Two of the biggest movies coming out in 2026 just dropped teaser trailers on back-to-back days. Those box office juggernauts being the conclusion to Denis Villeneuve’s Dune Trilogy, aptly named “Dune: Part Three,” and Tom Holland’s return to the red and blue spandex in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” We dig in for your entertainment analysis.
What sets them apart?
The main discourse around both of these trailers is how different they are. One of them clearly gets the blood pumping more than the other and there is a pretty good reason for this. If you’ve seen both of these trailers, you’d know that “Dune: Part Three” has so much more to offer in scale, in interest, and in pure emotional reaction compared to “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”
Dune
The “Dune” trailer tells a story — one of the devolution — of our hero Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) from the previous movie (SPOILERS).
Atreides leads the Fremen off of Arrakis to begin his rule as Emperor. It starts idealized between him and Chani with a humming lullaby underneath, then he starts his war chant to rally the fighters. The longer the chant goes on and the more shots of vicious battle and different characters we see, the louder and more chaotic everything gets.
In the trailer we see political conspiracy between Robert Pattison’s Scytale and Florence Pugh’s Princess Irulan. There’s also an intimate-looking warrior’s ceremony between Paul and his sister, Alia, played by Anya Taylor-Joy, and conflict between Paul and Chani, played by Zendaya.
Eventually by the end of the two-minute trailer, you are both elated and scared of what is going to happen. Then it crescendos on the hero shot of Paul Atreides before cutting to the release date: December 18, 2026. I’m sold, take my money.
Spider-Man
Now over to Marvel-land, we get the same washed-out color palette, the same green screen/volume background, and the same quippy humor. There’s nothing wrong with it per se, but when we zoom out and compare it to the “Dune” trailer, you can see how it pales in comparison.
In “Brand New Day,” there are a lot of shots and a lot of characters that show up and a lot of things that happen. But what is the story going to be about, really? From what I can surmise, it will center around Peter’s powers. It appears a dive into those powers evolving will be a central theme. How parker deals with the aftermath (SPOILERS) of being forgotten by the world after “No Way Home” is potentially where the story goes.
We see shots of Scorpion, Punisher, the Hand, a mysterious figure controlling people, and Peter’s eyes turning black but there isn’t really a sense of knowing what is going on or how any of this fits together. It looks fun but the “Dune” trailer made me excited for that specific story, not just announcing that there was a new one coming.
Corporate connection?
The lackluster appeal is probably due to the fact that Spider-Man is still part of the Marvel/Sony superhero machine. They did quite a bit of pre-trailer advertising on social media. They boast it will be grounded, shot in real-life locations, and have more ground-level “Spider-Man” action.
Don’t get me wrong, it looks like it’s been advertised as. There still doesn’t seem to be much heart or a singular identity that this movie. Compared to the last trilogy of “Spider-Man” movies it might be a little adrift.
Changing of the guard
We have a different director in Destin Daniel Cretton (“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”). I can see very minor hints at that fact in the filmmaking here. However, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think Jon Watts directed this one again. Was it mandated by Marvel to have the same grey sheen that has plagued these Marvel movies the last 5 years?
I hope to be wrong.
Hitch up your trailer
The marketing strategy of releasing the teaser trailer mere months before release could signal that they have complete confidence. They even broke records with trailer views, so this is probably a moot point.
People love it regardless of the artistry that went into the trailer. There’s no denying, though, that “Dune: Part Three” looks to be the stronger of the two movies. It appears to have maturity and vision. Also, the fact that Zendaya wins either way.
