Terminator: Dark Fate almost did not feature Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800, which would have led to a better Terminator movie. Following Terminator: Genisys’ failed reboot, which made the Terminator chronology even more confusing, the Terminator franchise returned to the big screen with Dark Fate. Promising to ignore every subsequent film after Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Dark Fate seemed like it would bring the franchise back to basics and rescue the Terminator IP.
Tim Miller, who by then had directed Deadpool, was chosen to helm Terminator: Dark Fate. Unlike the previous three Terminator movies, from Terminator 3 to Terminator Genisys, James Cameron was actively involved in Terminator: Dark Fate, which only raised the expectations for the film. While the involvement of the director of Terminator and Terminator 2 in a Terminator project was positive, one of Terminator: Dark Fate’s biggest problems originated from James Cameron's idea – bringing back Schwarzenegger’s T-800.
Dark Fate Didn't Need Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator
Terminator: Dark Fate was promoted as the true sequel to Terminator 2 James Cameron never got to make. Given that Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation, and Terminator Genisys had all been disappointing on some level, going back to the world and the characters from Terminator 2 seemed like a good idea. That said, Dark Fate didn’t need Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator. If Terminator: Dark Fate wanted to be the definitive Terminator 2 sequel, then a T-800 return shouldn’t even have been considered, as the T-800 sacrificed himself at the end of the 1991 film.
A sequel to Terminator 2 didn’t necessarily mean that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 had to return. Dark Fate had two new characters that could have worked perfectly as the new lead hero and the new villain, Mackenzie Davis’ Grace and Gabriel Luna’s Rev-9, as well as the new “Chosen One” Natalia Reyes’ Dani Ramos. Nothing in the arcs of the new Terminator characters asked for the T-800 to be involved. In addition, for the nostalgia content of a legacy sequel, Dark Fate already featured the return of Linda Hamilton’s iconic Terminator character Sarah Connor. Without the T-800, Sarah Connor and the new characters would have space to shine more.
Why Schwarzenegger's T-800 Appears In Terminator: Dark Fate
James Cameron refused to do Terminator: Dark Fate without Arnold Schwarzenegger, as revealed by Cameron himself in a Deadline interview. According to Cameron, Dark Fate director Tim Miller “didn’t want Arnold.” Cameron, however, did not want to tell his decades-long friend Schwarzenegger that he would do a new Terminator movie without the original Terminator star. Also, according to Cameron, he could hear Schwarzenegger saying, “Jim, I can’t believe you’re making a Terminator movie without me.” James Cameron admitted that their “own myopia” around the possibility of reuniting Hamilton’s Sarah Connor and Schwarzenegger's T-800 ended up limiting Dark Fate’s potential, especially since Terminator 2 had come out almost 30 years ago.
In terms of the story, Dark Fate’s T-800 is a different Terminator from the one Schwarzenegger played in Terminator 2. Even though Skynet would no longer be created in the future according to the original timeline, Dark Fate featured another T-800 sent by Skynet before its destruction with the mission of terminating John Connor. Three years after Sarah and John survived the T-1000, this forgotten T-800 killed John Connor anyway. With his mission completed, this alternate version of T-800 learned about his existence and the world around it. By the time Sarah Connor encounters him in Dark Fate, the new T-800 had become “good.”
Terminator 7 Must Move On From Arnie (If It Happens)
Terminator 7, if it happens, should do what Dark Fate could not and move on from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator. The T-800 has been the face of the franchise since his legendary performance in the first Terminator, and it is difficult to imagine a Terminator story without him. However, the last two Terminator movies have proven that recycling the elements that worked in Terminator and Terminator 2 is not enough to reignite the franchise. There is room for new Terminator stories, but a potential Terminator 7 should deliver the best Terminator movie regardless of what legacy characters or moments can make a comeback.
So far, the only Terminator movie that didn’t feature Schwarzenegger in a significant capacity was Terminator Salvation, with the iconic Terminator only appearing at the very end. Terminator Salvation was also the most innovative Terminator film in its development of the series' lore, although that was not translated into a good movie. Perhaps the best route for the next Terminator movie would be to return to the franchise’s slasher origins, with an original Terminator villain hunting a new group of characters. This is what Terminator: Dark Fate could have been without Arnold Schwarzenegger. Almost 40 years after the first Terminator, it’s time to find out if Terminator can work without the T-800.