Should we be worried about Terminator Phoenix?

TerminatorBy Gavin Jan 28, 2019Comments

Recently the Hungarian National Film Fund released a behind-the-scenes video (included below) showing exclusive footage of the forthcoming Terminator movie believed to be called Terminator Phoenix. In addition to interviews with the movie's director Tim Miller (Deadpool), franchise star Arnold Schwarzenegger and producer Andrew Vajna (who recently passed away), the video also contains glimpses of scenes from the movie as they were being filmed on set. Among the expected factory and military sets featuring actresses Linda Hamilton, Mackenzie Davis and Natalie Reyes, the video also includes behind-the-scenes footage of Schwarzenegger and Hamilton on-set/on-location sitting outside a wooden cabin, seemingly confirming that Schwarzenegger may not be portraying a terminator in the new movie, but possibly the person which Skynet based the Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 upon.

Long-term Terminator fans will remember that the idea of having Schwarzenegger also play the human "inspiration" for the model 101 has already been explored in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, which reportedly this new Terminator movie will not be counting as canon. In a deleted scene from the reportedly disregarded 2003 sequel to Terminator 2: Judgment Day Schwarzenegger played Sergeant Willian Candy, comically swapping his voice with that of another actor in the scene (see below). Together with the modern-day setting of the movie suggesting that Judgment Day never happened on August 29th, 1997, but with a story featuring Terminators from a delayed post-apocalyptic future one cannot help but feel that this new Terminator movie seems to be cherry-picking ideas from the movies it will be disregarding.

Science fiction fans have seen this trend all-too-often in recent movies - Ridley Scott's Prometheus recycled unused ideas from Alien, Star Wars: The Force Awakens recycled many elements from Star Wars: A New Hope and more recently The Predator recycled unpopular ideas from AvP Requiem and Predators. Unsurprisingly fans have been less than content with this rising trend of recycled content, with each of the aforementioned movies failing to live up to the hype they created in their marketing campaigns. Although appearances can be deceiving, early signs show that Terminator Phoenix will continue this recycling trend, which together with its reported political narrative could see James Cameron's (partial) return to the franchise he created being met with divisive disdain from the fandom that until recently had heralded his return.