Most recently, he starred in Duke Nukem Forever, released by Gearbox Software, which now owns the intellectual property rights to the series and the character.

The character was created by Todd Replogle, Allen Blum III, George Broussard, and Scott Miller of Apogee Software.

While the character's sprites were designed by Apogee's development team, Miller took them over to George Broussard's home and had him "take a crack at making Duke more appealing", creating a look for his face they were all satisfied with.

[2] The character's name caused some legal troubles for Apogee, first from Duke University, and later from the Turner Broadcasting System.

In the case of the former, the University claimed their trademark was violated; however Apogee's lawyer countered that there were no conflicting video games, and the two were unlikely to be confused for one another.

Duke Nukem II features an intro with one line, spoken by Joe Siegler ("I'm back"), and a death scream by character co-creator Todd Replogle.

In March 2018, it was announced that John Cena will star in a Duke Nukem movie for Paramount Pictures & Platinum Dunes.

[9] In a press statement announcing Embracer Group's acquisition of Gearbox Software, however, production of the film was reconfirmed.

Dan Whitehead of Eurogamer elaborated on Duke Nukem's decreased relevance since 1996, and added that the character's "half-hearted digs" at rival franchises were ill-advised due to the game's datedness.