A while ago we asked if fans would buy into Dani Ramos as the franchise lead, as it was very obvious that she was the new “John Connor” of the franchise. It was our opinion that the opening of Terminator: Dark Fate (the death of John) could hinder acceptance of the new character, even Arnold Schwarzenegger said the acceptance of the new female leads would be the “challenge” of the movie.
To promote the home release of Terminator: Dark Fate, ComingSoon.net spoke to Natalia Reyes AKA Dani Ramos.
Natalia’s reaction to replacing John Connor as leader of the Resistance…
It was a surprise. It was shocking. I was auditioning for a big American movie and didn’t really know what the character was or how big the character was going to be – it was all a secret. And so, when I actually read the script, I was on my way to Ireland to meet Mackenzie … I was on that plane reading the script and it was like, “Dani,” and I kept reading, “Dani,” and every page I read Dani was there. She was this young powerful Latina that didn’t die, like they usually do. It was shocking, you know, when I got to the end of the script and she was still there. She was not related to drugs or immigration and she was not a prostitute … it was a surprise because I’m used to those kinds of characters. It was amazing to finally feel well represented in a character in a movie. It was a big surprise to be a part of a movie that finally had a Latina in the main role breaking all of those clichés and things that we’re used to. I’m very proud and that’s one of the reasons I wanted to make the movie. I’m very proud of it.
Natalia Reyes told ComingSoon.net
On where the character would go in subsequent sequels, Natalia said:
You never really know, but I think “Terminator: Dark Fate” opened up a new era for the Terminator franchise. That was one of the challenges. I’m not John Connor. I’m Dani Ramos. It’s a different character. We needed to create a new story that continued to tell the important part of the story, but we also needed to create a different character, not just a new Sarah Connor, not just a new John Connor … a brave, young woman – a nobody, or the girl next door who lived a very simple life who suddenly becomes this very powerful leader.
Natalia Reyes told ComingSoon.net
When talking about character development Natalia Reyes thinks that Dani Ramos is “really well written” and that “we want to see the future with Dani”…
I think the character was really well written. Both James Cameron and Tim Miller had this clear vision of Dani. They wanted her to be this simple girl, but they also needed to see her strength – that she was a brave woman in her community, at her work and with her family. They wanted to see that at the beginning, that she was a brave woman whose life was about to change radically. I think they were really clear about that. But this is just the beginning of a new era, and I think there is space to tell more of the story about Dani. We want to see the future with Dani, we want to see what happens next. But we’ll see. There’s still room for more of her story. There’s also a lot of relevance in the story. We’re talking about technology and science fiction and artificial intelligence, which is no longer the future. It’s the reality we’re living. That’s why the movie is so relevant.
Natalia Reyes told ComingSoon.net
It is our opinion that, had the studios put the level of attention and detail into the character of Dani Ramos that they put into the character of Mackenzie Davis’ ‘Grace’, then maybe a torch pass would have been more successful. Grace was planned to be in sequels, and Tim Miller/the studios were heavily invested in Mackenzie Davis – something the movie screamed loudly in execution and its marketing.
So, do “we” want to see more Dani Ramos? Let us know in the comments below…
36 Comments
Absolutely we want to see more! After the abomination of Genesys I was almost ready to pack it in for our beloved franchise, but Dark Fate proved that there’s still life in it, still great stories to tell, and still worthwhile characters to go through them with.
My only disappointment with Dark Fate is in the undeserved negative reception it got.
I do agree that they made a Grace a more interesting character, but given that she’s from the future it wouldn’t be difficult to have her show up in future installments. Well, assuming there were future installments.
Hard disagree. Dark Fate deserved every bit of the underwhelming reception it received for being a shallow, contemporary rehash of T2 that invalidated its ending. It also very well-deserved the backlash in response to Tim’s predictable, defensive comments about “misogynists being afraid of Grace”. He’s an absolute tool who’s in love with Mackenzie Davis, and James Cameron hasn’t cared about Terminator since T2. He only cares to use it for easy money, either for himself or his friends, but evidently he can’t do either while his heart is no longer in it. He’s a hypocrite who committed the same cinema sin he complained about with Alien 3: unceremoniously killing off characters the audience were invested in. These people are either clueless or bullshitting.
Fuck NO! Her acting is kindergarden level and she’s annoying as fuck! Scrap DF and give us Future Wars with John Connor like Kyle Reese described it to Sarah in The Terminator, not that Salvation bullshit!
Thankfully, with Terminator: Resistance, Teyon & Reef Entertainment produced a better Terminator film than anything to come out since T2. It pays to give the fans what they want–at least I hope they made enough money.
Second that yo
calm down dude it is good story
Not at all. I’m sorry but her forced character just didn’t jive with me. The actor did fine, I just didn’t like the character. Or legion. Or John Conner getting killed. Reyes said “She was this young powerful Latina that didn’t die, like they usually do.” I wonder, could she give us some examples? Sounds to me that she hasn’t watched much cinema in the past 30 years. Overgeneralizing and jumping to conclusions that aren’t actually based on facts are hurting the film. Either way, the movie was ok but I would not watch any sequels. Don’t think I would watch dark fate again either. I saw it opening weekend. They got their money from me for opening weekend box office. Your welcome dark fate.
I just have to laugh. These spinners really think they could undo Terminator 1 + 2 and replace it with their idiotic story? Have I understood that correctly?
This actress is as far removed from the role of John Connor as Mars is from Earth. In other words: as a woman, she can never fill the leader of the resistance role.
I would never take on this role from such a hysterical, short stature Mexican. That is the reality. And dark fake is just totally unrealistic. I don’t take that from the woman.
Edward Furlong’s John Connor was accepted because he was different, rebellious, not adapted and could therefore find solutions that the mainstream did not think of.
Overall, dark fake is just stupid popcorn cinema. Just trying to replace John Connor with such nonsense is absurd and could only flop with the over-excited action.
Hasta la vista, baby
“as a woman…?”
White males like you are the problem with these franchises. This is why our criticism of the movie and the disrespect shown towards the character of John Connor falls on deaf ears. Because of toxic fan boys like you attempting to promote their school bullying to a wider more woke audience.
Any franchise would be lucky to lose a fan like you.
I find her comments woefully shallow. She’s happy to not playing a Latin stereotype, claiming that’s all she is familiar with, but I don’t see how this is such a widespread problem that she was given the privilege of overcoming. I also don’t know whether that means she’s only played Latin prostitutes, drug-users or other non-main characters, or that she’s only seen other Latin actresses play those roles; but the way she’s framing it makes it sound like Latin actresses have only ever gotten backseat ethnic stereotypes to play. Is she not aware of actresses like Rosario Dawson? What about Michelle Rodriguez?
Clearly she’s speaking for herself, but she’s also overselling the occasion. Good for her that she got a role in a Terminator film, and far be it from her to bad-mouth it in any way, but this talk about “needing to tell a new story” is bullshit. Dark Fate is nothing new. It’s more of the same trash, competing moreso with any film from T3 to Genisys rather than T2. It’s more comparable to The Force Awakens or The Last Jedi, neither of which are complements. This film was made in and for the age of Trump Derangement Syndrome: a weak attempt at using the corpse of a dead franchise to make quick bucks for a struggling film studio, while also using the established pop-culture icon to not-so-subtly virtue-signal Democratic, anti-Trump rhetoric (walls bad, immigrants good). Everything about it is cheap, blatantly insulting, and insufferably self-serving. And that’s why it, like Star Wars, is flirting with a future in streaming rather than succeeding at the box office, like Joker and Marvel did.
In short, nobody will care about Dani Ramos and Legion in the future. They will still care about John Connor and SkyNet. James Cameron and Paramount would do well to understand that. Tim Miller can go try playing nice with someone else.
Also you’ve gotta love the blind doubletalk she’s delivering here. “She’s not John Connor, she’s her own character.” Mijita, she takes his place. She was made to take his place, just like Legion was made to take SkyNet’s place, and just like Rey was made to take Luke’s place. Sarah Connor literally validates her in the movie by saying “You’re John” right to her face. You can’t get more shamelessly blatant than that. I don’t think you honestly believe that line of horseshit.
Yes, I absolutely want more. I really like dark fate. If you watch the extras on Digital; it’s pretty clear they genuinely wanted this movie to be good and lead to something bigger. The idea behind Legion is interesting and different enough from Skynet to be interesting. I hope the show that is allegedly in the works is real. Dani isn’t perfect, but after several watches I actually have grown to like her. If you really think about it, the only reason John Connor was the savior in the original timeline is because Sarah raises him and teaches him to be. At the end of dark fate, when Sarah tells Dani “you need to be ready” it’s obviously telling us Sarah is going to teach Dani everything she taught John (and then some because she’s learned a lot more) so in that light, it makes sense Dani eventually becomes the same figure of leadership in the new timeline. Let’s hope for the future of terminator; and not let this hate ruin potential great content/sequels
It isn’t fan hatred that’s killed Terminator. That’s a lie. It’s greed and shortsightedness on the part of every studio that’s owned the rights and tried to make more sequels to it, all the way to the point where Cameron betrayed himself and sabotaged his own work with this movie. Dark Fate isn’t the last lifeline for the franchise. If anything, it’s the last nail in the coffin.
I disagree, I’ve been a huge fan of terminator since I was 6 (I’m 23) and I think James Cameron’s bold choice to kill John makes way for new things to be said/done with a stagnant franchise. People are way too attached to characters for their own good. James himself said he knew killing John would piss people off and didn’t care. It’s his story and terminator has always been a depressing, unhappy franchise. Just because John is gone, doesn’t mean we can’t have a good movie. I mean, T1 didn’t have John and it’s one of the greatest movies to ever exist. Every time they tried to continue the story of John, all people did was bitch that it sucked.
Besides, all this negativity and complaining will do us fans no good; Only kill the franchise completely. Let’s appreciate where they got things right, instead of focusing on a 30 second scene in a 2 hour and 15 minute movie.
Bad home, mh? Did your parents let Terminator watch you when you were 6? As a child? No matter. Doesn’t matter that dark fake is just a bad infusion in a different color. If that’s enough for you, you’re a truly great Terminator fan. Accepting what is put before you without criticism testifies to the mainstream of our time. People are becoming more and more stupid and are therefore satisfied with the same thing over and over and over again only in a different packaging.
The majority of fans (as clearly demonstrated by the flop at the box office) do not want to see this. And it is good that the male producers have lost a lot of money. This is the only way they obviously understand that the fans do not want it.
If so, then a story with and around John Connor and Skynet, but please not the infusion of T1 + T2. It’s boring and stupid.
Action. More action. Much more action. Super Action. That alone does not make a terminator (action well dosed with moments of tension and not overwhelmed with stimulus). And if you leave out the action, only DARK FAKE remains.
If you paint shit golden, it’s still not gold, but remains shit. They can say so much blah blah and think that’s good. It is not good. It is weak and bad and cannot stand on its own. So get rid of it. After the flop this is no longer touched with the pliers, that’s for sure.
My parents did a fine job easing me actually.
Dark fate ain’t perfect, and it’s nowhere near the quality of the first 2. BUT, it could lead to something better. That’s what I’m trying you say. The first time I watched dark fate on its premiere, I was actually very disappointed. But over multiple viewings, that’s changed and I don’t know why. I’ve come to appreciate the film, flaws and all.
I heard people say the same thing about The Last Jedi. That they only appreciated the film after watching it again and again, as if doing so makes you dumber. That’s what it sounds like, and it doesn’t make me want to see it or Dark Fate again. I’d sooner rewatch T3 or T4 and appreciate them for how they’re not as bad as Genisys or Dark Fate, but I still would have to recognize that they’re not only unnecessary sequels, but also that they’re worse than T2 or T1.
Mind you, enjoying bad movies doesn’t make you dumb. At best in means you have a unique perspective on what’s good about them. It’s dumb to confuse that with saying it’s a good film or a necessary evil.
Well, then I want to write it in other words:
In this context, capitalist ideology does not stop because of you, because an idea or product that does not make a profit is mercilessly dropped and eliminated.
I am not a friend of it. But in this case it is good.
R.I.P.
Dark fate
PS: You want to see something new? That would have been the job of Dark Fate. Instead, we get the X-infusion from T1 and T2. And then packed PC-conform.
I saw T2 when I was around 6 too, and now I’m in my 30s.
“I think James Cameron’s bold choice to kill John makes way for new things to be said/done with a stagnant franchise.”
Yeah, and that’s not what we got with Dark Fate. We got more of the same, complete with ideas practically stolen from the previous decanonized sequels. There was nothing bold about killing John Connor off a year or less after the end of T2. It was just a foolish, poorly thought out bet.
“People are way too attached to characters for their own good. James himself said he knew killing John would piss people off and didn’t care. It’s his story and terminator has always been a depressing, unhappy franchise.”
Then you fundamentally don’t understand Terminator, let alone what keeps a good franchise going. Terminator’s tagline since T2 was “No fate but what we make”, which was paraphrased from John’s message to Sarah in T1. It is a message of hope. Dark Fate’s message is nihilistic in that nothing matters: even if you kill SkyNet, another AI will come along and your previous hero will be replaced. This destroys the story in a vain attempt to rebrand it and give it a modernized remake it for a quick buck.
“Besides, all this negativity and complaining will do us fans no good; Only kill the franchise completely. Let’s appreciate where they got things right, instead of focusing on a 30 second scene in a 2 hour and 15 minute movie.”
It is vital to a brand for its fans to express themselves, positive or negative. Nothing but positive feedback will not change anything, especially when that positive feedback is not earned. And you are certainly not helping the situation by your disingenuous framing: it is not a mere 30 second scene that fans have bitterly rejected. It is the death of John Connor, the promised hero of the Future War, in the first 30 seconds of “the true sequel” to T2: the best and most satisfying film in the franchise. No amount of sophistry or explanation can justify the way that scene was so carelessly planned and written, or change the fact that it existed solely to make way for Dani as his replacement. It is a cheap, garbage narrative choice that James Cameron once claimed to hate when talking about Alien 3.
For the record, I did like the C5 plane scene fight between Arnold and Gabriel Luna. That’s about all I enjoyed in the film, but it is still a worthless film. As a whole, it still has nothing on the craft of films like T1 or T2, and I don’t understand why no one has cared to measure up to it. Not even James Cameron himself, apparently.
Bro you don’t understand the fundamentals of terminator. The whole paradox of the first two films is very obvious. Sarah taught John everything he knew; Including his philosophy on fate. It’s a paradox loop that the series commonly used. Even the origin of Skynet was caused by leaving future tech behind in the present. If that’s how Skynet came to be, how did it even exist in the first place? Same with John; his father is from the future? How did he exist before that? Trying to apply real world cause-and-effect principles in terminator is fundamentally ridiculous to its roots.
You’re not contradicting what I said. You’ve just pointed out that there is a time loop heavily implied in Terminator. T2 also heavily implied that it broke the loop. So if there is an iteration of the time loop where it ends, then it stands to reason there is an original timeline that kicked it off. This video proposes that The Terminator takes place in the third iteration of the time loop:https://youtu.be/mFDa4VUnfuU
What were you trying to say? That the “No Fate” message is wrong or that I’m misinterpreting it? Because Dani basically said the same thing in Dark Fate.
Critics it seems have short memories and ideologically-dependent paychecks to earn, why is Dark Fate getting all the praise for “trying to be original” when it’s just a re-skinned/gender-flipped repeat of 2003’s Rise of the Machines plot ? (with some other interesting bits and pieces already witnessed in other terminator universe-related works)
Tim Miller (either doesn’t know or is obliged to lie) refuses to admit the (let’s be honest) CREATIVE BANKRUPTCY of this film series at this point (EVEN WITHOUT including the expanded universe stuff like the 2008’s tv series, comics, novels and video-games), because you can only repeat the same “let’s time-travel to the present-day from a horrible war-filled future” story only so many times, kinda blame James Cameron for that, you see he gave us T2Judgement Day which is great but at the same time he solidified in the minds of many in the decision-making department (and in some areas of the fan sphere) that the fundamental core of the Terminator Sandbox is ALL ABOUT TIME-TRAVEL ! that you can’t have a terminator story (especially on live-action) without the time-traveling element, ideally the only logical and healthy way forward for the series would have been an R-rated Post-Apocalyptic TV series (similar to the recent Terminator: Resistance game but harder) with the pilot episode set 20 years before the original T-800 and Kyle Reese made their time-jumps, on the same tone/grittiness level as the T1’s future war flashbacks.
don’t get me wrong, i for the most part enjoyed TDarkFate for what it was (barring the opening scene), but the heap upon of praises for “originality”, “boldness”, “GURRLLL POWWAH !” are ridiculous and forced as hell when they already been done before and a whole lot better.
i said this about Genisys, i would say the same for Dark Fate, Terminator Dark Fate would have been better off as a 100% clean reboot/remake of the original Terminator without any connections to the Connors.
Well, it seems like Paramount/Skydance’s The Tomorrow War, starring Chris Pratt, is going to be that reboot / remake, albeit in a spiritual sense. I find the theory that TheTerminatorFans put out in a recent video–that Paramount purposefully wanted Dark Fate to tank and piss off the fans in order to set up for a new not-Terminator renake–pretty infuriating, but ultimately it’s up to the film come December this to prove whether or not it can stand on it’s own two feet.
Oh man finally somebody with a fucking brain.
Yes yes yes robert fiore right on.
Totally agree i love dark fate.
Ive followed terminator since 1984 and to me dark fate is the true terminator 3.
Im sick to death of these damn negative wingers.
Lindas back arnies back and for once the meat is on the terminator bone with these characters.
Loved it a great trilogy.
Watch em every wedensday.!!
I absolutely NEED to hear your explanation as to how Legion is different from Skynet. Please. The movie was a dumpster fire, and will never get a sequel.
Dark Fate is basically a re-skinned/gender-flipped modification on the 2003’s T3 Rise Of The Machines, with some
elements from T1, Genisys, Salvation and even the 2008’s TV series added-in to not be too obvious about it (just minus the forward time-traveling and john connor)
the whole concept that time-travel shenanigans can change things, a lot sure but something as monumental as a technological progress that will eventually include a “hooked-into-everything” A.I, an A.I that will grow hostile to humans and unleash a genocidal war upon them and that said war will eventually produce a successful leader for the humans to stand against the A.I (the core basics of Judgement Day/Future War) is not something that can be erased completely, only slowed-down/delayed and passed-on for someone else to deal with (basically the classic “Jeepers Creepers” Horror trope), this theme has already been touched upon in T3Rise of the Machines and further explored in the 2008-2009 TV show “The Sarah Connor Chronicles”, i really don’t understand where all this praise for “originality” Dark Fate is coming from.
ideally the only logical and healthy way forward after T2Judgement Day would have been a R-rated post-apocalyptic TV series (or a planned trilogy of films, Lord of the Rings style) initially set 20 years before the original T800 and Kyle Reese make their fateful time-jumps, just like the recent Terminator Resistance video-game but harder, set to the same tunes and tones of the T1’s future war flashbacks.
I’m more interested in Carl and his draperies. We need a prequel about Arnie learning how to change diapers, selling draperies and becoming a survivalist in Texas!
God, how I H-A-T-E that movie…
I read about it in an issue of Guns & Ammo.
No way, NO more Dani! Movies should be made for fans! Dark Fate was not made for fans! I used to like Mr Cameron. Killing John Connor in the first 30 seconds terminated the rest of the movie for me, after that I didn’t care. James Cameron made a big deal when Alien3 director killed Hicks and Newt then does the same thing years later WTF? And why say Edward Furlong is coming back when he clearly hasn’t. I love the franchise but sadly I think it has suffered a Dark Fate! Im glad Mr Cameron and Mr Miller think this movie is good, at least someone does. I can not see it Terminator coming back except in books comics and direct to tv movies or a tv series if that, sad really!
All that praise for “Originality !”, all the praise for cynically disposing off a key, established character as “paving the way forward !” where is it coming from ? why ? Terminator Dark Fate 2019 is nothing but a well-made mixture of all the previous terminator chapters/ideas, artfully re-packaged for the modern post-3rd wave feminist sensibilities.
1# Grace is technically a less extreme, less heavy-weight version of Marcus.
2# Rev-9 is basically an alternative, male-shaped variation of the T-X Unit (just with most of the extra weapons/gadgets removed but in exchange equipped with far more powerful and independently operating layer of liquid metal)
3# Dani Ramos is all but flat out stated as John’s knockoff replacement, the character itself is basically a composite remake of both T1 Sarah and T2 John.
4# structurally and thematically. the plot/story is a composite remake of both T1 and T3ROTM.
5# “Carl” is basically another hot take on “Pops”, with the A.I growing a “conscious” once it exhausted Skynet’s original mission list (possibly the only original idea in this film series).
Another thing to highlight, Dark Fate is most definitely the first live-action chapter in the Terminator saga that leans towards Pro-Choice “Children are not important to me”
T1-Through-TSalvation (and to a lesser extent both Genisys and 2008’s TV series) were all generally Pro-Life “The Children are our FUTURE”
Probably the biggest load of BS I’ve read this week. Every word of it written by her PR team, I’m sure.
Je pense que ce Terminator encore une fois était pas si mauvais juste mal exploité et structuré…L’idée de faire de Dani Ramos une nouvelle resistance humaine pourquoi pas mais tuer derrère celui de john connor qui méritait et avait largement sa place, c’est juste pas cool pour lui de ne pas lui avoir laissé une place dans le film au côté de la mère du futur SARAH qui revient au côté du T800 avec l’idée d’un changement et d’un développement humain… conscient .Je pense qu’il aurait dû lui attribuer une autre histoire à DANI et laisser john comme résistant au côté de sa mère sarah et pourquoi pas une amie de john ou sa petite amie pour lui ouvrir à une voie de non délinquant qu’il avait dans le 2 ça aurait été une idée plus judicieuse que de tuer un personnage emblematique de l’histoire ! L’erreur c’est de créer un scénario à plusieurs…Je pense que James cameron doit revenir seul ou rappeler son équipe et sa production de ses 2 chef-d’oeuvres de 84 et 91 au côtés des mêmes acteurs pour finir l’histoire en beauté.
Les fans veulent les acteurs de T1 et 2 avec une nouvelle histoire dans le futur pourquoi pas avec ces personnages et acteurs là mais en gardant le voyage temporelle mais surtout nous ouvrir à une voie plus technologique de l’intelligence humaine par rapport à la machine et ses relations.
James cameron seul doit être au scénario et à la réalisation pour éspérer un Succès !!!!
Je suis dégouté si ça se finit pour de bon au cinéma et en DVD moi qui est fans et qui n’a vu que celui-là et le 2 au cinéma !!!
I’lle BE BACK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i think dark fate should have gone this way if john was going die.they should have had it go were john and dani in some relationship dating john telling her things he seen fight he been in with terinators telling her it going get worse before it got better.then arnold walks in on her john john try to protect her told her to run look for his mom. john risked his life save her.legion find out about her. dani find sarah go back buried john .sarah went into stage about john want nothing to do in fighting went somewhere. but dani had feeling for john wanted fight back.found people join that john told her may til help that how dani become new savor sarah found out she was fighting war decided get back into it.or they can do it in next movie showing dani found john writen jounal of battle he and his father mother been in put fire in her heart fight back.
look we all knew john was going died at sometime in terminator movies right. but i do agree i did not like how john got killed so fast.if dani ramos was going be new leader they should have had her john as married couple in dark fate along with sarah were dani was living they were all living in same place .john and dani went out shopping for food on way back they got into fight with terminator john tell his mom go get car while dani john try find other way to escape when they got out john run into t 800 arnold killed him in front of sarah and dani before he get into car .then out nowhere new cybog female terminator show up ment sarah dani told them she from furture that dani sent her back in time. natala reyes i have no problem her taking over for john start whole new diffent battles to be told maybe in next movie sarah be next one killed but dani keep fight going for john and sarah
Terminator storylines are so complicated and fucked up kyle reese wasn’t metioned in Dark Fate why killing John Conner so early in 1998 after Genysis. David Elllison both produced T5 & 6 he has something against John Conner for no reason he became T-3000 in genysis so early instead of dark fate it makes no sense nothing makes sense especially Terminator endoskeleton bodies from 3-6 the real t-800 took place from genysis-dark fate before a t-850 enoskeleton took place from rise of the machines-salvation 1 & 2 are fine good. even the look of Arnold his beard took place from genysis in dark fate and his clone version of himslef play by Brett Azar he first wear black pants leather jacket black boots but no gloves took place from dark fate before he wors tan pants,tan boots, and holding a tan jacket without wearing it that took place from genysis.that only best termiantor arnold schwarzenegger’s clothes to wear is black pants with a belt,leather jacket black boots,sunglasses,grey shirt and gloves.