A new image from highly anticipated sequel Terminator: Dark Fate shines a spotlight on Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), battle-ready and badass as ever. While female action heroes are still a bit rarer than they should be, there are certainly lots more of them now than in decades past, and it's arguable that every asskicking big screen heroine owes at least some debt to two iconic characters. The first is Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) from the Alien franchise, and the second is Sarah Connor from the Terminator series.
Interestingly, both characters were at their most badass when shaped by director James Cameron. Ripley came into her own in 1986's Aliens, evolving from a resourceful survivor in Alien into someone ready to go one on one with the Xenomorph queen. Likewise, Sarah evolved from the damsel in distress she spent most of the first Terminator film as into a heavily-armed warrior ready to do anything necessary to prevent the rise of Skynet and the fall of mankind in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Sarah Connor hasn't appeared onscreen since surviving the events of Terminator 2, and was declared to have died offscreen in 2003's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Well, franchise creator Cameron wasn't a part of that sequel, and with him back onboard as producer, this fall's Terminator: Dark Fate is set to retcon everything after T2. This opens the door for Hamilton to reprise the role of Sarah, and now a new image posted to Paramount's Instagram account features her in stark black and white. Check it out below.
No disrespect intended to Lena Headey (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles TV show) or Emilia Clarke (Terminator: Genisys), but there will always be only one true Sarah Connor, and that remains Linda Hamilton. For evidence, one need only look at the above photo, in which Hamilton, now 62-years-old, looks to have slipped back on her iconic 1991 role like a glove. 2019's Sarah Connor doesn't look beaten down by age, in fact, she just looks to have become even more combat-hardened in the decades since lowering the T-800 into the steel.
While Terminator 3 has its share of fans, 2009's Terminator: Salvation and 2015's Terminator: Genisys were both seen by most as expensive wastes of time. Both films planned to kick off their own "new trilogy," and both found their plans kiboshed by lack of interest. With Hamilton back as Sarah Connor, Cameron back on the creative side, and the stalwart presence of Arnold Schwarzenegger once again in tow, here's hoping Terminator: Dark Fate can finally put the franchise back on the right track.
Source: Paramount
