Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD actor Gabriel Luna will play the new Terminator in Terminator 6, the franchise reboot produced by James Cameron and directed by Deadpool’s Tim Miller. After 2015 flop Terminator Genisys failed to revitalize the decades-old Terminator franchise, producers opted for a new reboot that ignores everything after Teminator 2: Judgment Day. Set in Mexico City, the new film reportedly follows a street-smart character named Dani Ramos who finds herself being stalked by a new Terminator.

James Cameron reportedly is undertaking an extensive search to find the right actress to play Dani Ramos. Tully star Mackenzie Davis herself recently climbed aboard Terminator 6 to play a soldier-assassin on a special mission (her character description is reminiscent of the Kyle Reese character originated by Michael Biehn in the first Terminator). Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton return as the T-800 and Sarah Connor respectively, acting as a bridge between the original films and the new movie.

As reported by Deadline, Gabriel Luna has now joined the Terminator 6 cast in the role of the new Terminator who menaces Dani Ramos. The same report confirms Natalia Reyes and Diego Boneta also join the cast in unspecified roles. Boneta’s involvement was previously reported.


New Terminator Gabriel Luna is best known for playing Robbie Reyes/Ghost Rider on Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD (it’s a version of the character Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance film director Brian Taylor doesn’t particularly care for). Luna also starred on the El Rey Network series Matador, and on season 2 of HBO’s True Detective. His film work has mainly come in smaller films, including the thriller Transpecos, the horror-comedy Gravy and the biographical drama Freeheld with Julianne Moore and Steve Carell.

When Arnold Schwarzenegger played the Terminator in the 1984 James Cameron original, the performance catapulted him to a new level of stardom. Of course, Schwarzenegger had limited acting ability at the time, a fact that in some ways made for a more convincingly robotic and menacing performance. Gabriel Luna comes to the table with a lot more acting experience than Schwarzenegger could boast when he took the part. So we can look for Luna’s portrayal of the Terminator to have a lot more nuance than Schwarzenegger’s. The new movie’s setting switch to Mexico City should make for an interesting vibe overall.

All the hints we’ve received thus far about plot and character for Terminator 6 suggest it will likely be an almost beat-for-beat remake of the original Terminator. After the complete debacle that was Terminator Genisys, returning to the franchise’s roots for a more straight-forward action movie about a cyborg stalking a scrappy heroine probably is the smartest move anyone could’ve made. All that remains for Terminator 6 now is to cast the key role of Dani Ramos, aka the new Sarah Connor. The film reportedly goes before cameras beginning in May.

KEY RELEASE DATES
Terminator 6 release date: Nov 22, 2019