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Terminator: Dark Fate Star Pitches Joker-Style Spinoff Idea
Terminator: Dark Fate might not have been successful enough to rejuvenate the Terminator franchise, but that’s not stopping the actor who played the most recent terminator, Gabriel Luna, from suggesting a new direction the series could explore. Starting in 1984 with James Cameron’s Terminator, the franchise has seen a total of six films and a short-lived TV series over it’s 35-year run. The series, famous for introducing original terminator Arnold Schwarzenegger, follows the Connor family and other members of the nearly extinct human resistance as they fight for survival against a Skynet, a global artificial intelligence set to eradicate all human life.
The franchise had stalled in recent years with the two previous films receiving mixed reviews, but there was hope Terminator: Dark Fate, directed by Tim Miller, would be the spark to bring the franchise back to life. With Cameron back as producer for the first time since Terminator 2: Judgement Day, original Sarah Connor actress Linda Hamilton returning, and Schwarzenegger back as well, it seemed like Dark Fate had a nostalgia-packed recipe for success, but after a poor box-office showing that didn’t end up being the case.
Speaking with Comicbook.com, Luna had an interesting take when asked if he saw himself returning to the franchise someday. In Terminator: Dark Fate, Luna joined the franchise as the Rev-9, a new version of the titular machine with a different ability. The Rev-9 can split itself into two parts, one being the external, human-like portion, and the other being the machine-looking skeleton. Of a potential continuation to the Terminator franchise after Dark Fate, Luna said:
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I hadn't considered a possibility of returning, but after the film was done, we were all doing the press rounds and doing some Q&As and stuff, seeing the audience's response and how much they really loved the character and the 'New Terminator,' as everyone calls him, I kind of jokingly threw the idea around to [director] Tim [Miller], this thing has a real mind of a standalone picture, Joker-esque. You know, an anatomy of a killing machine kind of movie.
He elaborated further by explaining that what would be interesting to him would be exploring the origins of the various Terminator machines. Luna suggested that a future Terminator franchise film could dive into the humans that served as inspirations for the various models, from Schwarzenegger's T-800, to Robert Patrick's T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgement Day and, of course, Luna's own Rev-9 from Dark Fate. Luna said:
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It's an interesting idea to explore who was this human that was the Rev-9? Could it be that he was just this really great hero in the distance? And you know, I've said a couple times before, I think it's happened, you have your common enemy take the face of their heroes. I thought that would be kind of cool. But to go back and to try to investigate what that hero was before he became [a cyborg], or maybe he was taken down.
It’s anyone’s guess where the Terminator series will go from this point, but it’s safe to say the past decade has not been kind critically or financially, it’s possible it’s time for the long-running franchise to call it a day. If the combination of Cameron, Hamilton, and Schwarzenegger wasn’t enough to bring audience back it’s tough to imagine what could. On the other hand, an idea like Luna’s could be just what the series needs. Maybe moving on from the Connor family and exploring the lives of some new heroes would bring a fresh take to a familiar world.
Terminator: Dark Fate is out now on DVD, Digital HD, 4K Ultra HD, and Blu-ray.
