New Terminator: Dark Fate Photos Show Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton Ready To Rumble
He always promised he would be back, didn't he?
OG Terminator actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the badass Linda Hamilton are back in action in a batch of new photos from Terminator: Dark Fate, which IGN shared in an exclusive drop ahead of Paramount Pictures' presentation at CinemaCon.
One of the pictures shows a grizzled and bearded Schwarzenegger, bearing a deep gash across his cheekbone and looking sternly at someone (or something) off camera, as the T-800 model Terminator. Another depicts Hamilton in character as Sarah Connor, who wears her now-silver hair in a short bob, a heavy vest of armor on her chest, and aviator sunglasses on her face. (This is a snap fans may find familiar, as similar-looking photos were released back in the summer of 2018.)
Though Terminator: Dark Fate does feature the two iconic franchise stars, it also brings several new faces into the fold: Mackenzie Davis as a solider-assassin named Grace, Natalia Reyes as Dani Ramos, Diego Boneta as Miguel Ramos, and Gabriel Luna as a new type of Terminator.
IGN shared stills of each new-to-the-series star — Davis' Grace staring down an opponent mid-fight, Reyes' Dani peeking over her shoulder near a parked car in the middle of an open field, Boneta's Miguel almost scowling behind the wheel of a truck, and Luna's Terminator dressed in what looks to be a military uniform while walking through some sort of high-tech facility.
Check out all six snaps at the bottom of this article.
Set after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Terminator: Dark Fate effectively does what 2018's Halloween revival did with the hallowed horror franchise: ignored the sequels that came after a certain film and picked up the story from there. Terminator: Dark Fate won't address 2003's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, 2009's Terminator Salvation, or 2015's much-maligned Terminator Genisys — likely for the better. As producer David Ellison once said of the film's focus, "I will say we have resolved the future of the franchise, and believe me, it's an incredibly bright future. I think where it's going will be the continuation of what the fans really wanted since T2 ... It's something we're incredibly excited about and we think is the direction it needs to head."
Adding new characters in Grace, Dani, Miguel, and Luna's upgraded Terminator not only enlivens the Terminator film franchise, but also opens it up to go into all sorts of directions post-Dark Fate. James Cameron, longtime Terminator series producer who is back for Dark Fate, previously noted that the goal with the forthcoming movie is to "introduce new characters to 'pass the baton,'" and make the narrative a bit more modern so that current and future generations can enjoy the franchise. He once stated, "The question is, 'Has the franchise run its course or can it be freshened up? Can it still have relevance now, where so much of our world is catching up to what was science fiction in the first two films?'"
Clearly, the new characters are incredibly important to the survival of the Terminator film series from here on out, but for Terminator: Dark Fate director Tim Miller (Deadpool), Hamilton is most vital piece of the puzzle. He explained to IGN that Hamilton reprising her role as Sarah Connor made everything "click" for him, and that she bridged the gap between past franchise entries and installments that are yet to come.
"What makes or breaks a movie is whether I care about the characters when everything starts exploding. I'm sure every action filmmaker says that, but I did really try and focus on the relationships of these characters to one another," Miller said. "And the fact that Linda came back makes this particular Terminator fresh, this story could only continue with her in the role of Sarah Connor. That's the most important thing for me. Linda reinvented this character in a way that both honors who she was before and brings something new to the role."
He also gave major kudos to the new cast, all of whom more hold their own while sharing the screen with Hamilton and Schwarzenegger.
"Mackenzie is fantastic. I think people are going to be amazed by what a badass she is. And Natalia is wonderful — when you read the script you might think, 'Oh, she's not a warrior or a soldier or anything exciting like that,' or worry perhaps that she might be overshadowed by the other four — but absolutely not. She's amazing, a-ma-zing," the director shared.
Miller continued, teasing what Terminator: Dark Fate will feel like: "Because so much of the film takes place on the messy fringes of society, I wanted to bring an indie film sensibility to an action plot in a way that I don't think I've seen before... at least not on a big-budget scale. We have a lot of powerful, moving character moments up front, but toward the back half of the movie, when s*** gets going.... holy f****** s*** — it just doesn't stop. And we tried very hard to make it all different and fresh — it's not just people punching each other; it's a roller coaster ride and I think [it's] great."
Fans can watch as old-school meets new-school, the adventure of an action movie meets the grit of an indie flick, when Terminator: Dark Fate arrives in theaters on November 1.
