‘Dune: Part Three’ final trailer turns Paul into the very enemy Chani swore to fight

Getting the throne was only part of Paul Atreides’ story. After two films charting his rise, the third installment explores the consequences of Paul’s rule. Warner Bros. released the final trailer for ‘Dune: Part Three’ on October 27, and Paul has some explaining to do. Much of it concerns Chani (played by Zendaya), whose opposition to the kind of ruler he has become now hangs over their relationship.

Timothée Chalamet’s Paul says it himself in the trailer: “I’ve become the oppressor Chani had sworn to fight.” Then comes the line that leaves little room for misunderstanding: “I’m the enemy.” The footage puts his darker turn at the forefront. His admission places his relationship with Chani at the center of his reckoning. Their relationship is now tangled up in the consequences of his rule.

The trailer gives those consequences a number: Muad’Dib has conquered a thousand worlds over 19 years. The conflict has spread well beyond Arrakis, with Paul ruling over an empire built through war. Now, enemies are closing in on him, and there is a warning about an assassination plot. The mention that “Chani’s involved” makes the threat personal, too. How she is involved remains unanswered, and the preview does not establish that she is helping anyone kill him.

Paul’s ability to see the future does not seem to offer much comfort either. “I can't see what's ahead,” Paul says in the trailer. For an emperor facing a conspiracy, that is a troubling gap in his knowledge. He can acknowledge what he has become, but the footage leaves his next move and Chani’s place in it unresolved.

Chalamet and Zendaya return alongside Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica and Javier Bardem as Stilgar. Anya Taylor-Joy plays Paul’s sister, Alia, while Robert Pattinson joins as Scytale and Jason Momoa returns as Hayt, a clone of Duncan Idaho.

Denis Villeneuve directs from a screenplay he wrote with Brian K. Vaughan, adapting Frank Herbert’s 1969 novel ‘Dune Messiah’. ‘Dune: Part Three’ concludes Villeneuve’s trilogy in theaters and IMAX on December 18.