When seasoned producer James Cameron described Terminator: Dark Fate as the “direct sequel” to T2: Judgment Day, he meant it.
Not only will the November blockbuster herald the return of Linda Hamilton – a bad grandma wielding a shotgun, in the words of Cameron himself – but Dark Fate will also come bearing an R rating, presumably for violence and nudity. Hey, we all know how much those killer robots like to time travel in the nude.
On a more serious note, during a now-deleted interview clip (h/t CinemaBlend), James Cameron spoke more about the general setup to Dark Fate, and how it’ll continue the stories of Sarah, John, and the T-800. So, yes, in a nutshell, John Connor will be back for more sci-fi action before the year’s end.
We’ll be continuing with Sarah’s story, John’s story, and the T-800 returns — a different T-800 with a very different role to play than what we’ve seen before.
Exactly how he’s expected to return is another question entirely, but it’s worth keeping in mind that the young Jude Collie was spotted on set as a CGI double, sparking speculation online that we’ll see Edward Furlong’s young face in Dark Fate. His rumored return also raises the much more serious question: will we see another appearance from Robert Patrick’s dreaded T-1000? One can only hope.
Cameron concluded:
I think, tonally, what makes this a direct sequel to T1 and T2 is as much about the tone as it is about the narrative: It’s R rated, it’s grim, it’s gritty, it’s fast, it’s intense, it’s very linear. The whole story takes place in 36 hours. It’s not this kind of grandiose, complex story. It’s just very focused on the characters, it’s very now, it’s very present and it’s just a fast white-knuckle ride.
Terminator: Dark Fate sees a release worldwide on November 1st. It’s the day after Judgment Day, so we fully expect John, Sarah, and the T-800 to be stepping into a desolate, hopeless world. But let’s not forget that last week’s trailer teased a new generation of hero… and Terminator.