SDCC 2019: Tim Miller and Gabriel Luna talk Terminator: Dark Fate

Later this year, Terminator: Dark Fate will take moviegoers back to the original timeline of James Cameron's classic The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). While Arnold Schwarzenegger returned in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) and Terminator Genisys (2015) (and even kinda-sorta in 2009's Terminator Salvation), Dark Fate marks the first time in nearly three decades that Linda Hamilton has played Sarah Connor. From all accounts, Dark Fate is very much Sarah's story. At San Diego Comic-Con, SYFY WIRE caught up with director Tim Miller and asked him what would have happened if Hamilton had declined to reprise her role.

"Linda is amazing, and it was always her story,” said Miller. "There was no version of this movie without her in the driver's seat. Jim [Cameron] called and asked her, and if she had said no, I don't know what we would have done. We had no backup plan, which I really should have told Linda's agent while she was negotiating. Just kidding..."

Genre fans may recall Gabriel Luna's stint as Robbie Reyes on the fourth season of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., as well as his own Ghost Rider series on Hulu. Even with those geek bonafides, Luna could barely believe that he landed a role as a Terminator in Dark Fate.

"The coolest moment was probably the first time where [Hamilton and Schwarzenegger] had their first scene together," recalled Luna. "I sat at the monitor with Tim and David Ellison just watching and like 'what the heck is happening? Now this is a Terminator movie.' But then there's another moment where I'm running after Arnold and he's shooting at me with a machine gun. Then I’m like 'now I'm in a Terminator movie.'"

For more details from Miller and Luna, check out the full video!