The new Terminator movie is currently filming in Budapest, having recently wrapped filming in Spain, which began two months ago. The movie, which is being directed by Deadpool director Tim Miller has been written by Billy Ray (Captain Phillips), David S. Goyer (Batman v Superman), Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds), Justin Rhodes (Contract Killers), and Charles H. Eglee (The Walking Dead), based on a story treatment written by Miller, David Ellison (Skydance Media), and Terminator franchise creator James Cameron. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton return, joined by Mackenzie Davis (Blade Runner 2049), Natalie Reyes (Birds of Passage), Gabriel Luna (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), and Diego Boneta (The Titan). Brett Azar will be supplying the same services as he did in Terminator: Genisys, as a stand-in for the young T-800, while young actor Jude Collie will be a stand-in for a young John Connor, using the likeness of Edward Furlong from Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Arnold's role has not been announced. Hamilton reprises her role as Sarah Connor, Reyes will portray Dani Ramos, Davis will portray soldier/assassin Grace, Boneta as Dani Ramos' brother. Luna is the only officially confirmed Terminator in the movie, though his series number is unknown. These are the facts.
Now the speculation - From photographs taken on location in Almeria, Spain last month, the movie appears to be set in El Paso, Colorado in the present day (which also happens to be where the Cheyenne Mountains base is located nearby). Some future war scenes have been filmed, likely appearing in the movies opening moments as with its predecessors. Luna's physicality suggests his Terminator will be a more infiltration capable series than the T-800, while images of Davis suggest her character may also be a Terminator, due to the uniform scarring on her arms, chest, neck, and back.
John Connor only appearing as a 9-year-old boy (not 10) as thus far avoided press coverage, despite the characters integral role in the franchise. suggesting the character is either in hiding or has been killed off. Aside from John Connors part in the movie, the biggest mystery surrounds Schwarzenegger's return. The action movie legend recently joined filming in Budapest with his trademark Terminator haircut and a beard. The latter of which some YouTubers believe is evidence that Arnold will be portraying the human character the T-800 was based upon. Although the following is purely speculation, it is my belief that Arnold will again be portraying a Terminator, and possibly a villainous one at that. Heres why;
In the original movie The Terminator, the role of the Terminator was originally meant to be portrayed by Lance Henriksen (Aliens), with Arnold playing the role of Kyle Reese. After a meeting with writer/director Cameron Arnold believed he was more suitable for the role of the Terminator, to which Cameron agreed. This shifted the focus of the character of the Terminator away from it being an infiltrator to that of a relentless, unstoppable killing machine, which was exemplified in the portrayal of the character by both Arnold and his co-star, friend and training partner Franco Columbu.
In Terminator 2, Cameron was able to realize the ideas he had originally intended to include in the original movie but couldn't because of technological limitations; namely the T-1000. Originally intended to be portrayed by 1980's singer Billy Idol, the role of the mimetic poly-alloy prototype went to Robert Patrick (The X-Files) whose portrayal echoed Cameron's original vision for the Terminators as infiltrators able to blend into a crowd of humans unseen and unnoticed. As already mentioned Luna's physicality lends to this concept being revisited, but I believe that Arnold's appearance in recent photographs also hints he is a Terminator.
Thus far no Terminators have been shown with facial hair. If they were incapable of growing such all the Human Resistance would need to do is have all men grow beards and mustaches, and thus eliminate the need to feed the dogs they use to identify Terminators, saving what little food supplies they have. Of course, if Skynet is capable of applying living human tissue to metal endoskeletons, animating liquid metal and mastering time travel, surely it would be aware that human males grow facial hair.
To that end, and with many believing that Arnold may be portraying the human upon which the T-800 was based upon, it is my belief that Arnold's role will be as speculated, possibly also as a long time member of the Human Resistance (General Perry maybe?), before being revealed to be a Terminator all along. This would marry both Arnold's perceived portrayal as the Terminator with Cameron's original vision.
