The first teaser trailer for Dune: Part Three dropped on March 17, 2026, and Robert Pattinson was right there at an AMC theater in Los Angeles to introduce it. He plays Scytale, a Tleilaxu Face Dancer running a conspiracy to bring down Paul Atreides. Shock-blonde hair, unsettling energy, and a character whose allegiances nobody can quite pin down. The casting makes a lot of sense when you know how it actually happened.
Zendaya Made the Call Happen
Pattinson has wanted in on the Dune universe for a while. He tried to get into Part Two, and it did not work out. Then he and Zendaya filmed The Drama together, an upcoming A24 comedy, and somewhere on that set, the conversation came up again.
“I asked Zendaya on the set of ‘THE DRAMA’,” Pattinson said at the press event. “Can I get in one of those dune movies; few months later I received an unexpected call to join the cast. All thanks and props to her.”
He was pretty direct about suspecting she had something to do with it. “I kind of did think you [Zendaya] had something to do with it,” he said, laughing. Zendaya has been part of the franchise since the beginning as Chani, and having that existing relationship with the production clearly opened the door.
Scytale is a Face Dancer, meaning a genetically engineered shapeshifter built to manipulate and deceive. His role in Part Three is to get close to the people around Paul and execute a plot to end his reign. The film is set 17 years after Part Two, with Paul now fully living with the consequences of everything he set in motion.
Pattinson was quick to say Scytale is not a conventional villain, though. “You can’t really tell whose side he’s on. He’s not a conventional bad guy. He might even be a good guy. Who knows? I will also find out when I see the movie,” he said. That ambiguity tracks with pretty much every interesting role Pattinson has taken since Twilight. Tenet, The Batman, Mickey 17. The man gravitates toward characters who are harder to read than they first appear.
Denis Villeneuve called Dune Messiah, the novel the film is based on, probably his favorite in the whole series. Dune: Part Three hits theaters on December 18, 2026.
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