Prime Video’s action thriller “The Terminal List” is back after a four-year hiatus. Season 2 — which dropped all at once on October 21 — is based on “True Believer,” the second novel in Jack Carr’s series, which continues the story of former Navy SEAL Commander James Reece (played by executive producer Chris Pratt). Joining Pratt for Season 2 is a crop of new faces, including Gabriel Luna, who steps into the boots of Freddy Strain, an elite sniper and former Navy SEAL turned CIA ground operative who is a fan favorite from the book.
Luna is no stranger to playing characters who wield awesome firepower. In fact, if you’re someone who closely follows superheroes, video game adaptations, or sequels to iconic sci-fi film franchises, odds are, you’ve seen him on both the big screen and the small screen before. One of his first big roles was Ghost Rider on Marvel’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” — but not just any version of Ghost Rider. He played Robbie Reyes, another Marvel character who held the mantle of Ghost Rider.
This iteration of the fiery-skulled antihero wielded a flaming chain and drove a supernatural 1969 Dodge Charger. Landing the role of a Marvel character with Latino heritage was a milestone moment for Luna. “I’m beyond excited to be one of the first, if not the first … Mexican-American superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in terms of the well-known titles,” he told Den of Geek. “And I’m honored. I will not take it lightly.”
Gabriel Luna also played Rev-9 in Terminator: Dark Fate
Just two years later, in 2019, Gabriel Luna jumped to the silver screen and duked it out with Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Terminator: Dark Fate.” He played Rev-9, an advanced killer cyborg capable of splitting into separate liquid metal and carbon-based endoskeleton forms. In 2023, the Austin-born actor reunited with Schwarzenegger, this time on the small screen. He played Boro Polonia, a ruthless military arms dealer who was the main antagonist in Season 1 of Netflix’s recently canceled “FUBAR.”
More recently, Luna was seen in HBO’s “The Last of Us” as Tommy Miller, the younger brother of Joel (Pedro Pascal). Looking back on his transition from “The Last of Us” to “The Terminal List,” Luna noted how naturally the two roles aligned. “They’re very similar characters,” Luna told Collider. “They’re both family men and they’re both trained snipers. To be able to jump from Tommy into this, and to have these characters be so close to my heart, and just to be able to make that transition into Freddy, was kismet.”
Luna worked closely alongside former Navy SEAL and writer Jared Shaw to bring some authenticity to Freddy. “So much of Jared Shaw is in the character that I tried to build for Freddy Strain,” Luna revealed to the outlet, recalling how Shaw rested a hand on his back during a pivotal moment on set. “We’re very alike in many ways, but at that moment, we were one.”