Every new Terminator movie introduces us to a new model of Terminator. It's a tradition that's been carried on with with every sequel since Terminator 2: Judgement Day. However, unlike Rise of the Machines, Salvation and Genisys, Dark Fate seems to be avoiding over complicating the film's new antagonist. Director Tim Miller sat down with Empire Magazine recently to break down the Terminator: Dark Fate trailer and during that breakdown he addresses the film's new Terminator model. Miller basically explains that the new Terminator is basically a T-800 wrapped in a T-1000.
For reference, the T-800 model is the model Arnold Schwarzenegger is known for portraying, while the T-1000 was the primary antagonist in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Here’s our first proper look at the new Terminator, played by Gabriel Luna, which sheds its liquid metal and promptly reforms into… anotherTerminator, which can operate independently. Yes, it’s pretty much a T-1000 wrapped around a T-800. “The rationale in that scene is that he's pinned to the truck. When you think, ‘Okay, he's fucked’, he separates and you realise that the game continues,” Miller says. The freeway truck chase is another nod to one of the most iconic sequences in Judgment Day.
Be sure to read Tim Miller's full breakdown of the trailer over on Empire!