to distract Paul and his sister Alia (Anya Taylor-Joy) from their advances. And we see Paul confront Irulan about her involvement, showing the level of mistrust he experiences.

The trailer also features interesting deep cuts for those who know the books. We get brief shots of Isaach de Bankolé as Farok, a fighter in Paul’s Freman jihad who betrays his emperor. We may even get our first look at Leto II and Ghanima, Paul and Chani’s twin children, one of whom becomes the main character of the next several Herbert novels.

But even book readers are shocked to see the way Chani (Zendaya) behaves. Throughout the trailer, Chani declares her opposition to Paul, fighting against him and even seemingly joining the conspiracy. Instead of a victim, a bit of collateral damage in the fight against Paul, Chani has become an antagonist.

Strong as this deviation from the source material may be, it does track with the characters set up in the first two movies from director Denis Villeneuve. Even in the first film, where Chani appeared largely in visions, she was separate from Paul, less drawn in. Her fiery exit in Dune: Part Two only solidified the feeling that she would not simply go along with her lover. Now, we see just how far she’s willing to go.

Or do we? Again, Scytale is a face dancer, which allows him to change his form and copy other people. Is that actually Chani we see fighting against Paul? Or is it just one more trick to undermine his leadership? The fact that we can’t tell makes movie fans and book readers equally excited to see how Villeneuve plans to close the trilogy.

Dune: Part Three arrives in theaters on December 18, 2026.