Terminator: Dark Fate is coming along and the trailers have fans excited for the day after Judgment Day. Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger are back in the fold this time, which is a treat for longtime fans. According to director Tim Miller, in an interview with Men’s Health, there was never a question to have a de-aged Schwarzenegger play the T-800.
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“I didn’t want to do a digital Arnold, that’s for fuck sure,” Miller told the magazine. “We’re [embracing] the reality of what it means to be a person of a certain age who is called upon to be heroic. I love that. I always liked stories like Rooster Cogburn and True Grit, things like that—flawed heroes are so much more interesting than young, perfect ones to me. And he looks great. There were so many women on the set who were like, ‘Oh my God, this is the best Arnold ever looked.’ It’s different from Mr. Olympia—he was a god, but there’s something about him at this age. He has this regalness.”
The Terminator actor is looking a bit different these days, but the nostalgia of seeing him take part in the story for this sequel will really appeal to some audiences. Add that to the series’ long-established themes of time’s cyclical nature and seeing former figures pop-up in different roles as the “same” character. All of those factors could lead to some very powerful storytelling.
When the newest film debuted its trailer, fans were already wondering what effect bringing back all these Terminator veterans would have on this new story. Hamilton and Schwarzenegger are not the only game in town though, Gabriel Luna is stepping into his place as the new series antagonist. The actor has even been hanging out with his older Terminator counterpart to understand the role a bit better.
A giant confrontation on the freeway had people’s attention in the trailer because of its similarity to some of the memorable scenes from the early movies. James Cameron is along for the ride on Dark Fate to help the series find its footing after a couple of shaky outings. In an effort to get back to the franchise’s roots, Cameron has been enlisted to streamline the script for this sequel.
The Terminator films made Cameron a star upon their release, and he understands what makes the series tick better than just about anyone. He sat down to talk about the project with Deadline earlier this year, and it sounds like he is singularly focused on reinvigorating the franchise through understanding what made those first films so popular.
“I focused on getting the script punched up. I didn’t feel like we went into the shoot with the script exactly where it should have been. There was a lot of momentum on the project, there was a start date, there was a lot of energy and a lot of “go fever” but the script wasn’t where it needed to be so I quietly worked on it in the background and shipping out pages,” Cameron said.
He continued, “Sometimes I was shipping out pages the day before they shot a scene. I’m not sure that was 100% always helpful, but overall, I kept the characters on track and sounding right and being where they needed to be.”
