Tim Miller, who made his directorial debut with Deadpool, is at the helm of the upcoming Terminator film Terminator: Dark Fate. In a recent interview with Variety, Miller discussed how the female-led thriller came together, and to all "closeted misogynists," he issued a thinly veiled warning: lead actress Mackenzie Davis will "scare the fuck out of you."
The upcoming film, which stars Davis in her role as the lead character Grace, and Schwarzenegger as an aging Terminator, picks up where Judgment Day left off and will ignore any Terminator reboots that happened in between. While discussing the upcoming film, Miller told the outlet that he had an array of film options post-Deadpool but he wanted to see "Linda Hamilton come back to personally continue her story as Sarah Connor."
Naturally, that prompted questions about how choosing a female protagonist represents somewhat of a new venture for the Terminator franchise, which Miller insinuated was exactly the point.
"Joe [Abercrombie] came out with this idea that a new protector from the future is a machine fighter. It’s a painful life, and they’re scarred and take a lot of drugs to combat the pain of what’s been done to them," Miller explains. "They don’t live a long time. It’s a very sacrificial role; they risk death to save others. And from the very first suggestion it was always a woman. We had to look for someone who has the physicality, but I’m very sensitive to actors. I didn’t just want a woman who could physically fit the role but emotionally as well. Mackenzie really wanted to do it; she came after the role. She worked harder than anybody."
After the movie posters were released, some feeble-minded misogynists branded Terminator: Dark Fate as a film about "feminazis." In regards to how Grace's character, as well as the other leading women, will be received at Comic-Con, Miller doesn't seem the least bit concerned.
"If you’re at all enlightened, she’ll play like gangbusters. If you’re a closet misogynist, she’ll scare the fuck out of you, because she’s tough and strong but very feminine," he said. "We did not trade certain gender traits for others; she’s just very strong, and that frightens some dudes. You can see online the responses to some of the early shit that’s out there, trolls on the internet. I don’t give a fuck."
Dark Fate marks roughly the 433rd iteration of the Terminator narrative. The decades-spanning franchise also includes the brief stint that was Sarah Connor Chronicles TV series. The upcoming film will hit theaters Nov. 1, 2019.
