Pete Docter at D23 teases a new villain for “Incredibles 3,” with Violet and Dasher taking bigger roles

Pixar’s Pete Docter offered a first look at what audiences can expect from “Incredibles 3” during Disney’s D23 fan event on August 14, teasing that the next installment will feature a new, powerful villain while shifting more attention to members of the Parr family. Speaking onstage, Docter tied the franchise’s upcoming chapter to a major development from the previous film, when the story’s world moved to recognize supers as legally permitted after earlier restraints.

Docter specifically referenced Winston Dever, the entrepreneur at the center of the prior film’s shift in public status for superheroes. In the story context, Dever is portrayed as helping make supers “officially legal again,” and Docter said that status sets up the broader environment for the franchise’s next phase. He also characterized Dever as driven by an entrepreneurial impulse, a framing that indicates the new antagonist could be connected to the ways the superhero world is now organized and marketed, rather than simply presented as underground crime-fighting.

While the details of the new villain were kept intentionally limited at D23, Docter described the forthcoming character as “powerful,” indicating that the third movie will raise the stakes in a way consistent with the series’ escalating challenges. The remarks were delivered as part of a presentation designed to preview creative themes rather than confirm production schedules or release timing.

Docter also indicated that Violet and Dasher will “step up to the plate” as the film moves forward. That emphasis suggests that the sequel will continue the franchise’s family-centered structure, where older children are increasingly central to the action and decision-making. In the context of a world where supers are no longer treated as wholly illicit, the shift toward Violet and Dasher points to a story arc focused on how the next generation handles responsibility, public scrutiny, and the practical realities of superhero life.

The event’s framing placed the franchise’s current social order at the center of the creative pitch, rather than relying solely on new gadgetry or villain-of-the-week plotting. By returning to the post-legalization premise, the “Incredibles 3” preview implied that the franchise’s conflicts will emerge from how the world reacts to supers, including who gets influence and what kinds of threats can exploit that new legitimacy.

No additional character names for the villain were provided in the D23 remarks as reported by Deadline, and the presentation did not include further plot specifics beyond Docter’s characterization of an antagonist and the expanded participation of Violet and Dash. The most concrete information from the event, according to the report, was the existence of the new villain and the direction of the sequel’s family-centered action.

With the D23 appearance, Pixar and Disney have set expectations for the sequel’s creative trajectory: a universe that has moved from forced secrecy toward formal acceptance, paired with a villain strong enough to test that new normal. The next step for audiences will be additional confirmations as Disney and Pixar release more details through future announcements or production updates.

A key point for viewers following the franchise is that the D23 tease links the villain concept to the series’ established story logic, including the earlier legalization storyline associated with Winston Dever. That continuity suggests that the sequel’s central conflict may grow out of the mechanisms that enabled supers to enter mainstream society, even if the precise shape of the threat remains undisclosed for now.