Dune 3 trailer undoes Denis Villeneuve's smartest change to the books

The spice flows once more

The first trailer for Dune: Part Three has finally arrived, promising an "epic conclusion" to director Denis Villeneuve's science fiction trilogy. But while our first look is filled with mysterious, muddy visuals promising a violent space saga, it's the very first shot of the trailer that raises the most questions.

The Dune: Part Three trailer opens on Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and Chani (Zendaya) sitting peacefully in each other's arms. They discuss what to name their child. This may come as a surprise to anyone who remembers the ending of Dune: Part Two, in which Paul chooses to marry Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh) for political reasons instead of his true love, Chani. In the book, Chani basically accepts her role as Paul's concubine after talking it over with his mom Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson in the movies). However, in the film, Chani's response is much less submissive. The movie ends with Chani leaving Paul and riding off alone on a sandworm.

However, based on this trailer, it looks like the two lovers have reunited. It's unclear what that means for Irulan, but unless the trailer is playing with timelines to trick the audience, it essentially undoes Chani's defiant ending in Dune: Part Two.

While Villeneuve's movies have adapted the original Frank Herbert books fairly closely, this one significant change made sense. Not only was it more true to Chani's character as a strong-willed leader, but it also cleverly updated the story to match 21st century social and gender norms (Dune was originally published in 1965). The change also set up a potential clash in Dune: Part Three.

In 2024, Villeneuve explained the change in an interview with Empire, saying that "it's much more romantic."

The director presumably meant romantic in more of a Shakespearean sense, and he framed Chani's choice against the tensions between love and politics in Dune: Part Two.

"It's much more emotional," Villeneuve said. "We can relate to that. He has to do a political move, and it's a feudal world, so in order to get power he will take Irulan's hand, but the way he expresses it in the film is much more romantic. I think from Chani's perspective, she is destroyed by the fact that Paul is going towards Irulan, but much more by the fact that he becomes a colonizing figure, something he said to her he would never do."

With all that in mind, it's even more confusing to see Chani and Paul back together in the trailer for Dune: Part Three. Either Paul has changed dramatically, Chani has abandoned her morals, or Villeneuve is playing tricks on us. We'll just have to wait to find out.

---

Dune: Part Three will be released in theaters on Dec. 18.