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Paul Atreides Answers for His Crimes in DUNE: PART THREE’s Final TrailerThe final trailer for Dune: Part Three, which adapts Frank Herbert’s Dune: Messiah, shows Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) reaping the consequences of years of galactic genocide. The studio’s synopsis sets the film nearly two decades after Paul seized the Imperium. He’s now a ruthless emperor haunted by visions of the Imperium’s collapse and the reappearance of his long-lost love, and is drawn into a conspiracy with Chani (Zendaya) at its center. Robert Pattinson plays the shape-shifting Face Dancer Scytale, the greatest threat to Paul’s reign. Denis Villeneuve directs and co-wrote the script with Brian K. Vaughan. The cast also includes Jason Momoa, Florence Pugh, Rebecca Ferguson, Isaach de Bankolé, Charlotte Rampling, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Javier Bardem. It opens December 18, 2026, the same day as Avengers: Doomsday, a date nicknamed “Dunesday.”Visit https://nerdist.com/article/dune-part-three-final-trailer-paul-atreides/ to read or listen to the article.Powered by Instaread (https://instaread.co/player)

Nerdist sorts the characters missing from Doomsday’s official cast by how likely they are to turn up.Conflicting reports: Spider-Man (Tom Holland), Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Daredevil (Charlie Cox), and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). Cox and Cumberbatch have denied being in the film, but the author expects Strange to appear.Not confirmed, but very likely: Kate Bishop (a trailer shows Cassie and Scott Lang at her apartment), Kamala Khan, Thor’s daughter Love, the TVA staff, and Franklin Richards.Fox X-Men: Storm, Jean Grey, Rogue, Iceman, Pyro, Quicksilver (Evan Peters), X-23, and Binary. The author calls their absence baffling. Some could be under the masks of Doom’s Latverian witches.Deadpool movies: Domino, Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and Yukio (unlikely, but wouldn’t be surprising), plus a note that Josh Brolin’s Cable seems a bridge too far.MCU, “probably”: Wong, Clea, Carol Danvers, Photon, Nick Fury, and Sylvie.MCU, “maybe”: Vision, Wanda, Agatha, America Chavez, the Punisher, Hawkeye, Rhodey, Valkyrie, Korg, Riri Williams, the Pyms, the new Guardians, Star-Lord, and Black Widow.MCU, “doubtful”: Maya Lopez, She-Hulk, Moon Knight, Wonder Man, the Eternals, Skaar, Dane Whitman, and G’iah.Visit https://nerdist.com/article/characters-not-confirmed-avengers-doomsday/ to read or listen to the article.Powered by Instaread (https://instaread.co/player)

STAR TREK’s Chekov, Walter Koenig, Passes Away at Age 90Walter Koenig, who played Pavel Chekov on two seasons of the original Star Trek and in seven films, has died at 90. THR reports he died peacefully of natural causes at his North Hollywood home. Roddenberry wanted a Russian crewman to show that the Cold War would be long behind us, and the producers also wanted someone who could appeal to teenage girls: Koenig resembled Monkees frontman Davy Jones and was even given a wig. He wrote an episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series (“The Infinite Vulcan”), played Alfred Bester on Babylon 5, and wrote for Land of the Lost and The Incredible Hulk. He had a big role in Wrath of Khan, and his last Trek appearance was a voice cameo as Anton Chekov in Picard season three, a tribute to the late Anton Yelchin. Only William Shatner and George Takei remain of the original series’ main cast, and Takei posted a tribute to his friend.Visit https://nerdist.com/article/walter-koenig-star-trek-chekov-passes-away-at-age-90/ to read or listen to the article.Powered by Instaread (https://instaread.co/player)

CLAYFACE Namedrops Several Iconic Batman StorylinesIn Clayface’s opening, Matt Hagen is nominated for an Oscar-equivalent, and the nominated films’ fictional titles are Batman Easter eggs. No Man’s Land is the 1999 storyline in which Gotham is cut off from the U.S. after an earthquake. One Bad Day points to The Killing Joke’s theme and to 2023’s one-shot Batman: One Bad Day – Clayface. Before the Flood refers to the flooding of Gotham in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, though the film’s director said that universe is separate from the DCU. Sagan is likely a Carl Sagan biopic, though the author notes possible deep-cut comic links. Batman is never mentioned directly in the film.Visit https://nerdist.com/article/clayface-namedrops-several-iconic-batman-storylines/ to read or listen to the article.Powered by Instaread (https://instaread.co/player)

AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY Baseball Teaser Is NOT What We HopedA new Avengers: Doomsday teaser aired during Game 1 of the World Series. It showed Mister Fantastic throwing a first pitch, plus brief out-of-movie shots of the Human Torch and Ben Grimm at a game, mostly recycled movie footage, and one new scene in which Ant-Man awkwardly calls Steve Rogers “Captain America” even though Sam Wilson now holds the title. Nerdist’s editor-in-chief had hoped for a scene of the heroes actually playing baseball together. She argues that slice-of-life moments like the shawarma scene are what make audiences love the team, and that the MCU doesn’t offer enough of them. The film opens December 18.Visit https://nerdist.com/article/avengers-doomsday-baseball-teaser-is-not-what-we-hoped/ to read or listen to the article.Powered by Instaread (https://instaread.co/player)

Oscar Nominee Sandra Hüller Joins DOOMSDAY in Secret Cameo RoleTHR reports that Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall, Project Hail Mary) has joined Avengers: Doomsday in an undisclosed cameo role. Many assume she’s Doctor Doom’s mother Cynthia von Doom, a Romani witch in the comics, but Nerdist’s writer thinks she’s more likely Doom’s deceased wife, because the trailers hint at a recent tragedy driving his attempt to remake the multiverse. She could also be one of the Latverian witches Marvel has teased.Visit https://nerdist.com/article/sandra-huller-avengers-doomsday-secret-cameo-role-latverian-witch-marvel/ to read or listen to the article.Powered by Instaread (https://instaread.co/player)

New ALIEN Film Has a Screenwriter, Not a ROMULUS Sequel20th Century Studios has hired Aaron Guzikowski (Prisoners, Raised by Wolves) to write a new Alien film, with Ridley Scott producing rather than directing. It will connect to Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, not to Alien: Romulus, and Michael Fassbender’s David isn’t currently attached. Nerdist notes that the Romulus sequel announced earlier has gone quiet, and hopes both films get made. Alien: Earth season two is currently shooting.Visit https://nerdist.com/article/new-alien-sequel-screenwriter-aaron-guzikowski-ridley-scott-not-romulus/ to read or listen to the article.Powered by Instaread (https://instaread.co/player)

How DC and Marvel Must Readjust in a Post-Superhero Fatigue WorldNerdist argues that the success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day (the biggest domestic box-office hit ever) and Lanterns (one of HBO’s biggest hits) shows the “superhero fatigue” narrative was exaggerated, but that the studios must adapt to a post-peak era (2012–2019). It recommends DC reserve films for the Trinity and Justice League, and for cheaper takes on lesser-known characters like Clayface. Mid-tier heroes like Flash, Nightwing, Catwoman, and Green Arrow should get prestige-TV treatment, in the Lanterns mold, possibly on other streamers. It says Supergirl might have worked better as a Woman of Tomorrow series. It says Marvel should keep focusing on films, since too many Disney+ shows diluted the brand, and that each release needs to feel like an event again. The author concludes both studios should lean on what worked before: Marvel on movies, DC on TV.Visit https://nerdist.com/article/how-dc-marvel-must-readjust-post-superhero-fatigue-world/ to read or listen to the article.Powered by Instaread (https://instaread.co/player)